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Despite media allegations, Afghan cenbank still sound

2 Sep 10 - AFGHANISTAN'S government will "never" allow the country's biggest bank to collapse, the central bank governor said yesterday, following US media allegations of corruption at the well-connected lender.Major US newspapers said the central...

IN BRIEF

2 Sep 10 - BoE to hold fire as growth cools LONDON: A cooling global economy and an impending austerity squeeze in Britain will make the Bank of England wait well into next year before hiking interest rates, a Reuters poll of 60 economists showed yesterday. A...

'Revive Turkmen gas pipeline project'

2 Sep 10 - THE leaders of Turkmenistan and Pakistan have called for a top-level summit to revive a stalled project to build a natural gas pipeline from the ex-Soviet state to the east, state media said yesterday.Ashgabat and Islamabad agreed in 2002 to build a...

BP sells M'sian assets to Petronas

2 Sep 10 - BRITISH oil giant BP has agreed to sell some of its Malaysian assets to local state energy firm Petronas for US$363 million (€285 million), the group announced yesterday."BP today announced that it has agreed to sell its interests in...

Burger King in talks for possible sale

2 Sep 10 - BURGER King, the second-largest US hamburger chain, is in talks with private-equity firms for a potential sale, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.Among the interested firms is Britain's 3i Group PLC, the Journal said, noting that the talks...

Asian data boosts stocks

2 Sep 10 - WORLD stocks started the month on a brighter note yesterday as data showed a manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected growth in Australia, while the yen held near recent 15-year peaks against the dollar.China's manufacturing sector...

Russia home to wealthiest expats, Eurozone lags

2 Sep 10 - RUSSIA, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are home to the wealthiest expats, with eurozone countries falling behind when it comes to paying for foreign expertise, according to a survey of expats yesterday.The third annual report commissioned by HSBC Bank...

Russia-Poland gas deal alarms EU

1 Sep 10 - EUROPE raised fears yesterday about terms for access to a gas pipeline under a deal between Russian and Polish gas giants that the EU worries may breach European competition law.Russia's Gazprom and Poland's PGNiG struck an agreement in January on...

IN BRIEF

1 Sep 10 - Europe targets commodities derivatives trade BRUSSELS: Europe warned yesterday of moves to rein in commodity derivatives trading under a French-led drive to tame price distortions for raw materials ranging from oil to grain. France launched the...

Global equities rocked by US economic fears, yen strains

1 Sep 10 - WORLD stock markets sank heavily yesterday as investors shunned risky assets amid renewed fears over the United States economy, while Tokyo also dived on concern over the soaring yen, dealers said.In late morning European deals, London shed 0.95 per...

Iran plan to scrap subsidies gets Khamenei's approval

1 Sep 10 - IRAN'S Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has backed the government's plan to scrap subsidies in the coming weeks, despite concerns from some conservatives of its inflationary impact.Khamenei has asked the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to "...

Eurozone inflation falls, jobless rates still high

1 Sep 10 - EUROZONE inflation slowed in August, pointing to steady interest rates well into 2011, but unemployment remains high and uneven across the region, underlining the two-speed recovery, data showed yesterday.European Union statistics office Eurostat...

Exports boost Swedish economy

1 Sep 10 - PROSPECTS for Sweden's economy, a hot issue ahead of upcoming September 19 elections, are looking bright thanks to exports, domestic demand and strong public finances, banks and the country's financial management authority said yesterday.SEB bank...

Cisco aims to acquire Skype before IPO

31 Aug 10 - US NETWORKING giant Cisco has made an offer to acquire Internet communications firm Skype, technology blog TechCrunch said yesterday.TechCrunch, citing what it described as "one of our more reliable sources," said the San Jose, California-...

IN BRIEF

31 Aug 10 - HQ Bank announces involuntary liquidation STOCKHOLM: Swedish investment bank HQ Bank said yesterday it was going into involuntary liquidation after the country's financial supervisory authority revoked all its licences. The bank said in a...

World stocks shaky, yen resumes climb

31 Aug 10 - WORLD stocks wavered yesterday on skepticism that governments can cushion a slippage in global growth, while the yen resumed its rally as Japan refrained from aggressive action to curb the currency's rise.Mergers and acquisitions added some buoyancy...

Russia to hike tariffs on cars

31 Aug 10 - RUSSIA will increase import duties on foreign cars to encourage investment in local manufacturing plants and boost domestic players, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the news channel Vesti 24.Speaking from behind the wheel of a locally produced...

Kazakhstan plans to double oil export duty

31 Aug 10 - KAZAKHSTAN plans to double its crude oil export duty to US$40 per tonne from January 1, two government sources told Reuters yesterday, less than six months after reinstating the tax when prices recovered from lows in the financial crisis.The...

Obama moving to decontrol US defense goods exports

31 Aug 10 - PRESIDENT Barack Obama today will outline steps his administration is taking to revamp US export restrictions on defense and high-tech goods, which is expected to lead to thousands of less sensitive items being decontrolled, senior administration...

Ambitious solar power project seeks Middle East, Africa investors

31 Aug 10 - DESERTEC, the world's most ambitious solar power project, is courting new shareholders in the Middle East and North Africa in an attempt to broaden its geographical reach, its chief executive told Reuters."There are a number of interested...