Category: Other

LONDON, May 20, 2008 (AFP) – British clothes to food retailer Marks and Spencer posted annual profits of more than one billion pounds (1.2 billion euros, 1.9 billion dollars) Tuesday, the company said. Pre-tax profits of 1.1 billion pounds for the financial year to March 29 were 4.3 percent ahead of the previous 12-month period […]

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2008 (AFP) – Microsoft said Sunday it was considering some kind of new deal with Yahoo that would not involve a new takeover bid, two weeks after withdrawing its offer to acquire the struggling Internet pioneer.“In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo Inc., Microsoft announced […]

BRUSSELS, May 19, 2008 (AFP) – The flow of European cash into Indian firms surged more than fourfold last year, far surpassing EU investments into Chinese companies, estimates from the bloc’s Eurostat data agency showed on Monday.Foreign direct investment from the 27-nation European Union into India jumped to 10.9 billion euros (17.0 billion dollars) last […]

TOKYO, May 19, 2008 (AFP) – An advisory panel called on Japan’s government Monday to help remove barriers to foreign investment amid calls overseas for the world’s second-largest economy to open up more.The panel of academics, business chiefs and other experts proposed Japan treat foreign and domestic investors equally and lower its corporate tax of […]

NEW DELHI, May 18, 2008 (AFP) – India’s Reliance Entertainment said Sunday it had signed deals with the production houses of top Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney to make films worth about a billion dollars.The media group has signed separate deals with the production firms of Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Jim […]

BERLIN, May 17, 2008 (AFP) – The destruction of flora and fauna is costing the world two trillion euros (3.1 trillion dollars) a year, or six percent of its overall gross national product, according to a report trailed by German news weekly Der Spiegel.The European Union and German environment ministry-led research, entitled “The Economics of […]

KIEV, May 18, 2008 (AFP) – The new market economies of the former Soviet block have shrugged off the global credit crunch but are facing slower economic growth because of rampant inflation, the EBRD said Sunday at its annual meet. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s 17th annual two-day conference takes place this year […]

NEW DELHI, May 16, 2008 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate accelerated to a 44-month high of nearly eight percent on Friday, dealing a fresh blow to the government which fears a voter backlash.Annual inflation climbed more than two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.83 percent for the week ended May 3 from 7.61 percent the […]

PARIS, May 16, 2008 (AFP) – French wireless carrier Orange announced a deal Friday to bring Apple’s iPhone to more than a dozen countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.The deal was announced some 10 days after British mobile phone carrier Vodafone said it would distribute the handset to customers in 10 […]

NAIROBI, May 17, 2008 (AFP) – Africa’s main trading bloc has agreed to finalise the details of a customs union by September to pave the way for its launch by the year’s end, Kenyan Trade Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said. Ministers of the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) ended a two-day meeting […]

JUYUAN, China, May 17, 2008 (AFP) – Local residents have a simple answer for why the four-storey Juyuan Middle School collapsed during the China quake — killing hundreds of children — while nearby buildings remained standing.Greed. “Look at the building materials they used,” said one resident in this rural community in southwest China.“The cement wasn’t […]

LIMA, May 15, 2008 (AFP) – EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson on Thursday urged a quick draft agreement on the direction of global trade talks underway in Geneva before US elections in November closed “the window of opportunity.” Negotiating papers in the so-called Doha Round were to be published next week and Europe and developing […]