Category: World

BRUSSELS, April 21, 2008 (AFP) – Sportswear workers’ rights are being trampled asunder with unpaid overtime and gruelling conditions rife as the industry gears up for the Olympic Games in Beijing, according to a report. Researchers for the Play Fair 2008 campaign found that the conditions for sportswear equipment makers had hardly improved since the […]

TEHRAN, April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Three of Iran’s top clerics have criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his handling of the economy, which is currently battling 18 percent inflation, the press reported Saturday. “We shift problems and faults onto others and in order to say we are innocent we blame others,” Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavikani, […]

ROME, April 20, 2008 (AFP) – Oil-consuming countries and international oil producers acknowledged Sunday they can no longer influence oil prices, as a global gathering of the energy elite got underway in Rome.“In the 1970s, international oil companies (IOCs) controlled nearly 75 percent of global oil reserves and 80 percent of oil production,” said Paolo […]

LONDON, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Britain’s central bank is to pump an extra 50 billion pounds (63.4 billion euros, 99.9 billion dollars) into the banking system as early as the end of next week, BBC television said Friday. Without citing sources, the broadcaster said the Bank of England would issue one-year bonds over three […]

LONDON, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Marks and Spencer said Friday it had entered into a joint venture with Reliance Retail of India in the hope of establishing the British food-to-clothes retailer as a “major retail brand” in South Asia. “Reliance Retail is the ideal partner for us to accelerate our expansion and create the […]

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Malaysia will deploy an elite police squad along with 1,000 police officers to protect the troubled Olympic torch relay amid fears that protesters will disrupt the leg, a report said Saturday.The torch arrives early Sunday, Malaysian Olympic officials said, ahead of Monday’s relay.It will be kept at an […]

TEHRAN, April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Even at 115 dollars a barrel, oil is priced too low, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments published on Saturday adding that the commodity “should find its real value”.“Oil at 115 dollars a barrel in today’s market is a deceiving figure, oil is a strategic commodity and should […]

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Tough times in the US economy play into Google’s strength as businesses trust the Internet giant to best target their precious advertising dollars, analysts said Friday.While the US economy staggers and the dollar sinks, Google’s profits defied worries and soared to 1.31 billion dollars in the first three […]

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Google reported Thursday that its profits surged more than 30 percent to 1.31 billion dollars in the first three months of the year, erasing fears of sagging online advertising revenues. Google’s stock leaped more than 17 percent to 526 dollars a share in after-hours trading on the news. […]

QUITO, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – President Rafael Correa said Thursday Ecuador was close to revoking some 4,000 mining concessions granted since 2004, many of them to US and Canadian companies, that have been idle and used solely for speculation.A government-sponsored bill revoking about 80 percent of mining concessions in gold, silver and limestone deposits […]

NEW DELHI, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Hundreds of Tibetan demonstrators were arrested in India and neighbouring Nepal Thursday as thousands of police and soldiers defended the Beijing Olympic torch on a suffocating run through New Delhi.The heart of the Indian capital was sealed off for the most sensitive leg of the protest-hit global relay […]

HONG KONG, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – China has imposed further curbs on visitors, just weeks after it stopped issuing multiple-entry visas, Hong Kong travel agents said Friday, sparking concern among the business community.“You now need a copy of your travel ticket both in and out of the country and a hotel voucher before they […]