Category: World

WASHINGTON, September 24, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing allegations of fraud by 26 Wall Street firms including several investment giants whose collapse sent world markets into turmoil, US media said Tuesday. The FBI has set its sights on investment titan Lehman Brothers, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac […]

KUALA LUMPUR, September 24, 2008 (AFP) – Malaysia Wednesday announced another 3.9 percent cut in petrol prices, following recent declines in world oil prices. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the price of petrol will be cut by 10 sen to 2.45 ringgit (0.72 dollars) while diesel prices will be cut by the same amount […]

BERLIN, September 23, 2008 (AFP) – Stopping practices such as cronyism and embezzlement can save lives in poor countries, a graft watchdog said Tuesday as Somalia, Iraq and Myanmar again came bottom in its global corruption rankings. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 “In the […]

LONDON, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn welcomed Tuesday the “bold steps” taken by the United States to stabilise the financial system, but warned global steps were required to get past the crisis. “I welcome the bold steps being taken in the US and look forward to their effective implementation,” the […]

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – Doubts emerged Monday about a gargantuan 700-billion-dollar US bailout of the finance system, plunging markets into renewed turmoil, as oil prices surged, the dollar slid and stocks faced fresh pressure. US and European markets fell hard as anxious investors waited on lawmakers to pass the measure and President George […]

BRUSSELS, September 23, 2008 (AFP) – Business activity in the 15 nations sharing the euro slumped in September to the lowest level since just after the attacks on the United States in 2001, according to a survey on Tuesday, fuelling fresh recession fears. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ […]

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is a wealthy former Wall Street CEO and free-market thinker who has made a radical turn to help engineer the most extensive government bailout of the US economy in decades. Paulson, 62, two years ago swapped his post as CEO of the venerable Goldman […]

BEIJING, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – Nearly 53,000 children in China have been sickened by milk powder contaminated by an industrial chemical, the government said Monday, dramatically ramping up its previous figures.A total of 52,857 children had been brought to hospitals after falling ill, a health ministry spokesman told AFP. Most had “basically recovered” but […]

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – US investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will become bank holding companies and will receive new US government credit, the Federal Reserve announced late Sunday.Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the only independent investment banks remaining in the United States following a meltdown on Wall Street that saw […]

MANCHESTER, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – Britain is to draw up legislation to bolster the role of financial regulators and make it easier to intervene in a crisis to help stem global turmoil, the finance minister said Monday. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 A […]

SYDNEY, September 22, 2008 (AFP) – Australian export earnings are set to hit record levels this year due to continued strong demand for raw materials despite a global economic slowdown, the nation’s chief forecaster said Monday. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 But Australia’s economy […]

WASHINGTON, September 21, 2008 (AFP) – Senior US officials and lawmakers were locked in negotiations Saturday over an historic 700-billion-dollar bailout plan for the financial sector in the worst crisis since the Great Depression. Coming on the heels of the unprecedented government rescue of giant insurer American International Group (AIG) and the seizure of mortgage-finance […]