Category: World

COLOMBO, March 27, 2008 (AFP) – Maldives police have started a probe into the source of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of heroin found smuggled into the tiny island capital of Male, officials said Thursday.Police found the drugs at a two-storey apartment on Wednesday night and said the haul was the biggest illegal drug find in […]

PROVIDENCE, Guyana, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka were put under some early pressure after they set West Indies 437 to win in a minimum of 113 overs in the opening Test on Tuesday. Though they poached an early scalp, the Sri Lankans were put on the back-foot as West Indies reached 96 for […]

MADRID, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – Wind power is breaking new records in Spain, accounting for just over 40 percent of all electricity consumed during a brief period last weekend, the country’s wind power association said Tuesday.As heavy winds lashed Spain on Saturday evening wind parks generated 9,862 megawatts of power which translated to 40.8 […]

NEW YORK, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar weakened on foreign exchange markets Tuesday as a gauge that tracks US consumer confidence dived to a five-year low amid mounting economic uncertainty. Traders said a monthly survey by the Conference Board, a private research group, showed its consumer confidence index falling to 64.5 points in […]

BRUSSELS, March 26, 2008 (AFP) – Air passengers flying between Europe and the United States should get more choice and cheaper tickets if all goes as officials plan under a new EU-US aviation pact taking effect on Sunday. After more than four years of often tense negotiations, hopes are high that the new so-called “open […]

LONDON, March 26, 2008 (AFP) – Britain’s top financial services regulator admitted Wednesday to serious failings in its oversight of Northern Rock, the British bank that needed a government bailout to save it from collapse last year.The Financial Services Authority (FSA), responsible for regulating London’s City financial district, said in a statement on Wednesday that […]

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) – US stocks powered higher Monday as a sharply higher price announced for the takeover of troubled investment bank Bear Stearns eased concerns about a financial sector meltdown. News of a surprise rebound in existing home sales also brightened the mood on Wall Street, where analysts said sentiment appeared […]

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 2008 (AFP) – Google wants US regulators to sign off on a plan to pack wireless Internet services into “TV white space” left empty as buffer zones between television broadcasting frequencies.Google on Monday sent the Federal Communications Commission its pitch to use TV white space for mobile Internet or telephone services […]

TOKYO, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – Japanese and US telecom giants NTT and AT&T said Tuesday they were joining a next-generation underwater cable project to speed up booming Internet traffic between Asia and North America. The entrance of NTT Communications Corp., a unit of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, ensures that a branch of the […]

SHANGRILA, China, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – Tibetan monks have expressed fears that a stepped-up political campaign following violent anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa would target future Buddhists leaders.China has long held a vice-like grip over Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in an effort to curb an independence drive that it blames on the exiled Dalai Lama, Tibet’s […]

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar regained some strength Monday after an industry survey showed a surprise rebound in existing US home sales in February following six straight months of decline.Traders said the better-than-expected sales of existing homes, which rose 2.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.03 million units according to […]

CARACAS, March 23, 2008 (AFP) – From the streets of Caracas to a rain-soaked Saint Peter’s Square, Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday amid messages of renewal, peace and hope. At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI called for “solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good” in Tibet, the Middle East and Africa […]