Category: World

YANGON, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Aid groups said Sunday that supplies trickling into cyclone-hit Myanmar were far less than was needed, as the faltering relief effort suffered a new blow with the sinking of a Red Cross boat. The boat, carrying vital supplies of drinking water, rice, and purification tablets, hit a submerged tree […]

BEIJING, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – China’s inflation rate hit 8.5 percent in April, remaining near 12-year highs, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The figure comes on top of 8.3 percent consumer price inflation in March and 8.7 percent in February. China has made inflation control a top priority for economic policy-making this […]

BEIJING, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – A massive earthquake rocked southwest China on Monday killing thousands of people and flattening schools and homes in a powerful tremor that was felt across a swathe of southeast Asia.The quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck close to densely-populated areas of Sichuan province including the capital Chengdu. It […]

WARSAW, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation in World War II, died Monday in Warsaw aged 98, her daughter confirmed.“She died today,” Janina Zgrzembska told AFP. A social worker, Irena Sendler worked with Warsaw’s poor Jewish families prior […]

PARIS, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Renault-Nissan and the Indian group Bajaj announced a joint venture Monday to produce a 2,500-dollar (1,600-euro) car, with sales expected to begin in India in early 2011.The joint venture would be 50 percent owned by Bajaj Auto, 25 percent by Renault and 25 percent by Nissan, said a staement.The […]

MANILA, May 11, 2008 (AFP) – With food prices hitting record highs the jury is still out in Asia as to whether genetically modified crops hold the key to future food security.The Philippine government has openly embraced the commercial growing of genetically modified (GM) corn, but neighbouring countries appear less than enthusiastic. “There has been […]

UTSIRA, Norway, May 11, 2008 (AFP) – As Norway prepares for a future after oil, the gale-force potential of harvesting wind power off its long coastline has become an increasingly attractive proposition.“Wind-mapping shows that … Norway is among the (world’s) most ideal locations for wind power, both on the coast and offshore,” said Norwegian Deputy […]

BRUSSELS, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Microsoft on Friday lodged an appeal at a European court against a record 899 million euro (1.39 billion dollar) fine imposed on it by the EU Commission for defying a landmark anti-trust ruling.“Microsoft today filed with the Court of First Instance an application to annul the Commission decision of […]

FREETOWN, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Health authorities in Sierra Leone on Friday seized a container filled with banned toothpaste from China, which contained high levels of a toxic substance that could cause kidney and liver failure.Last year health authorities in several countries including the United States and Hong Kong warned against brands of Chinese […]

NEW DELHI, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – India’s government on Thursday halted trading in futures contracts for key staple foods and for rubber as it battled to avoid an election drubbing due to high inflation.The government suspended futures trade in basic foods such as chickpeas, soybean oil and potatoes for four months, saying the move […]

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – A surge in food and energy prices is being driven by fundamental market conditions, rather than an investment bubble, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of economists published Thursday.Fifty-one percent of the respondents said demand from China and India was the prime factor in soaring energy prices, and […]