Category: World

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2008 (AFP) – The United States should allow Japan to sell its 1.5 million tons of imported US rice or give it to the World Food Program to help cool runaway rice prices, a nongovernmental organization said Wednesday. “An agreement by Washington and Tokyo for Japan to release its 1.5 million tons […]

FRANKFURT, May 15, 2008 (AFP) – Inflation in Germany fell to 2.4 percent in April from 3.1 percent in March, but remains above the European Central Bank’s target of just below two percent, data confirmed Thursday. Final figures for the annual inflation rate released by the statistics office confirmed a preliminary estimate based on a […]

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2008 (AFP) – The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed a mammoth 290 billion dollar farm bill with a veto-proof majority, which includes subsidies for farmers and help with food bills for the needy.The 100-seat Senate was likely to pick up the bill as early as Wednesday night, where sponsors also hoped […]

JAIPUR, India, May 14, 2008 (AFP) – Police sifted for clues Wednesday after seven near-simultaneous bomb blasts tore through crowded markets in the Indian tourist city of Jaipur, killing at least 80 people.Police have detained one suspect over the attacks, which also targeted a packed Hindu temple, as schools and government offices shutdown Wednesday in […]

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – Hewlett-Packard Co.on Tuesday revealed a 13.9-billion-dollar deal to buy Electronic Data Systems in a tie-up that creates a global powerhouse in computer services to compete against IBM.World leading computer maker HP said it will buy Texas-based business services outsourcing titan EDS for 25 dollars a share in cash, […]

BRUSSELS, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – Eurozone finance ministers are considering ways of discouraging “scandalous” excesses in executive pay, including by closing loopholes for golden hand-shakes, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday.“We believe that the excesses of captains of industries’ (pay packages) that we have seen in several countries … are really quite scandalous and […]

BERLIN, May 14, 2008 (AFP) – German President and former IMF head Horst Koehler attacked banks for allowing financial markets to become a “monster” that nearly caused a global collapse, in comments published on Wednesday.“It must by now have become clear to every responsible thinking person in the industry that international financial markets have become […]

TOKYO, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar was slightly firmer in Asian trade on Tuesday as the market waited for a speech by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke for fresh leads on the health of the US economy, dealers said. The dollar rose to 103.91 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 103.83 in New […]

MUMBAI, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – France will sign an agreement with India to help modernise its massive railway system with a focus on safety, training and technology including fast trains, the French transport minister said Tuesday. “Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français – the French National Railway Company – and the Indian Railways […]

ROME, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Rice production in Asia, Africa and Latin America is forecast to reach a new record level in 2008, but world rice prices could remain high in the short term, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Monday.However the destruction of Myanmar’s food resources by a deadly cyclone could […]

SYDNEY, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – Australia will boost its skilled migrant intake 30 percent to record levels in a bid to overcome a shortage of skilled workers, the government said Tuesday.As part of the centre-left Labor government’s first budget, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said an extra 31,000 skilled migrants would be allowed into Australia […]

DUJIANGYAN, China, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – At least 10,000 people remained buried Tuesday in a single city in China’s Sichuan province following a massive earthquake, Xinhua news agency said. The 10,000 were missing in the city of Mianzhu, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast of the epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck on […]