Category: World

LONDON, April 25, 2008 (AFP) – European air travellers to Britain will be screened with automatic facial recognition technology from this summer in a bid to tighten security and ease congestion, the government said Friday. Citizens of Britain and all European Economic Area countries will pass through unmanned clearance gates which will scan passengers’ faces […]

NEW DELHI, April 25, 2008 (AFP) – India’s inflation jumped again to a more than three-year high, according to data on Friday, days ahead of a key meeting of central bankers who are expected to tighten monetary policy further.Annual inflation accelerated nearly two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.33 percent for the week ended April […]

GENEVA, April 25, 2008 (AFP) – Banks should reform their pay structure in the wake of the subprime crisis to avoid encouraging traders to take reckless risks, a top Swiss central banker said on Friday.Jean-Pierre Roth, chairman of the Swiss National Bank’s governing board, said a rethink of corporate governance and strengthening of rules was […]

ZURICH, April 24, 2008 (AFP) – Switzerland’s second biggest bank Credit Suisse on Thursday reported a net loss of 2.148 billion Swiss francs (1.330 billion euros, 2.11 billion dollars) for the first quarter of the year, hit by the ongoing subprime crisis in the United States. Writedowns in leveraged finance and structured products reached 5.3 […]

MIAMI, April 23, 2008 (AFP) – Top retailer Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club unit said Wednesday it is limiting the amount of rice individual shoppers could buy at one time, as rice prices hit new records around the world. Sam’s Club said it had temporarily placed limits of four 20-pound (nine-kilogram) bags a person for jasmine, basmati, […]

SINGAPORE, April 23, 2008 (AFP) – International concern mounted as world oil prices edged closer to 120 dollars a barrel Wednesday and the world’s top producer called for calm. Analysts said a weakening US dollar, supply worries in Nigeria and the OPEC cartel’s reluctance to increase output have all contributed to the price surge. New […]

SYDNEY, April 23, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s annual inflation rate soared to a six-year high of 4.2 percent, quarterly figures released Wednesday showed, outstripping expectations and increasing the chances of an interest rate rise. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer price index rose 1.3 percent in the three months to March, taking the […]

April 23, 2008 (AFP) – At least 67 people, including 15 soldiers, were killed and hundreds wounded when Sri Lankan security forces launched an offensive against Tiger rebels on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.A ministry spokesman said 74 soldiers were also seriously wounded when they tried to advance into territory held by the Liberation Tigers […]

NEW DELHI, April 23, 2008 (AFP) – India has forecast a record grain harvest but experts warned Wednesday farm productivity would have to rise much faster to feed the nation of 1.1 billion people and avert a food security crisis. Food grain production in the crop year ended March 31, 2008 would total a record […]

BASEL, Switzerland, April 23, 2008 (AFP) – Swiss banking giant UBS got approval for a fresh infusion of 14.8 billion dollars and a new chairman Wednesday but shareholders at an annual general meeting made plain their anger over huge subprime losses. Shareholders voted in favour of appointing Swiss lawyer Peter Kurer as chairman, replacing Marcel […]

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2008 (AFP) – Campaigners against piracy in India’s money-spinning entertainment industry, which loses four billion dollars a year to counterfeiters, have taken their battle to the US Congress.“We are losing 90 percent of our home video market in the United States,” veteran Indian filmmaker Bobby Bedi told AFP at a Capitol Hill […]

SYDNEY, April 22, 2008 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is trying to steal last month’s election and the so-called recount of votes is a sham, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Tuesday.MDC secretary general Tendai Biti has charged that 10 MDC supporters have been killed and thousands forced to flee their homes following attacks […]