Category: World

SEOUL, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) – World deaths from “lifestyle” diseases will double by 2015 unless all-out efforts are taken to combat them, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Friday.It said about 17 million people die prematurely each year as a result of the global epidemic of largely preventable chronic diseases — the leading cause […]

JAKARTA, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) – Indonesia on Thursday issued a third tsunami warning in the past 24 hours, as a strong aftershock of a 7.7 magnitude rattled Sumatra island, the meteorology office said.The quake hit at 6:49 am (2349 GMT Wednesday), about 140 kilometres (87 miles) southwest of the town of Jambi, in the […]

JAKARTA, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) – Southeast Asian nations are gearing up for a palm oil boom as interest in biofuels soars, but activists warn the crop may not satisfy a global thirst for energy that is both clean and green. They caution that oil palm plantations require massive swathes of land — either what’s […]

Sept 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka treasury 3-month Treasury bill yields went up 13 basis points to 17.93 percent with the cut-off tripping over 18.00 percent dealers said. The government debt office said 10.7 billion rupees worth of bills were rolled over and 1.8 billion retired at Wednesday’s auction. Six months bills edged up […]

JAKARTA, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) – A massive 7.9-magnitude quake struck off the western coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, prompting authorities to issue a tsunami warning, meteorologists said. The archipelago nation sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The undersea earthquake, which hit […]

NEW YORK, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – The euro flirted with a new record high against the dollar Tuesday as speculation increased about a Federal Reserve rate cut to help get credit flowing and stave off a US economic downturn.The single European currency fetched 1.3838 dollars at 2100 GMT after 1.3797 late Monday in New […]

LONDON, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop cosmetics chain, died on Monday evening after suffering a major brain haemorrhage, her family said. Roddick, 64, was with her husband and two daughters at a hospital in Chichester, southern England, when she died at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT). She had been […]

VIENNA, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – OPEC ministers head into crunch talks about the cartel’s output on Tuesday, with signs that the group might bend to the will of Saudi Arabia and increase production.It has an output target of 25.8 million barrels, but the 10 members constrained by output limits are estimated to be producing […]

BEIJING, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – China’s inflation hit its highest rate in almost 11 years in August while the nation’s trade surplus soared again, official data showed Tuesday, signalling more interest rate hikes ahead.The United States and other nations argue China’s yuan currency is being kept undervalued, giving Chinese exporters an unfair advantage, and […]

NEW YORK, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden eulogized one of the September 11 hijackers in a video released on Tuesday’s sixth anniversary of the attacks that still traumatize the United States. As Americans remembered the almost 3,000 people killed, an attempted bomb attack in Turkey and a security alert at […]

VIENNA, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) – OPEC oil ministers arrive in Vienna on Monday, under pressure to help combat high crude prices, which have surged to near-record highs and loom as a new risk for the global economy.The outcome is uncertain of a formal meeting on Tuesday, when the group will decide whether to raise […]

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) – A top World Health Organisation official on Monday urged the world to get tough with tobacco companies, saying smoking deaths are an international scandal. “The deaths and misery caused by smoking continue to be one of the greatest scandals of our time,” said Shigeru Omi, WHO […]