Category: World

WASHINGTON, Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) – Internet giant Google Inc., was expected to announce Wednesday that it will offer a free archive service enabling Internet users to search for printed articles back to the 1700s, US newspapers reported. Called Google News Archive Search, the service will direct users to both paid and free content on […]

BEIJING, Sept 5 (AFP) – China’s forex reserves rose further to hit 954.5 billion dollars at end-July but they must not be allowed to grow much more because of the upward pressure they put on the yuan, Vice President Zeng Qinghong said in an article Tuesday.The latest figure translates into 30.3 percent growth from 732.7 […]

ROME, Sept 5 (AFP) – Italy must take immediate steps to improve its public finances in order to preserve its economic recovery, an Italian member of the European Central Bank’s executive board insisted on Tuesday. “To put off or dilute corrective measures means that we will continue to talk of taxes and operations on public […]

BANGKOK, Sept 5, 2006 (AFP) – Political turmoil and flagging exports have resulted in Thailand trailing its Asian rivals in economic growth, Fitch Ratings reported Monday. The international financial agency revised down the kingdom’s growth forecast from 5.0 percent to 4.3 percent for 2006, saying that political uncertainties had caused Thailand to “lose a year” […]

MUMBAI, Sept 4, 2006 (AFP) – Bollywood is bucking a global trend of outsourcing technical film work to India by using experts from abroad to provide special effects for increasingly demanding audiences, the industry said Monday. Studios with large company backing and aggressive directors are behind the trend that has led to most of the […]

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, Sept 2, 2006 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s trade shipments ground to a virtual halt Saturday as shipping firms refused to use the nation’s main port in a protest over container fees. “Most of the private shipping companies have today (Saturday) suspended transporting cargoes to and from Chittagong port,” Chittagong Port Authority chairman Shahadat Hossain […]

NEW DELHI, Sept 2, 2006 (AFP) – India should make the rupee more freely convertible over the next five years to realise the country’s “maximum” economic potential, a central bank committee has urged. Such a move to loosen curbs on trading the rupee against other currencies would rank as one of India’s biggest economic reforms. […]

TOKYO, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – The IMF executive board has agreed to far-reaching reform of the institution to give more influence to dynamic developing economies including China, managing director Rodrigo Rato said.Under the plan, China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico will all see immediate increases in their fund quotas to reflect the shifting balance […]

NEW DELHI, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – Millions of Indian television viewers will pay a maximum five rupees (11 cents) a month for each pay channel under a new system to take effect by the end of the year, the telecommunications regulator said. The introduction of the conditional access system or CAS will mark a […]

PARIS, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – Only a week after Pluto was stripped of its status as a full-fledged planet of the Solar System, rebel astronomers have launched a campaign to have it restored in pomp and glory.A petition already signed by more than 300 professional researchers is attacking the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decision […]

DEARBORN, Michigan, Aug 31, 2006 (AFP) – Troubled US auto giant Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it was looking to sell its British sports marque Aston Martin. Chief executive Bill Ford said that as part of its strategic review, the US company had decided that Aston Martin “may be an attractive opportunity to raise capital […]

LONDON, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – They are an integral part of British tea-time, but councillors in one city are having to forgo biscuits with their daily cuppa to deal with the growing problem of aggressive seagulls.Bristol City Council in the west of England has calculated it could save 25,000 pounds (37,000 euros, 47,500 dollars) […]