Category: World

BEIJING, June 28, 2008 (AFP) – China’s capital Beijing is to raise its minimum salary by 10 percent in a bid to help the worst-off cope with rising inflation, state media said Saturday. Beginning from July 1, the minimum monthly salary for city employees will rise from 730 to 800 yuan (106 to 116 dollars), […]

MUMBAI, June 28, 2008 (AFP) – Indian shares are set to run into rough weather again next week, as global crude prices and domestic inflation continue to surge, raising fears of further monetary tightening, dealers said.Investors are also wary of rising political uncertainty with media reports suggesting Friday that India’s ruling Congress party may decide […]

MOSCOW, June 28, 2008 (AFP) – The chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom has proposed setting up a European network of service stations for cars fuelled by natural gas, as an alternative to petrol.“We are proposing to our European partners the creation of a network of natural gas stations in Europe with the participation […]

NUSA DUA, June 28, 2008 (AFP) – A conference in Indonesia on the international waste trade ended without breaking a 14-year impasse over the sale of hazardous waste across borders, the host’s delegate said Saturday.The five-day conference on the resort island of Bali ended late Friday with a coalition of countries again stalling the ban […]

HARARE, June 27, 2008 (AFP) – The prices at Dzidzai Guti’s makeshift stall can seem eye-popping, with rotting oranges, a pack of cigarettes and bananas fetching as much as 250 million Zimbabwean dollars.But the 27-year-old gardener struggles.He and his wife, who works as a maid, live in a room in the back of his boss’s […]

SINGAPORE, June 27, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices eased in Asia on Friday after reaching 140 dollars for the first time following the OPEC president’s forecast that prices could soon surge as high as 170 dollars a barrel. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, dropped 18 cents to 139.46 […]

LONDON, June 27, 2008 (AFP) – European stocks mostly fell on Friday as oil prices shot to record levels, but losses were less than falls on other global markets hit by soaring crude costs and a weak US economy. Concerns are growing among investors that rising energy costs will fuel inflation and lead to higher […]

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was scheduled to meet Wednesday with officials in charge of Pentagon and Air Force purchases to discuss the controversial 35-billion-dollar refueling tanker deal. On June 18 the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, backed a protest by aerospace giant […]

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – Google has introduced a tool that lets advertisers figure out which websites their ideal customers are inclined to visit.“Google Ad Planner” lets advertisers enter demographics they wish to target and then returns a list of websites likely to appeal to people with those characteristics. “We hope you’ll find […]

MUMBAI, June 24, 2008 (AFP) – India’s central bank unleashed a fresh round of monetary tightening Tuesday, raising its key short-term lending rate by half-a-percentage point after inflation hit a 13-year high of over 11 percent. The Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate at which commercial banks borrow funds from the central bank […]

PARIS, June 24, 2008 (AFP) – The number of millionaires worldwide rose 6.0 percent last year to 10.1 million, with the sharpest gains recorded in emerging market powerhouses India, China and Brazil, a study revealed Tuesday.The 12th annual World Wealth Report, prepared by US investment bank Merrill Lynch and information technology group Capgemini, highlighted the […]

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – US school children will face longer walks to the bus stop, longer days and shorter weeks at school, while university students are pushed to take online courses, all thanks to relentless spiraling fuel prices. Several counties in the central-eastern state of Maryland are considering giving their yellow school buses […]