Category: Other

TOKYO, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar was weak in Asian trade Monday in the wake of soft US economic news as investors wonder about the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy action next month, dealers said. Trade moved in tight ranges as investors squared positions in shortened trade this week ahead of holidays […]

DHAKA, Nov 18, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh said Sunday the death toll from a massive cyclone hit 2,000, with that grim tally certain to rise as the impoverished country struggled to get aid to millions of people left homeless.The death toll has been jumping by hundreds at a time as rescue workers fight their way […]

BARGUNA, Bangladesh, Nov 18, 2007 (AFP) – The death toll from a massive cyclone that smashed through impoverished Bangladesh was 3,000 and continuing to rise Sunday with millions left homeless, hungry and without medical help.Three days after the disaster, rescue workers were still fighting their way to remote areas where entire villages on the coast […]

RIYADH, Nov 18, 2007 (AFP) – OPEC hardliners and moderates were deeply divided about whether oil should be used as a political weapon at a rare summit of the cartel on Sunday, with Venezuela and Saudi Arabia at loggerheads.The summit concludes later Sunday with a declaration expected to assure the world of sustainable oil supplies. […]

HOBART, Australia, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan opening batsman Marvan Atapattu is considering quitting international cricket after the second Hobart Test and playing club cricket in Sydney, reports said Saturday.But he went on to score 51 in the first innings to keep his place in the team.In 89 Tests Atapattu has scored 5,397 […]

DHAKA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh said Saturday it feared thousands of corpses were littering its southern coast after the worst cyclone in years tore through the impoverished and low-lying area.Officials said the army and relief workers were still battling to reach the worst-hit districts, where village after village were flattened when cyclone Sidr […]

WASHINGTON, Nov 15, 2007 (AFP) – A top EU regulator on Thursday welcomed a move by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to abolish rules that had obliged publicly-listed European companies to comply with US accounting standards. SEC regulators approved new rules which will no longer oblige publicly-traded EU companies with operations in the United […]

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16, 2007 (AFP) – Pakistani authorities freed former premier Benazir Bhutto and a leading human rights activist from house arrest Friday as a senior US official headed to Islamabad to urge an end to emergency rule.The orders ending their detention came just hours before President Pervez Musharraf was to swear in a caretaker […]

Nov 15, 2007 (LBO) – The United States has frozen the assets of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) for raising funds and buying arms for the Tamil Tigers, which is a designated terrorist organization, the US embassy in Colombo said. “In the United States, the TRO has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE [Liberation […]

WASHINGTON, Nov 14, 2007 (AFP) – Hong Kong’s de facto central bank on Wednesday dismissed suggestions that the Hong Kong dollar, which is at present pegged to the US dollar, be repegged to the Chinese yuan currency. It is impractical and does not make economic sense, Eddie Yue, the deputy chief executive of the Hong […]

NEW DELHI, Nov 14, 2007 (AFP) – Former Test captains Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq were on Wednesday confirmed to play in India’s rebel Twenty20 league following a goof-up over players’ lists.The names of Lara and Inzamam, touted as star attractions of the Indian Cricket League (ICL), were missing when the six teams for the […]