23 Mar 2012 - 6:05pm
PRETORIA: Nigeria's finance minister Friday joined the race for the top World Bank job, backed by Africa's leading economies in a push for greater influence at global financial bodies dominated by rich nations.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, flanked by counterparts from South Africa and Angola, unveiled her candidacy at a press conferencehere,...
21 Mar 2012 - 1:59pm
JAKARTA: Foreign investors are bemoaning a new law in Indonesia that strips them of control over mining assets, the latest in a rash of regulations that reflect what they see as growing resource nationalism.
The law announced this month obliges foreigners to divest at least 51 per cent of their shares to Indonesians over a 10-year period....
20 Mar 2012 - 3:09pm
PRAGUE: Riding a wave of public disgust at graft, a new Czech travel agency has started tours highlighting sites linked to corruption, a social ill that has plagued the ex-communist country for decades.
The aptly-named CorruptTour agency touts the best of the worst trips to posh villas, a nonsensical funicular, an empty meadow hosting a non...
19 Mar 2012 - 2:55pm
FUENTES DE ANDALUCIA: A unique thermosolar power station in southern Spain can shrug off cloudy days: energy stored when the sun shines lets it produce electricity even during the night.
The Gemasolar station, up and running since last May, stands out in the plains of Andalusia.
From the road between Seville and Cordoba, one can see...
16 Mar 2012 - 2:22pm
NEW DELHI: India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to question former Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran on March 20 in connection with its probe on the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal. The deal took place during Dayanidhi's tenure. The ED recently registered a money-laundering case against the former communications minister and his...
15 Mar 2012 - 2:09pm
TOKYO: Japanese auto giant Honda on Thursday said it would invest $320 million in a new car plant in Indonesia, just days after saying it would build a new motorcycle factory in the fast-developing country.
The plant will put together the car-maker's smaller models for domestic sales and export to other Asian markets, the company said in...
14 Mar 2012 - 4:46pm
HONG KONG: Cathay Pacific on Wednesday said its 2011 net profit plunged 61 per cent as it struggled with high fuel prices as well as softening demand for its cargo business, and warned of a challenging 2012.
The Hong Kong flag carrier said it earned HK$5.5 billion ($709 million) last year, well below the record HK$14.0 billion profit it...
14 Mar 2012 - 1:49pm
PARIS: World markets' reaction to recent signs of a slowdown in emerging economies has highlighted the importance of these new engines of global growth to the financial system, say analysts. Markets were destabilised on Monday by Chinese data showing that China, the world's leading exporter, posted a huge trade deficit last month, largely...
13 Mar 2012 - 5:36pm
BUDAPEST: Hungary's economy is facing severe headwinds that are being exacerbated by the policies of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday.
"Hungary's economy faces severe headwinds. The global economic slowdown and heightened financial market stress have pushed an already...
11 Mar 2012 - 2:09pm
BERLIN: Japan's tourism industry is still hurting a year after the tsunami and nuclear disaster, international industry officials said, warning business was only likely to get fully back on track next year.
Japan saw a 28-per cent fall in the number of visitors arriving in the country in 2011 compared with a year earlier, the World Travel...
