Category: Other

FRANKFURT, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – More than one German in five works in the “low wage” category, a higher proportion than in Britain but below that in the United States, a press report said Friday.The left-of-centre Frankfurter Rundshau quoted researcher Gerhard Bosch as saying the trend was “worrying.” “The conclusions for Germany are worrying,” […]

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Google reported Thursday that its profits surged more than 30 percent to 1.31 billion dollars in the first three months of the year, erasing fears of sagging online advertising revenues. Google’s stock leaped more than 17 percent to 526 dollars a share in after-hours trading on the news. […]

QUITO, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – President Rafael Correa said Thursday Ecuador was close to revoking some 4,000 mining concessions granted since 2004, many of them to US and Canadian companies, that have been idle and used solely for speculation.A government-sponsored bill revoking about 80 percent of mining concessions in gold, silver and limestone deposits […]

NAIROBI, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Kenya’s massive 42-member power-sharing cabinet, named to help restore stability after a bloody post-poll dispute, risks becoming crippled by inefficiency, analysts said.President Mwai Kibaki on Sunday appointed political rival Raila Odinga as his prime minister under a February 28 power-sharing deal that ended months of political violence sparked by […]

NEW YORK, April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices streaked into new record territory for the second straight day Wednesday, boosted by a decline in US energy reserves and as the weakening dollar drew investments in commodities.New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, crossed 115 dollars a barrel for […]

SINGAPORE, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Asia’s top security forum should consider building strategic oil and gas stockpiles as part of efforts to ensure steady supplies in emergencies, officials recommended after a meeting ended Thursday.Senior officials of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held two days of talks in Singapore devoted to the issue of energy […]

PARIS, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – The head of Societe Generale’s corporate and investment banking is to step down along with about a dozen other managers following the rogue trading scandal at the French bank, the Mediapart online newspaper reported Thursday.Jean-Pierre Mustier, a close ally of Societe Generale chairman Daniel Bouton, is expected to leave […]

April 15, 2008 (AFP) – British inflation stood at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in March, unchanged from February, as declines in the cost of household equipment offset hikes to air travel and energy, official data showed Tuesday.The 12-month inflation rate for March meanwhile held above the Bank of England’s 2.0-percent target for a […]

SINGAPORE, April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices eased in Asian trade on Wednesday after a series of record highs driven by supply worries, dealers said.In morning trade, New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, was 30 cents lower at 113.49. The contract earlier topped 114 dollars a barrel for […]

VIENNA, April 15, 2008 (AFP) – OPEC on Tuesday left unchanged its 2008 estimate of growth in world oil demand, arguing that while high prices and slowing economies would brake demand in major industrialised countries, appetite for crude would remain robust elsewhere.. On a day when the price of crude in New York jumped to […]

BRUSSELS, April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Inflation in the 15 nations sharing the euro reached a record 3.6 percent in March, the European Union’s Eurostat data agency said Wednesday, revising up a first estimate of 3.5 percent. The rate, the highest since the launch of the single European currency in 1999, exceeded economist forecasts for […]

SINGAPORE, April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Hong Kong has the world’s priciest apartment rents, with the lease for a three-bedroom unit costing more than 9,700 US dollars on average a month, a survey released Wednesday said.Singapore, which positions itself as a Southeast Asian business hub, saw Asia’s biggest year-on-year rental increase of more than 30 […]