Category: World

BANGALORE, India, Jan 20, 2008 (AFP) – India’s major software firms say a US economic slowdown may bring more customers seeking cost savings, but analysts warn that the once red-hot sector faces tough times in 2008. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro, whose latest earnings were hit by a sharp gain in the […]

WASHINGTON, Jan 20, 2008 (AFP) – The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a consortium of 315 top institutional investors assessing industries about their CO2 emissions, announced Sunday a new partnership to extend its global initiative to companies and suppliers. With members including Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Allianz and HSBC that manage assets of more than 41 […]

MANILA, Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – The Asian Development Bank admitted in an internal study released Friday that some of its loans to poor countries over the last few years had failed to achieve all their goals. The release of the study comes after reports that disillusioned major donor nations such as the US and […]

TOKYO, Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – Japanese share prices tumbled 2.81 percent by the end of the morning session Friday after a sharp fall on Wall Street on rising fears of a US recession, dealers said. They said that congressional testimony by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke failed to reassure markets that stimulus measures were […]

NEW DELHI, Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – India’s inflation jumped nearly three-tenths of one percentage point to its highest level in four months, data showed on Friday, making chances of an interest rate cut more remote.But economists expect the economy to lose steam in coming months as the effects of aggressive monetary tightening to curb […]

NAIROBI, Jan 17, 2008 (AFP) – Tea is a casualty of the turmoil sparked by disputed presidential elections in Kenya, with thousands of workers forced to flee plantations in one of the world’s top exporters, industry sources say. Between 26,000 and 70,000 tea sector employees from the western region of Kericho, where Kenya’s main plantations […]

January 17, 2006 (LBO) — Five foreigners have been arrested in the Indian Ocean Island of Maldives for allegedly offering commercial sex and having lubricants and condoms on them, police said Thursday.“Three men and two women were arrested Tuesday midnight on a tip off from a house in Male,” police spokesman Sergeant Ahmed Shiyam said […]

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) […]