Category: World

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 […]

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Men and women have different tastes in food, with men favoring meat and poultry, and women fruits and vegetables, researchers said in what was touted as the most extensive study to date of gender differences in eating habits. More than 14,000 adult men and women were surveyed from May […]

LONDON, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Crude oil and gold prices plunged from recent record heights on Wednesday, as markets were rattled by concerns that ongoing global economic turmoil would dent demand for commodities, analysts said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, plummeted 4.22 dollars to 105.20 dollars per […]

SINGAPORE, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – World oil prices continued to fall in Asian trade Thursday, with more volatility expected as investors continue to assess the US economy, dealers said. In early morning trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for May fell 60 cents to 101.94 dollars per barrel from its close of […]

March 20, 2008 (AFP) – British sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke will be buried at a private funeral in Sri Lanka’s capital on Saturday, a close aide to the late writer said.The author had been largely confined to a wheelchair as a result of post-polio syndrome for several decades. Clarke, who captured the world’s imagination […]

NEW YORK, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Wall Street joined a potent global stock rally Tuesday as the US Federal Reserve delivered a hefty rate cut aimed at easing credit turmoil and reviving growth in the world’s biggest economy. Stronger-than-expected results from investment banks Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, which managed to weather the market […]

OTTAWA, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – For the first time in Canada, federal police have charged a man with financing terrorists for soliciting cash for the Tamil Tigers, a banned group in this country, police said Tuesday.Thambithurai was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a bail hearing. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’s anti-terrorism […]

NEW YORK, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Credit card giant Visa raised more than 17 billion dollars Tuesday in the largest share offering in US history, despite a growing financial crisis in the country. Visa Inc. sold 406,000,000 shares priced at 44 dollars each, raising nearly 17.9 billion dollars before it begins trading on the […]

March 19, 2008 (AFP) – British-born science fiction guru Arthur C.Clarke who died here Wednesday is likely to be buried at the main cemetery in Colombo at the weekend at a “strictly secular” funeral, an aide told AFP.“The funeral is most likely to be on Saturday,” Clarke’s secretary Nalaka Gunawardena said. “We are awaiting the […]

SHANGHAI, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – China is expected by May to officially launch a company making large jets that could eventually rival Boeing and Airbus, official media reported Wednesday.The state assets watchdog and the government of Shanghai, where the aircraft will be assembled, will be the first and second biggest shareholders respectively, the China […]

SINGAPORE, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Tourism revenues in the Asia Pacific region are expected to surpass 4.6 trillion US dollars by 2010 and visitor arrivals should reach close to half a billion people, an industry association said Wednesday.A US recession is likely to affect the industry, but strong growth in key Asian economies such […]

PARIS, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – A Paris court on Tuesday ordered the release of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel while investigators probe a multi-billion-dollar scandal at Societe Generale bank, a legal source said.The 31-year-old junior trader has been in detention since February 8. Societe Generale has blamed trades made by Kerviel for mammoth losses of […]