Category: World

PARIS, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – Annual inflation in the 30 industrialised members of the OECD fell to 1.8 percent in the year to August from 2.0 percent in July 2006, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday.In Japan, prices were down by 0.2 percent in August compared with a year earlier after […]

Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – An air ambulance arrived in the Maldives Tuesday to evacuate a British honeymoon couple wounded in a weekend bomb attack, a minister said. The plane, chartered by the Maldivian government, will airlift Christian and Jennifer Donelan, both 32, to Britain, where they will undergo further medical treatment, Tourism Minister Mahamood […]

Oct 01, 2007 (LBO) – Union Bank has got a 420 million rupee capital infusion from Saudi Arabia that will help it meet new Sri Lankan Central Bank regulations for capital by the end of 2009. Prince Faisal Al Faisal, the grandson of King Faisal of Saudi, placed the investment in the last week of […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – The United States reaffirmed last year its leadership in world arms trade, cornering nearly 42 percent of the market as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a weapons shopping spree among neighboring nations, according to a congressional report set to be released Monday. But the overall volume of […]

BANGKOK, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – Thailand’s inflation rate in September rose to 2.1 percent year-on-year due to a spike in food prices and rising fuel prices, the Commerce Ministry said Monday. Thailand’s economy is expected to grow just over four percent in 2007, ranking among the lowest in Southeast Asia. The September figure was […]

Oct 01, 2007 (LBO) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is helping Maldives probe a blast in the capital that injured 12 tourists Saturday, the US embassy in Colombo said Monday. The embassy said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the incident. “We condemn without reservation this senseless act of violence,” the […]

Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – The Maldives has arrested 10 suspects and is seeking outside help to investigate a bombing that wounded 12 foreign tourists in the first such attack on the holiday paradise, officials said Monday. The country appeared to have been largely spared religious fundamentalism although political tensions have flared periodically since an […]

Burundi cop, Sri Lanka professors win Swiss human rights prize GENEVA, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – A policeman from the central African country of Burundi and two university professors from Sri Lanka have been named as the top human rights defenders for 2007 by a Swiss-based rights group. Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a former policeman turned […]

LONDON, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) – The high-flying euro, which last week soared from record to record against the dollar, has sparked sharply contrasting reactions in France and Germany, with Paris complaining and Berlin applauding.The single currency, shared by 11 other European nations besides France and Germany, shot to a new all-time high of 1.4263 […]

Sept 29, 2007 (LBO) – Police in the Indian Ocean Maldives Islands have sought foreign help to probe a blast that injured 12 tourists Saturday, as authorities feared a hit on the country’s top revenue earning industry, reports said. The incident had shattered the islands’ image as a tranquil tourist destination, which had helped the […]

GABORONE, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) – The IMF will continue to shun Zimbabwe until its central bank stops meddling and the government starts managing its natural resources properly, a senior official said on Thursday. “Zimbabwe must put in place the proper economic policies and gradually they will see the IMF coming on board,” International Monetary […]

Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) – A home-made bomb ripped through a crowded park in the Maldivian capital Male Saturday, wounding 12 foreign nationals, tourism minister Mahamood Shougee told AFP.Since then, Britain had been helping the government and opposition groups sink their differences and work towards democratic reforms.Two Britons, two Japanese and eight Chinese were wounded […]