Category: World

LONDON, Jan 15, 2008 (AFP) – Northern Rock, the British bank almost sunk by the global credit crunch, on Tuesday defeated most of the plans by rebel shareholders to limit management’s ability to sell the group without consulting investors. However, the Financial Times on Tuesday reported that Brown would not be forced into making a […]

LONDON, Jan 15, 2008 (AFP) – The price of gold is hitting new record highs owing to the troubled US economy and a cocktail of other supportive factors, leading some analysts to predict 1,000 dollars per ounce could happen soon.In recent days the precious metal has blasted past 900 dollars in a record-breaking run. Unprecedented […]

SHANGHAI, Jan 14, 2008 (AFP) – China has set an initial inflation target of 4.6 percent for 2008, up from three percent last year, state media reported Monday, reflecting a recent spike in the prices of consumer products. The National Development and Reform Commission also set a target for economic growth this year of eight […]

MALE, Jan 14, 2008 (AFP) – Economic growth in the Maldives slowed to 6.6 percent in 2007, the islands’ central bank said Monday as high oil prices and a drop in the fish catch impacted on the economy. Economic growth, down from a staggering 19 percent in 2006, was however better than the 5.5 percent […]

MANAMA, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – The Bahrain-based airline Gulf Air has ordered 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliners valued at around four billion dollars and taken options for eight more, an airline official told AFP on Saturday.Gulf Air places four billion dollar order with Boeing ATTENTION – ADDS background /// “Gulf Air has signed today (Saturday) […]

HARARE, Jan 13, 2008 (AFP) – Kennedy Tsambo’s faith in Zimbabwe’s banking system finally hit breaking point over Christmas when he spent an ultimately fruitless three days queuing to withdraw cash in order to buy a bus fare home. “This was not a donation that I was queuing for, it’s my own money which I […]

BEIJING, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – Fewer than one in eight Chinese are happy at work, with most complaining about dead-end jobs and wages eroded by record inflation, according to a new survey.Only 12.6 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their jobs, while 50 percent said they were unhappy with working conditions, according […]

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – As adult obesity balloons in the United States, being overweight has become less of a health hazard and more of a lifestyle choice, the author of a new book argues.“Obesity is a natural extension of an advancing economy.As you become a First World economy and you get all these […]

NEW YORK, Jan 10, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar fell sharply Thursday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank was ready to implement fresh interest rate cuts if necessary amid lingering economic uncertainty.Traders ratcheted up their expectations that the US central bank would unleash a fresh rate cut at a looming […]

WELLINGTON, Jan 11, 2008 (AFP) – Edmund Hillary, the unassuming New Zealander who won world fame as the first man to climb Mount Everest, died Friday at the age of 88. Hillary, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 29, 1953, died of a heart attack in […]

TOKYO, Jan 10, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar softened in Asian trade Thursday as market players waited for clues from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the chances of further US interest rate cuts, dealers said.The dollar eased to 109.87 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 109.93 in New York late on Wednesday. The euro […]

January 10, 2008 (LBO) — The World Bank warned Maldives, South Asia’s richest economy, that recent economic gains could unravel, if the atoll nation failed to tackle political instability and curb its budget deficit.“Constitutional changes, pressures for unsustainable fiscal deficits, and vulnerability to economic shocks could offset or potentially roll back some development gains,” Washington-based […]