Category: World

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 […]

SINGAPORE, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices retreated from record highs of almost 112 dollars in Asian trading Tuesday on worries energy demand would be affected by the financial market turbulence in the United States, dealers said. “The market could become even more vulnerable to selling due to the deteriorating economic conditions, as well,” […]

HONG KONG, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – The international community has reacted cautiously to the unrest in Tibet, urging restraint from both Beijing and Tibetans, even as street protests condemning China have grown in recent days.“We have really urged the Chinese over several years to find a way to talk with the Dalai Lama, who […]

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 […]

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve opened a meeting Tuesday tipped to cut interest rates sharply as part of a multi-pronged effort to halt a mushrooming financial crisis, analysts say.Just two days after the US central bank engineered a dramatic bailout of collapsing investment bank Bear Stearns, the Federal Open Market […]

TOKYO, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Japan’s government is set to present a new nomination for central bank chief to parliament Tuesday, the eve of the incumbent governor’s departure, a parliament official said. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposed Monday that Fukui carry on for an unspecified period of time, but the opposition rejected the […]

NEW YORK, March 17, 2008 (AFP) – The US dollar plumbed fresh record lows against the euro Monday as fears about America’s financial system spiked following a near collapse of Bear Stearns, prompting speculation about a possible central bank intervention. The single European currency briefly soared to a record 1.5905 dollars in Asian trading before […]