Category: Other

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 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 […]

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 […]

TOKYO, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar slumped to a 12-year low against the yen and to a new all-time nadir versus the euro in Asian trade Thursday as traders bet on a hefty cut to US interest rates next week, dealers said. It is “only a matter of time before the dollar tests […]

NEW YORK, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – Dutch-listed investment fund Carlyle Capital Corporation announced Thursday it had failed to reach a deal with its creditors and had defaulted on debt of nearly 17 billion dollars (11 billion euros).Share-trading in the troubled fund, linked to private equity giant Carlyle Group, was suspended in Amsterdam Friday, resumed […]

BILOXI, Mississippi, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Barack Obama won Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the southern state of Mississippi, racking up another victory over Hillary Clinton in the party’s bitter White House race.The Illinois senator’s camp demanded she be ousted from the campaign, while Clinton said she regretted the remarks but did not cut Ferraro, […]

NEW YORK, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – World stocks broke out of their slump with a powerful rally Tuesday as the US and other central banks moved to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to ease a global credit squeeze. The announcement helped lift the malaise in equity markets, which had […]

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – The United States ranked North Korea and Myanmar Tuesday among the world’s worst violators of human rights and took other Asian countries to task for alleged abuses.In Australia, the report mentioned “domestic violence against women and children, particularly in Aboriginal communities, and societal discrimination against Aboriginal people.” But the […]

TOKYO, March 12, 2008 (AFP) – Japanese opposition lawmakers Wednesday voted down Bank of Japan deputy Toshiro Muto as the next central bank chief, defying the government which refused to look for a new candidate.Relations between the two main parties have been severely strained by a string of disputes culminating in the ruling coalition ramming […]