Category: World

HANOI, June 24, 2007 (AFP) – Vietnam has made two more arrests after fishermen dragged up seafloor fibre-optic cables, threatening to sever the country’s global telecommunication links, a news report said Sunday.Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has warned that the cable theft “directly affects Vietnam’s socio-economic development, national security and the country’s prestige in the […]

LONDON, June 23, 2007 (AFP) – The London Stock Exchange confirmed Saturday it was buying Milan’s Borsa Italiana for 1.6 billion euros (2.15 billion dollars) in shares, bolstering the LSE amid takeovers of European stock markets by US rivals. The industry’s globalisation has been accelerated by a move towards electronic trading platforms and away from […]

BEIJING, June 22, 2007 (AFP) – A rise in the value of China’s currency will not in itself be enough to narrow the nation’s yawning trade surplus, a senior central bank official was quoted as saying in state media Friday.The licence scheme, know as qualified domestic institutional investors (QDII), has so far been restricted to […]

NEW YORK, June 21, 2007 (AFP) – The University of Massachusetts on Thursday rebuked Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who was awarded an honorary degree by the university in 1986.The university board cited in a statement Mugabe’s award of an honorary degree by the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1986 “for his actions as a ‘humane […]

LONDON, June 22, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s government is “committing regime change on itself” with its failing economic policy which has sapped faith in the regime from the population, the US ambassador to Harare said in an interview published Friday. Mugabe however blames the woes on targeted sanctions imposed on himself and members of his […]

BANGALORE, India, June 21, 2007 (AFP) – Western companies exhibit a worrying lack of awareness about emerging markets like India that are reshaping global business, according to a British Telecom survey released here Thursday.“The increasing trend towards globalisation has a wider effect on such firms who must look to developing economies to enhance sales, diversify […]

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2007 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund has launched a new surveillance system on exchange-rate policies aimed at preventing a country from jeopardizing the health of the global economy.The IMF said the major reform updates a 30-year-old program and targets currency manipulation that could destabilize trade and private capital flows. However, IMF […]

June 19, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has said it is changing rules of global currency management effectively forcing countries with tighter policies to adjust, as imbalances in the United States continue to build up. “If investors become suddenly unwilling to hold U.S. financial assets at prevailing exchange rates and interest rates, this […]

SINGAPORE, June 18, 2007 (AFP) – Shanghai is set to overtake Singapore as the world’s busiest port in 2008 as the Chinese economy continues with its stellar growth, an executive of the city-state’s port operator said in remarks published Monday.Flourishing global trade has enabled Singapore terminals to handle a record number of shipping containers in […]

WELLINGTON, June 18, 2007 (AFP) – New Zealand’s central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market Monday in an attempt to bring down the value of the local currency from near two-decade highs, market sources said.The New Zealand dollar fell from 75.45 US cents in early Monday trading to around 75 cents after the central […]

BEIJING, June 15, 2007 (AFP) – More than 450 people, including young children, have been freed from slavery in Chinese brick factories and mines but hundreds of others are believed to still be trapped, police said Friday. “It is outrageous that transient rural labourers were forced to work 20 hours a day and one was […]

June 15, 2007 (AFP) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Friday that it had acquired a stake of almost five percent in the Singapore stock exchange operator as part of its efforts to forge links with overseas bourses.The Singapore group welcomed the move and said it was ready to explore prospects for further collaboration with […]