Category: World

ISLAMABAD, Dec 28, 2007 (AFP) – Pakistan’s interior ministry said Friday it was “unaware” of Al-Qaeda claiming a link to Benazir Bhutto’s killing but said “extremist elements” behind a wave of attacks this year could be responsible.Asked about a report on Pakistan’s ARY TV network that the militant group founded by Osama bin Laden was […]

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally, the interior ministry told AFP. A suicide bomber blew himself up just after the rally and it was not immediately clear how she died. “It may have been pellets packed into the […]

MOSCOW, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged government ministers to fight inflation by making Russia’s agriculture sector competitive against foreign food imports.The bank’s earlier 2008 inflation target was between six and seven percent.“One of the key tasks for 2008 is to fight inflation. Unfortunately we have not been successful at […]

VALLETTA, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – The tiny Mediterranean island nations of Cyprus and Malta join the eurozone on January 1, turning the single-currency area from a 13-country zone into a club of 15.Large companies will take the change in their stride, said Gordon Cordina, advisor of Malta’s employers’ federation.“For a small open economy like […]

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Dec 26, 2007 (AFP) – Nepal’s state-owned oil company on Wednesday hiked petrol prices by nearly 10 percent, the second increase in the last two months, to meet a rising import bill in the landlocked nation, officials said.Shah said there would be a gradual improvement in supplies in the next few weeks. “The […]

VATICAN CITY, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday used his Christmas homily to speak out against selfishness and the degradation of the environment as he celebrated midnight mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica.The tradition of the creche in St Peter’s Square was established by Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II in 1982. “Man […]

LONDON, Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pledged, in an interview published Monday, to focus on eurozone inflation, and not let interest-rate cuts in the United States and Britain distract the bank from tightening monetary policy.Speaking to the Financial Times from Frankfurt, in an interview conducted on December 13, Trichet […]

BEIJING, Dec 23, 2007 (AFP) – China has proposed lifting millions of its citizens out of the income tax net to ease the burden on low-wage earners amid rising inflation, state press said Sunday.The country is expected to raise the monthly tax threshold from 1,600 yuan (218 dollars) to 2,000 yuan and the legislature was […]

WASHINGTON, Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – The US Senate is holding special one man sessions throughout Christmas and the New Year to prevent President George W.Bush from making appointments without the approval of the Democratic majority. With the bang of a gavel, Democratic Senator Jim Webb declared the first session open on Sunday morning before […]

NEW YORK, Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – US stock markets were higher Monday morning as investors tied up their year-end positions and as Merrill Lynch announced it had won sizeable cash infusions of up to 6.2 billion dollars. Merrill, which has seen its finances stricken by multibillion dollar mortgage market losses, said Temasek Holdings Pte. […]

LOS ANGELES, Dec 21, 2007 (AFP) – An asteroid hurtling towards Mars has a one in 75 chance of chance of scoring a direct hit on the red planet next month, NASA experts said in a statement Friday.“Normally, we’re rooting against the asteroid (if it is threatening Earth),” Chesley said. “This time we’re rooting for […]

SINGAPORE, Dec 22, 2007 (AFP) – Singapore is set to spend two billion dollars (1.41 billion US) to increase its port’s annual capacity by about 40 percent, a newspaper reported Saturday. The project is scheduled for completion by 2013 and is expected to allow Singapore’s port to handle higher volumes from increased global trade, the […]