Category: World

TOKYO, Feb 7, 2008 (AFP) – The euro was slightly weaker against its major rivals in Asian trade on Thursday amid nervousness ahead of an interest rate decision by the European Central Bank, dealers said.They said traders were also cautious about a weekend meeting of world finance chiefs in Tokyo where recent financial market turmoil […]

NEW YORK, Feb 5, 2008 (AFP) – US stocks went into a tailspin Tuesday as a shockingly weak reading on service sector activity bolstered the notion that a recession is at hand in the world’s biggest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 370.03 points (2.93 percent) to end at 12,265.13 after sharp losses on […]

Feb 06, 2008 (LBO) – Maldives have cleared the bar to elect a woman president, but the glass ceiling is unlikely to shatter soon as the incumbent strongman wants to rule on into a fourth decade, analysts said. Though the 50-member majlis, a representative body, has cleared the way Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, 70, has already […]

PARIS, Feb 5, 2008 (AFP) – Europe will press the United States to show “more cooperation” in dealing with the global financial crisis at a weekend meeting of top finance officials, France’s European minister said Tuesday. “It would have been better if there was a more cooperative attitude — exchanges between treasuries, central banks, fewer […]

WASHINGTON, Feb 4, 2008 (AFP) – The World Bank named Monday Justin Lin Yifu, who defected from Taiwan to China and rose to become a top economic strategist for the communist country, as its chief economist, the first time a Chinese has held the job.World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Lin, the founding director of […]

TOKYO, Feb 5, 2008 (AFP) – Slumping global stock markets and fears of a US recession are set to dominate a weekend meeting here of the world’s top finance chiefs, but analysts see little chance of any coordinated action. Although the fallout from the US subprime loan woes is spreading around the world, with the […]

SYDNEY, Feb 5, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s central bank Tuesday lifted its key interest rates 25 basis points to 7.00 percent from 6.75 percent — a 12 year high — as it struggles to fight inflationary pressures.Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Glenn Stevens said recent information pointed to “significant inflation pressures”. “CPI (Consumer Price […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – Internet giant Google said Sunday it finds “troubling” Microsoft’s multi-billion-dollar bid to acquire rival Yahoo and urged US and international regulators to strenuously vet the proposed deal. “Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo raises troubling questions,” read a statement by David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president for corporate development […]

NAIROBI, Feb 2, 2008 (AFP) – Dozens died in clashes in western Kenya, police said Saturday, shattering hopes for an accord by political rivals to make efforts to end weeks of violence.Police reported at least 47 new deaths while more accusations flew between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was […]

FRANKFURT, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – Faced with record inflation, the European Central Bank is expected to resist pressure for an interest rate cut when its governing council meets this week, in the wake of moves by the US Federal Reserve.They could come as soon as the second quarter of this year, some say.Despite a […]

TOKYO, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has agreed to buy the Westin Tokyo luxury hotel for 77 billion yen (723 million dollars) from Morgan Stanley, a newspaper said Sunday.Morgan Stanley purchased the Westin Tokyo for about 50 billion yen from Japanese brewer Sapporo Holdings Ltd in 2004. The […]

VIENNA, Jan 31, 2008 (AFP) – OPEC ministers turned down calls for extra output on Thursday, voicing concern that the weak US economy may cause oil prices to drop further from recent historic peaks above 100 dollars. Most members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps 40 percent of world oil, said the […]