Category: World

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]