Category: World

KABUL, March 23, 2008 (AFP) – Afghanistan said Sunday it planned to sell up to 80 percent of its telecommunications arm in one of the most ambitious parts of the country’s ongoing privatisation programme. Bidders must register their interest in purchasing part of Afghan Telecom by April 4 and the tender process was expected to […]

SINGAPORE, March 24, 2008 (AFP) – Singapore’s inflation rate struck an annual 6.5 percent in February, pushed up by higher food and housing costs, the government said Monday.Despite the surge, the government said underlying inflation remained stable and maintained its inflation forecast of 4.5-5.5 percent for 2008. Inflation for 2007 was 2.1 percent. Higher costs […]

MANAMA, March 23, 2008 (AFP) – Abundant liquidity, triggered by sharply higher oil revenues, and the effect of currencies pegged to a weakening dollar are fueling inflation in the Gulf region, economists say. And the situation is so serious that Gulf business leaders will meet in Bahrain on Monday to get advice from the International […]

PROVIDENCE, Guyana, March 22, 2008 (AFP) – Three wickets in the final period, including the scalp of Malinda Warnapura for a maiden Test hundred of 120, wobbled Sri Lanka after their batsmen revelled in the opening Test against West Indies on Saturday. Left-hander Warnapura, opening the batting, maximised ideal conditions to give Sri Lanka a […]

TOKYO, March 23, 2008 (AFP) – With the dollar plunging and the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates, markets are on alert for any signs that foreign investors, particularly in Asia, are buying fewer US assets.But while some private investors may be heading for the exit, analysts say the authorities in Japan and China look set […]

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2008 (AFP) – The United States is bracing for tough competition from Russia and China as cash-flush Asian economies look up to the trio for a new breed of fighter jets to beef up their air forces, experts say. Japan, India, Australia and South Korea are keen to have the most modern, […]

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2008 (AFP) – Bear Stearns’ go-getting investment bankers used to chase million-dollar deals, but staff at the now hard up Wall Street bank have resorted to auctioning off Bear Stearns-branded memorabilia to raise funds.Bear Stearns workers have put a range of mementos up for sale online at eBay in recent days following […]

March 22, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Saturday buried visionary British sci-fi writer Arthur C.Clarke amid tears and tributes from family and fans as the government ordered a minute’s silence across the island.The 90-year-old author, who died at the age of 90 on Wednesday following a brief illness, was buried in a plot owned […]

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – The US Treasury said Thursday it had reached a series of agreements with two powerful sovereign wealth funds based in Abu Dhabi and Singapore covering investments in US markets. The agreements were hammered out in a meeting at the US Treasury hosted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and come […]

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – US telecom giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T on Thursday took home the big prizes in a record-setting US wireless spectrum auction while Google got the open access it eagerly craves. The 700 MHz band currently carries standard television broadcasts, and will be freed up when stations switch to […]

TOKYO, March 21, 2008 (AFP) – In an unprecedented experiment, a Japanese astronaut has thrown a boomerang in space and confirmed it flies back much like on Earth. Astronaut Takao Doi “threw a boomerang and saw it come back” during his free time on March 18 at the International Space Station, a spokeswoman at the […]

SEOUL, March 21, 2008 (AFP) – South Korean police said Friday they had arrested a woman accused of telling her six-year-old daughter to steal some 140,000 dollars from a bank. The girl took cash and cheques on Thursday from a small safe under the desk in the VIP room of a bank in the southern […]