Category: World

LONDON, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) – Playboy continued its evolution from adult magazine to international merchandising brand by opening its first store in Europe Friday at the heart of London’s shopping district.Playboy has a long history of doing business in the British capital.In 1966, it opened its first club and casino on London’s upmarket Park […]

NEW DELHI, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation rate has fallen to a near five-year low, official data on Friday showed, but soaring global crude prices threaten to push the cost-of-living higher, economists said.Inflation slowed to 3.32 percent for the week ended September 8 from 3.52 for the previous week, according to the […]

OTTAWA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) – The Canadian dollar reached a 30-year high Tuesday, nearing parity with the US greenback after the US Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate. The loonie closed at 0.9864 US dollars, after touching 0.9874 US in the day’s trading, its highest level since January 1977, according to the Bank […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – A bold half-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve will give the ailing US economy a shot in the arm, but runs the risk of stoking inflation and appearing to bail out speculators, analysts say.Tuesday’s cut in the federal funds rate to 4.75 percent is seen as a pre-emptive […]

WASHINGTON, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – Now backed by the United States, the socialist former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn is set to sail to victory next week in the race to become the International Monetary Fund managing director. The United States weighed into the two-man contest on Wednesday, one day ahead of Strauss-Kahn’s interview […]

LIMA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) – About 200 villagers have fallen ill from mysterious gases that spewed from a crater after a meteorite crashed in southeastern Peru, but no radiation has been detected, officials and scientists said Tuesday. Scores of residents of the farming village of Carancas began vomiting and complaining of headaches and dizziness […]

LONDON, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – Northern Rock customers finally appeared confident that they could leave their savings with the crisis-hit lender, with few, if any, expected to queue outside branches on Wednesday. Government pledges to protect the savings of the bank’s account-holders quelled the panic triggered by news that Northern Rock asked the Bank […]

Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Prosecutors in the Philippines have dropped charges against Goldquest directors involved in an alleged investment scam, media reports from the country said. It later enacted anti-pyramiding legislation that outlawed multi-level marketing recruitment schemes. Bayani Vargas, Presiding Judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, has dropped a criminal charge against […]

BEIJING, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) – China, the world’s fastest growing aviation market, will need 3,400 new airplanes worth about 340 billion dollars over the next 20 years, US aircraft maker Boeing said Tuesday.The forecast marks a dramatic increase from an earlier prediction by Boeing of 2,900 aircraft in the period from 2005 to 2025. […]

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) – The World Bank and United Nations on Monday threw their backing behind developing nations seeking to recover assets pilfered by corrupt leaders, unveiling a scheme to lend muscle to their claims. “There should be no safe haven for those who steal from the poor,” World Bank chief Robert […]

NEW YORK, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) – Wall Street stocks fell Monday as anxiety ran high a day ahead of a crucial Federal Reserve meeting to decide the course of US interest rates. Shares in the Nasdaq Stock Market fell 1.43 percent to 34.41 on reports it was close to a deal to sell its […]

BEIJING, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) – A man in southern China collapsed and died after a three-day marathon online session at a cybercafe, state media reported on Monday.The web-user, estimated to be 30 years old, suddenly collapsed in front of his computer terminal in Guangdong province, and emergency personnel were unable to revive him, the […]