Category: World

NEW DELHI, April 15, 2008 (AFP) – The daughter of assassinated Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi on Tuesday confirmed she had met one of the people behind her father’s murder. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said meeting Nalini Sriharan at her prison helped her come to terms with the killing of her father by a suicide bomber in […]

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2008 (AFP) – The World Bank on Sunday launched a “New Deal” to fight hunger and poverty and urged governments to take action against a food crisis that has sparked deadly unrest in developing countries.A doubling of food prices over the past three years could push 100 million people in poorer developing […]

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2008 (AFP) – World economic leaders have taken steps to alleviate the worst financial shock in decades and a food price crisis that is sparking deadly unrest in developing countries. In three days of meetings that ended Sunday, finance ministers and central bankers grappled with the credit squeeze and inflation emergencies against […]

PARIS, April 14, 2008 (AFP) – Farming practices must change to confront soaring food prices that threaten to drive millions of poor people around the world into even deeper poverty, said a new study to be released here Tuesday. “Business as usual is no longer an option,” the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology […]

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2008 (AFP) – Rising prices, especially for food, could have terrible consequences for the world, including the risk of war, and action needs to be taken to keep inflation in check, the IMF head said Saturday. “Food prices, if they go on like they are doing today …the consequences will be terrible,” […]

SINGAPORE, April 12, 2008 (AFP) – Record high oil prices, environmental concerns, affluent lifestyles as well as the need to dodge city traffic are driving a boom in Asia’s motorcycle and bicycle market, industry figures say.The rediscovery of cycling as a way to keep fit is also helping to boost demand for two-wheelers, those at […]

PARIS, April 12, 2008 (AFP) – Inflation in Europe, far from being throttled as suggested in some quarters only 18 months ago, is alive and kicking hard at the middle classes as well as ordinary workers.Price rises, and consequent constraints on living standards, are pushing trade unions into confrontation with management in many countries. A […]

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2008 (AFP) – The global economy faces “considerable challenges” in the shape of a slowing US economy, financial market turmoil and higher inflation, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Saturday. Paulson, addressing the spring meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, said global growth had been favorable in past years but […]

NEW YORK, April 10, 2008 (AFP) – A photograph of a nude Carla Bruni, the ex-model now married to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was sold Thursday to a Chinese collector for 91,000 dollars at Christie’s — more than 20 times its predicted price. The gelatin silver print, taken by photographer Michel Comte in 1993, depicts […]

NEW DELHI, April 11, 2008 (AFP) – Indian inflation accelerated to 7.41 percent, according to official data released Friday, dealing a blow to the government and fanning expectations of monetary tightening. Annual inflation quickened to 7.41 percent for the week ended March 29, from seven percent the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index, […]

HONG KONG, April 10, 2008 (AFP) – Soaring fuel costs and a decision to buy aircraft instead of renting them led to the demise of budget Hong Kong airline Oasis, the company’s founders said in an open letter published Thursday.Raymond and Priscilla Lee apologised to the thousands of stranded passengers, company employees and to investors […]

SINGAPORE, April 10, 2008 (AFP) – Singapore’s economy grew an annual 7.2 percent in the first quarter, faster than the 5.4 percent expansion recorded in the previous three months, the government said Thursday. But economists said the growth is likely to taper off in coming months amid a widely-expected US-led global slowdown. Last quarter’s performance […]