Category: World

TEHRAN, Dec 22, 2007 (AFP) – Iran on Saturday started to allow motorists an extra 20 litres (5.2 gallons) of petrol a month under a rationing scheme aimed at cutting back on frenzied consumption, state television said. Many consumers in Tehran are obtaining additional petrol on the black market, paying three to five times the […]

NEW DELHI, Dec 20, 2007 (AFP) – India’s Tata Group has demanded an apology from US-listed luxury hotel chain Orient-Express for rejecting its offer for a strategic tie-up on the grounds that its brand value might be diluted.Assocham, an Indian chambers of commerce body, slammed Orient-Express’s rebuff as one of “arrogance toward one of India’s […]

GALLE, Sri Lanka, Dec 20, 2007 (AFP) – Skipper Mahela Jayawardene hit an unbeaten 213 as Sri Lanka declared their first innings at 499-8 before lunch on the third day of the final cricket Test against England here on Thursday.Sri Lanka, who lead the three-match series 1-0, have eight sessions to force a 2-0 scoreline […]

WASHINGTON, Dec 20, 2007 (AFP) – The US government declined to name China a currency “manipulator” but said in a report Wednesday that the Chinese yuan remains severely undervalued against the dollar.The Treasury, in a semiannual report to Congress, maintained its position that China should quicken its pace of economic reforms that would help lift […]

BANGALORE, India, Dec 20, 2007 (AFP) – India’s biggest discount carrier, Deccan, will merge with liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s upmarket Kingfisher Airlines to create the nation’s biggest domestic airline, officials said.The firm formed by the merger next year will keep the name Kingfisher, the flagship beer brand of Mallya’s UB Group, officials from the two […]

ROVANIEMI, Finland, Dec 19, 2007 (AFP) – SantaSport, SantaFood, SantaPark, Hotel Santa Claus, Santa Hair Center: in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi Father Christmas is everywhere, milked to the max by local businesses.“Christmas tourism is a magnet for investments,” says Tuula Rintala-Gardin, the head of tourism for the municipality of Rovaniemi, a town of […]

NEW YORK, Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – One of only 17 existing copies of the Magna Carta, an 800-year-old English royal manuscript setting out the rights of man, sold at auction at Sotheby’s in New York Tuesday for 21.3 million dollars. Arguably the most important document ever to be auctioned, the iconic vellum manuscript was […]

NEW YORK, Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – World stock markets were roiled Monday by worries that resurgent US inflation would reduce the chances for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut to shield the economy from a credit crunch. Wall Street shares fell sharply in the wake of a sea of red on European and Asian […]

RIYADH, Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned a teenage girl sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes after being gang raped, Al Jazirah newspaper reported on Monday.The ruling against the 19-year-old girl in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom had attracted widespread international condemnation, including from human rights groups and […]

TEHRAN, Dec 16, 2007 (AFP) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday blamed his political rivals and the global economy for stoking inflation in Iran, amid increasing domestic criticism of his economic policies.Prominent moderates such as reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami have publicly lambasted Ahmadinejad for his handling of the economy in recent weeks. In a prime-time […]

NEW YORK, Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – Arguably the most important document ever to be auctioned goes on sale Tuesday when the Magna Carta, an 800-year-old English royal manuscript, goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s in New York. The royal charter, dated 1297 and bearing the wax seal of King Edward I, enshrined the rights […]

TOKYO, Dec 16, 2007 (AFP) – Japanese car giant Toyota Motor Corp. plans to raise its global output to near 10 million units next year, out-distancing its rival General Motors Corp. of the United States, a news report said Sunday. While Toyota is expanding its overseas production facilities, GM has been laying off workers and […]