Archives of World

1. Saudi arrests 10 Iran spy suspects: ministry

   2013-05-21 15:51:40 GMT : (World/Middle East)

   RIYADH: Saudi authorities have arrested 10 more suspects in an alleged Iranian spy ring unveiled two months ago, an interior ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.The eight Saudis, a Lebanese and a Turk bring the number of people arrested to 28, the official SPA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.However, a Lebanese arrested in March has since been released."The results of investigations by s...

2. Don't pin US tornado on climate change: UN panel head

   2013-05-21 15:11:44 GMT : (World/North America)

   GENEVA: Pinning the deadly tornado in the US state of Oklahoma on climate change is wrongheaded, even though the world is set to see a rise in high-profile weather disasters due to global warming, the leader of a UN body said on Tuesday.Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said data was still coming in about Monday's massive tornado which tore thr...

3. Rise in Afghan women jailed for 'moral crimes': rights group

   2013-05-21 14:55:26 GMT : (World/South Asia)

   KABUL: The number of women jailed in Afghanistan for "moral crimes" such as fleeing abusive husbands has risen sharply, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday, undermining claims that the status of women has improved.The campaign group said interior ministry statistics revealed that the number of women and girls convicted of "moral crimes" in the war-torn country increased by 50 percent over 18 months...

4. Spain, Germany team up to fight youth employment

   2013-05-21 14:48:57 GMT : (World/Europe)

   MADRID: Germany signed up on Tuesday to provide vocational training and jobs for young Spaniards starved of opportunities in their crisis-hit home country, ministers said."Each year nearly 5,000 young Spaniards will be able to benefit from vocational opportunities or even from stable and skilled jobs in Germany," Spain's Employment Minister Fatima Banez said after signing the deal with her Ger...

5. Fighting in eastern DR Congo leaves 19 dead

   2013-05-21 14:37:49 GMT : (World/Africa)

   GOMA: Nineteen people have been killed and 27 injured in fierce clashes between the army and M23 rebels in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the government said as fighting resumed on Tuesday.Mortar fire rang out for a second day north of Goma, ahead of a visit by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to DRC on Wednesday as part of a tour that will take him to the volatile provincial capital.Govern...

6. Chinese businessman pays record price for Belgian racing pigeon

   2013-05-21 13:06:21 GMT : (World/South East Asia)

   BRUSSELS: A Chinese businessman has paid a world record 310,000 euros ($398,500) for a Belgian pigeon, highlighting Asia's huge and growing interest in racing birds.The one-year-old award-winning pigeon named Bolt was bred by Belgian pigeon fancier Leo Heremans, a well-known name to pigeon enthusiasts, who sold his entire collection of 530 birds for 4.3 million euros at an auction over the wee...

7. Vietnam gives green light for bad debt bank

   2013-05-21 12:17:44 GMT : (World/South East Asia)

   HANOI: Vietnam's government approved on Tuesday the formation of an asset management firm to buy bad debt from its troubled banks, an official said, a move that could help stimulate an ailing economy growing at its slowest pace in 13 years.The long-delayed "bad debt bank", the Vietnam Asset Management Corp (VAMC), would be run by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and is tasked with trimming down...

8. Jordan tenders to buy 150,000T wheat, 100,000T barley

   2013-05-21 12:14:26 GMT : (World/Global Business & Economy)

   HAMBURG: Jordan's state grains buyer has issued two international tenders to purchase 150,000 tonnes of wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley, European traders said on Tuesday.The tender deadline for the wheat is Tuesday, May 21 and for the barley Wednesday, May 22.Jordan made no purchase in tenders for 150,000 tonnes of wheat and 100,000 tonnes of barley that closed last week, with market t...

9. Tanzania growth to average 7pc over 2013-2015

   2013-05-21 12:04:30 GMT : (World/Global Business & Economy)

   DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania's economy is expected to expand at a slightly faster pace over the next two years after growing 6.9 percent in 2012, the World Bank said on Tuesday. It said it expected inflation in east Africa's second largest economy to average 5-7 percent during the same period."Tanzania's economy is expected to grow at an average of 7 percent in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 fisca...

10. Lebanese farmland firm to invest up to $800m in Sudan

    2013-05-21 11:59:33 GMT : (World/Global Business & Economy)

    KHARTOUM: Lebanese farmland investor GLB Invest plans to invest up to $800 million in Sudan to produce animal feed to be sold to Saudi Arabia, its president said on Tuesday.Arab investors have launched farmland and livestock projects in the vast African country, prized for its fertile soil and easy access to irrigation water from the Nile, to help arid Gulf oil producers secure food supplies.Firas...

11. British official inflation slows to 2.4pc in April

    2013-05-21 09:45:41 GMT : (World/Global Business & Economy)

    LONDON: British 12-month inflation slowed to 2.4 percent in April, hitting a seven-month low on the back of lower transport costs and oil prices, official data showed on Tuesday."The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) grew by 2.4 percent in the year to April 2013, down from 2.8 percent in March," the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.That was the lowest level since September 2012 w...

12. Venezuela opposition says tape shows ruling party rift

    2013-05-21 09:42:14 GMT : (World/South America)

    CARACAS: The Venezuelan opposition has released what it says is an audio tape revealing intrigue within the ruling socialist party of the late Hugo Chavez and Cuban meddling in the country's affairs.The opposition says the tape is of a conversation between well-known state media presenter Mario Silva and a Colonel Aramis Palacios, identified as a Cuban intelligence agent, about a rift among Ve...

13. Obama declares major disaster in Oklahoma after deadly tornadoes

    2013-05-21 06:16:47 GMT : (World/North America)

    WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in Oklahoma after deadly tornadoes struck the state on Sunday and Monday and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts, the White House said on Monday.The White House said aid can include grants for temporary housing, home repairs, uninsured property losses and other recovery efforts.Obama spoke by telephone w...

14. Kerry to help ink $2.1bn defence deal in Oman

    2013-05-21 06:06:08 GMT : (World/Middle East)

    SHANNON: US Secretary of State John Kerry will help ink a major estimated $2.1 billion proposed deal with Oman to supply a US-made air-defense system to the Gulf nation, officials said Tuesday.One of the main focuses of Kerry's trip to Muscat was to applaud the signing of a letter of intent between Oman and US manufacturer Raytheon ahead of talks on the final contract, they told reporters trav...

15. Obama speaks to Italian PM

    2013-05-21 06:03:04 GMT : (World/North America)

    WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama called new Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Monday, to congratulate him after taking office after a prolonged period of political uncertainty."The president expressed support for Prime Minister Letta's focus on reducing youth unemployment and looked forward to further discussions about promoting economic growth at the June G8 Summit," a White House s...

16. China PM vows to open up markets to India

    2013-05-21 05:46:38 GMT : (World/South Asia)

    NEW DELHI: Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Tuesday to open up domestic markets to Indian businesses and narrow a gaping trade deficit between the two countries."As for Indian concerns over the trade deficit, the Chinese side is willing to provide facilitations for more Indian products to access the Chinese market," Li said during a speech in New Delhi."I am confident we have the abi...

17. Gay marriage law strains UK Cameron's leadership, government

    2013-05-20 16:30:32 GMT : (World/Europe)

    LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship gay marriage policy is set to deepen a rift in his own party on Monday with many of his own lawmakers preparing to defy him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.Up to half of Cameron's 303 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament are expected to back an amendment that the government says would ...

18. Egyptian army boosts forces in Sinai after kidnapping

    2013-05-20 15:34:15 GMT : (World/Africa)

    EL-ARISH: The Egyptian army sent reinforcements into the Sinai Peninsula on Monday after President Mohamed Mursi said there would be no talks with militant Islamists who abducted seven members of the security forces last week.Radical Islamists have expanded into a security vacuum in Sinai that the state has struggled to fill since an uprising swept autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011. The gr...

19. South African mine wage demands roil shares, rand

    2013-05-20 15:14:18 GMT : (World/Africa)

    JOHANNESBURG: Big wage hikes demanded by the government-allied trade union in South Africa's coal and gold industries helped push the rand to a four-year low on Monday, highlighting the ripple effect of the prospect of more turmoil in the industry.The National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) call for pay rises of up to 60 percent in a submission to the Chamber of Mines seen by Reuters on Sunda...

20. Slovenia to start privatisations in September

    2013-05-20 15:08:28 GMT : (World/Europe)

    LJUBLJANA: Slovenia, which has pledged to cut costs and sell off state-owned companies to help it avoid a euro zone bailout, will start the privatisations in September, Finance Minister Uros Cufer told parliament on Monday."It will take 2 to 3 quarters to complete them," Cufer said.Earlier in May Slovenia earmarked 15 companies it plans to sell to boost budget income and improve corporate governan...