Category: World

FRANKFURT, August 7, 2008 (AFP) – Shares in the German insurance group Allianz plunged on Thursday after the group warned that it would not reach its operating profit target going into 2009 following a difficult second quarter.Allianz shares showed a loss of 3.52 percent to 109 euros in initial trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange […]

KABUL, August 07, 2008 (AFP) – India has almost completed a key road linking Afghanistan to Iranian sea ports despite Taliban attacks that claimed more than 100 lives in two years, the deputy public works minister said.The 217-kilometre (134-mile) route connects a nearly completed ring road around Afghanistan to the Iranian port cities of Bandar-i-Abas […]

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2008 (AFP) – Eleven people were indicted in Boston Tuesday for stealing and selling some 40 million credit and debit card numbers they obtained by hacking into the computers of nine major US retailers, the US Justice Department said. In what the department believes is the largest hacking and identity theft case […]

WASHINGTON, August 5, 2008 (AFP) – The Federal Reserve, in a widely predicted move, kept its main interest rate unchanged at 2.0 percent Tuesday citing concerns about sputtering economic growth and inflationary pressures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed 331 points to close at 11,615.77 as investors cheered the announcement, although tumbling oil prices also […]

LONDON, August 6, 2008 (AFP) – Queen Elizabeth II’s elderly husband Prince Philip has been diagnosed with prostate cancer but is defying the disease and carrying on with engagements, London’s Evening Standard reported Wednesday. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the report, which cited “medical sources” as saying the diagnosis was made in April. “Medical […]

SYDNEY, August 5, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s central bank left interest rates unchanged Tuesday at a 12-year high of 7.25 percent and indicated borrowing costs could fall amid signs of an economic slowdown. “They’re clearly signaling the next move is down,” Oster said. The central bank said it still expected inflation to remain relatively high […]

SAN FRANCISCO, August 4, 2008 (AFP) – Intel on Monday revealed details of a new generation of chips designed for video game lovers, multi-taskers, and people that want power-sipping computers adapted to increasingly mobile lifestyles.The world’s largest chip maker provided a glimpse of “multi-core” computer processing technology codenamed “Larrabee” that it plans to showcase next […]

SYDNEY, August 4, 2008 (AFP) – Scores of Australians have been caught in an alleged global scam believed to have conned people worldwide into buying non-existent tickets to the Beijing Olympics, reports said Monday. The Sydney Morning Herald said one Brisbane man had spent 46,000 dollars (42,876 US) for tickets which never arrived while a […]

BEIJING, August 4, 2008 (AFP) – China Oriental said Monday a takeover of the firm by ArcelorMittal had stalled after Chinese regulators failed to give the green light to the proposed deal in the strategically key steel sector.China’s anti-trust regulator failed to approve the deal for ArcelorMittal to take a stake of more than 70 […]

SEOUL, August 4, 2008 (AFP) – South Korea, the world’s fifth largest crude importer, Monday announced plans for a regional oil storage hub to create new business opportunities and ensure energy security.Existing bunker facilities at the southern ports of Yeosu and Ulsan will be expanded to hold a combined 28 million barrels, said the Vice […]

MUMBAI, August 4, 2008 (AFP) – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch on Monday announced plans to launch six new regional television channels in India, where the media is expanding at a frenetic pace.Murdoch has a strong television presence in Asia’s third-largest economy through leading broadcaster Star, a wholly owned subsidiary of the tycoon’s News Corp. “The […]

HANOI, August 3, 2008 (AFP) – Thousands of workers have gone on strike in Vietnam, demanding higher wages to match the rising cost of living after inflation surged 27 percent year-on-year in July, media reported Saturday. Nearly 5,000 labourers downed tools from Friday at the Kingmaker footwear plant in the Vietnam-Singapore industrial zone in southern […]