Fiat idles Italian plants on fuel costs, sales slump

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Fiat SpA, Italy's biggest carmaker, will close four of its six auto plants in the country for three weeks between September and November because of slumping sales. The closures will affect factories in Mirafiori, Termini Imerese, Pomigli ...

EU finance ministers agree to publish weekly oil stocks data

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

European Union (EU) finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to publish oil stocks data on weekly basis in an effort to improve market transparency in face of soaring oil prices. "We now have political agreement on improving transparency ...

New Zealand, Australia to attend PIF ministerial meetings in Fiji

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

The chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has confirmed Australia and New Zealand will be allowed to participate in ministerial meetings in Fiji next week, the Suva-based Pacnews regional news agency reported Wednesday. Tongan ...

U.N. sets up emergency telecommunication center in Myanmar

Monday, July 7th, 2008

The United Nations has set up an emergency telecommunication center (ETC) in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon to improve quick communication access in disaster relief and restoration works, reported the local Biweekly Eleven journal. ...

Indian FM: Double-digit inflation to stay for a period

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Double-digit inflation is likely to continue for a few more weeks in India before the government's efforts to ease the rate of price rise succeed, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday. In an interview with CNN-IBN, Chidamba ...

Heartbreak quake survivors ready for college exam next week

Friday, June 27th, 2008

About 96,000 high-school students in China's quake zones are doing their final cramming for a special college entrance exam next week -- almost a month after the rest of the country, which was postponed by the disaster. About 58 per ...

Madonna, Guy Ritchie spend unromantic holiday

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Madonna and Guy Ritchie enjoyed a three-day break in Italy - but slept in separate rooms. The couple - who this week have been dogged by reports their marriage is on the verge of collapsing - left their children, Lourdes, 11, Rocco, ...

Cholera kills around 31 people in eastern Uganda

Friday, June 27th, 2008

At least 31 people have died of cholera and over 290 infected in eastern Uganda in the past six weeks followed the April heavy rainfall in the region, an official has said. Health Minister Stephen Mallinga, attributed the infections ...