Category: World

LONDON, Nov 12, 2007 (AFP) – The European Union appears to be “sleepwalking into a vast financial commitment” with its troubled Galileo satellite network, and a rigorous cost-benefit analysis must be produced on the system, a British parliamentary committee said Monday.In a report into the network, the House of Commons Transport Committee said it had […]

TOKYO, Nov 12, 2007 (AFP) – Asian stocks were rocked by another large sell-off Monday with Tokyo hitting a 15-month low, battered by a weak dollar and growing fears over the fallout from the US subprime loan crisis, dealers said. They said the Chinese central bank’s latest move to try to cool the economy had […]

DUBAI, Nov 12, 2007 (AFP) – Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Walid Bin Talal on Monday ordered an Airbus A380, making him the first private buyer of the next generation super jumbo aircraft.Prince Walid, one of the world’s richest men, inked the deal for the “flying palace” at a ceremony with executives from the European aircraft […]

SANTIAGO, Nov 10, 2007 (AFP) – Spain’s King Juan Carlos I told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to “just shut up,” bringing an Ibero-American summit to end in spectacular fashion on Saturday.Spain’s monarch stormed out just before the scheduled end of the forum, visibly furious at Chavez’s description of his former prime minister as a “fascist” […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 10, 2007 (AFP) – Low-cost computers meant to usher poor children worldwide into the digital age are being mass produced in China as US nonprofit One Laptop Per Child strives to deliver on its promise. The first of the XO laptops being built at a Quanta Computer facility in Changshu are destined […]

LONDON, Nov 11, 2007 (AFP) – Foreign ministers will debate whether Pakistan should be suspended from the Commonwealth over President Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of emergency rule at an extraordinary meeting Monday.Nations including Britain and Canada have called for tough action ahead of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group gathering and Secretary-General Don McKinnon described the state […]

NEW YORK, Nov 9, 2007 (AFP) – The gloom on Wall Street has intensified with investor confidence shaken by the banking industry’s troubles and the economic outlook becoming darker. In a punishing week for the market, the main indexes fell sharply as record-high crude oil prices and a sagging dollar further undermined sentiment. The Dow […]

BEIJING, Nov 10, 2007 (AFP) – China’s central bank announced Saturday that it would raise the reserve ratio requirement for banking institutes by half a percentage point to 13.5 percent as of November 26. Despite repeated measures to cool growth largely driven by excess cash in circulation, China’s economy expanded by 11.9 percent in the […]

TOKYO, Nov 9, 2007 (AFP) – The euro hit a fresh record high against the dollar Friday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke painted a gloomy picture of the US economy, dealers said.It declined to 42.78 Philippine pesos from 43.37 and to 9,126.50 Indonesian rupiah from 9,155.50 but remained unchanged at 31.54 Thai baht. His […]

TOKYO, Nov 9, 2007 (AFP) – Japan’s largest telecom group NTT said Friday its operating profit for the first half dropped 18.4 percent as its cellphone unit DoCoMo suffered a slump amid a price war.Net profit is seen at 530 billion yen, up from 460 billion yen, but the revenue forecast was cut to 10.6 […]

NEW YORK, Nov 7, 2007 (AFP) – Crude oil prices eased back from new peaks near the 100-dollar mark Wednesday after a weekly US energy report showed a smaller-than-expected decline in stockpiles. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, dipped 33 cents to close at 96. 37 dollars a barrel, after hitting […]

SINGAPORE, Nov 7, 2007 (AFP) – Oil powered to a new all-time trading high in Asian trade Wednesday amid expectations of a decline in US energy reserves ahead of the peak northern hemisphere winter, dealers said. At 9:15 am (0115 GMT), New York’s main contract light sweet crude for December delivery was up 52 cents […]