Category: World

SINGAPORE, April 10, 2008 (AFP) – Singapore’s economy grew an annual 7.2 percent in the first quarter, faster than the 5.4 percent expansion recorded in the previous three months, the government said Thursday. But economists said the growth is likely to taper off in coming months amid a widely-expected US-led global slowdown. Last quarter’s performance […]

MANILA, April 10, 2008 (AFP) – She helped turn many of the world’s prawn farmers into millionaires, but Jurgenne Primavera now worries that her life’s work might have indirectly accelerated the destruction of fish nurseries.The Filipina zoologist, whose research on breeding the black tiger prawn became a manual that revolutionised the aquaculture industry, pointed at […]

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2008 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday the worldwide losses stemming from the US subprime mortgage crisis could hit 945 billion dollars as the impact spreads in the global economy. The IMF, in a particularly stark report, said that falling US housing prices and rising delinquencies on the residential mortgage […]

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2008 (AFP) – Federal Reserve staff predict the US economy will contract in the first half of 2008 amid worsening housing market and credit woes, minutes from a central bank meeting revealed Tuesday.Such a downturn would be defined as a recession by most economists.Moreover, some policymakers at the central bank see the […]

LONDON, April 9, 2008 (AFP) – The pound fell to a historic low point against the euro in early trading on Wednesday as the Bank of England prepared to begin a meeting at which it was expected to cut interest rates.The pound dropped to an all-time low of 1.25 euros shortly after 0700 GMT. It […]

DUBAI, April 9, 2008 (AFP) – Foreign workers making up the bulk of the labour force in the robust Gulf economies are feeling the crunch of rocketing prices and weak currencies with some even asking why stay at all.“A segment of workers is considering leaving, particularly those from countries that are seeing strong economic growth,” […]

HONG KONG, April 8, 2008 (AFP) – The world’s financial markets remain “exceptionally volatile” due to the subprime credit crisis, the chief executive of France’s largest bank said in Hong Kong on Tuesday.“Since I last presented to the market at the end of February, the environment remains very challenging and the market exceptionally volatile,” Baudouin […]

HARARE, April 8, 2008 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s opposition was Tuesday given the green light to pursue a legal bid to force a declaration of the country’s presidential election, 10 days on from the poll on Robert Mugabe’s future.Faced with 80 percent unemployment and six-digit inflation, almost one third of Zimbabwe’s 13 million population have left […]

DOHA, April 6, 2008 (AFP) – Gulf central bank chiefs decided on Sunday to stick to their target date of 2010 for a single currency and did not discuss revaluing their dollar-pegged currencies against the tumbling greenback, officials said. “We are committed to the decision taken by the (Gulf Cooperation Council) summit that 2010 is […]

GENEVA, April 6, 2008 (AFP) – Swiss ministers and financiers are striving to reassure markets and citizens there is no banking crisis even as the once-mighty UBS totters after losing billions of dollars in subprime exposure. UBS, the country’s biggest bank and once a byword for safe, reliable investments, now has the dubious distinction of […]

BANGKOK, April 5, 2008 (AFP) – There have been numerous disagreements during a week of intense climate change talks in Bangkok but there is one point all sides agree on — a long, tough road lies ahead. The five-day negotiations stretched past midnight on Friday before reaching a deal aimed solely at setting up more […]

NAIROBI, April 4, 2008 (AFP) – Kenyan papers and political watchdogs Friday criticised the size of a coalition cabinet announced a day earlier, saying 40 ministers were a colossal waste of money in a country with widespread misery.They also slammed President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, head of the Orange Democratic Movement, for creating the […]