Category: Other

HARARE, May 12, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe said on Friday its inflation rate had crossed the landmark 1,000-percent threshold, arguably the highest in the world, with economists expressing pessimism about any major improvement soon. The Central Statistical Office said the year-on-year inflation rate in April was 1,042.9 percent, up 129.3 percentage points from March, in […]

HARARE, May 12, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe said on Friday its inflation rate had crossed the landmark 1,000-percent threshold, arguably the highest in the world, with economists expressing pessimism about any major improvement soon. The Central Statistical Office said the year-on-year inflation rate in April was 1,042.9 percent, up 129.3 percentage points from March, in […]

AGRA, India, May 11, 2006 (AFP) – An Indian archaeologist is praying for a respite from a heat wave engulfing the Taj Mahal town of Agra, warning that heavy dust in the dry air could permanently scar the marble monument to love.Temperatures hovered this week at 45 Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) in the city, 200 […]

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2006 (AFP) – The global market for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions — an innovative offshoot of the Kyoto pact on global warming — has shown explosive growth, the World Bank said Wednesday.But in a new report, the World Bank also noted that recent events in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) […]

MUMBAI, May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Reliance Petroleum shares jumped almost 70 percent on listing Thursday as investors rushed to buy a piece of the company operating what will be the world’s largest refinery complex, dealers said.Reliance Petroleum, a unit of India’s largest private company, Reliance Industries, opened at 101.95 rupees (2.66 dollars), compared to […]

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2006 (AFP) – Hispanics and Asians are the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States, where one in three people now belong to a minority group, the US Census Bureau said Wednesday. In 2005, the minority population totalled 98 million, or 33 percent of the 296.4 million US population, the agency […]

SINGAPORE, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Singapore-based luxury resort and spa chain Banyan Tree has outlined plans for a public listing to raise funds for further international expansion. The company intends to raise more than 100 million Singapore dollars (64 million US) from the proposed listing, it said in a preliminary prospectus late Monday. It […]

SINGAPORE, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Singapore-based luxury resort and spa chain Banyan Tree has outlined plans for a public listing to raise funds for further international expansion. The company intends to raise more than 100 million Singapore dollars (64 million US) from the proposed listing, it said in a preliminary prospectus late Monday. It […]

MOSCOW, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – It can be a delicacy or status symbol, a cure-all, or even an aphrodisiac, but ecologists are warning that Russian caviar could disappear altogether as the Caspian Sea’s sturgeon population reaches dangerously low levels. The WWF conservation group has for the past few months waged a campaign to persuade […]

PARIS, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – It may sound like science fiction, but the prospect that suicide bombers and hijackers could be made redundant by flying robots is a real one, according to experts. The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced, widely available — and, experts say, virtually unstoppable. Models with a […]

NEW DELHI, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told reporters in India Tuesday that foreign help is needed to pressure Tamil Tiger rebels back to peace talks to save a fragile ceasefire.Samaraweera, in New Delhi on a two-day visit to brief the Indian government on the faltering peace efforts, said […]

LONDON, May 8, 2006 (AFP) – The Beatles’ multimedia corporation Monday lost a British High Court battle with Apple Computer, leaving the US group free to continue using the apple name and logo on its revolutionary iTunes music store website. Beatles’ Apple Corps was seeking financial damages and court orders to stop Apple Computer using […]