Category: World

DHARAMSHALA, India, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – Eighty people have been “confirmed” killed in unrest in Tibet, the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile said Sunday.“Regarding bodies, it’s 80. We have 80 unidentified bodies,” said Thubten Samphel, the spokesman for the Tibetan administration in Dharamshala. He said the toll had been established from “calls made from Tibet” by […]

BAGHDAD, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – The explosive vest has become the weapon of choice for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, with most jihadists nowadays wearing the lethal garment and the number of suicide attacks on the rise, the US military said Sunday. “There has been an increase over time in the use of suicide vest bombers,” […]

NEW YORK, March 14, 2008 (AFP) – The troubled US investment bank Bear Stearns said Friday it was receiving an emergency loan organized by a rival bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Bear Stearns share price plummeted after its president and chief executive, Alan Schwartz, said the bank’s liquidity position had “significantly […]

MOSCOW, March 14, 2008 (AFP) – Russia is ready to hand India military aircraft engineering secrets in a bid to win a 12-billion dollar (7.65-billion euro) aviation contract tender, Interfax agency reported Friday.Other world military aviation giants competing for the contract include Americans Boeing and Lockheed Martin, French group Dassault, the European consortium behind the […]

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – The Indian head of an international electronics firm pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of shipping restricted weapons technology to the Indian government, the US Justice Department said. Parthasarathy Sudarshan, president of Cirrus Electronics with offices in the United States, Singapore and India, admitted to the felony charge of […]

HARARE, 2008 (AFP) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Saturday called on beneficiaries of his government’s land reforms to work harder on farms to avert food shortages, at a ceremony ahead of this month’s elections.He said government investment in farm equipment “should see us greatly reduce the incidence of food shortages in future”. “What now […]

HONG KONG, March 14, 2008 (AFP) – Global commodities markets were bubbling on Friday after gold briefly peaked over 1,000 dollars an ounce, oil hit new highs and the dollar tumbled to a record low against the euro.In Asian markets Friday Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opened up 1.05 percent after a 4.8 percent fall […]

SYDNEY, March 14, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s central bank governor has predicted inflation is poised to rise to four percent, fuelling expectations interest rates will be hiked again. Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens, who has lifted rates twice this year in a bid to curb prices, said the latest inflation figures due next month were […]

NEW YORK, March 14, 2008 (AFP) – US stocks fell sharply Friday as the troubled investment bank Bear Stearns said it was receiving emergency funding from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 3.423 percent from 3.534 percent Thursday and that on the 30-year bond […]

NEW YORK, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices hit a record 111.00 dollars per barrel Thursday amid an accelerating price rally which traders say has been fueled by a sharp fall in the value of the US dollar and supply concerns.. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said speculators were largely responsible for the […]

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2008 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday warned authorities worldwide to “think the unthinkable” in planning to cope with a mounting crisis in the global financial system.John Lipsky, IMF first deputy managing director, called for “decisive policy action” amid a credit crunch that stems from the US real estate meltdown […]

NEW YORK, March 12, 2008 (AFP) – Rocketing oil prices broke through 110 dollars per barrel for the first time in New York on Wednesday continuing a record run amid supply concerns and fevered market speculation.OPEC is under intense pressure from the United States to increase its production but declined to do so again as […]