Economy

Sarkozy ducks poll funding scam inquiry

BORDEAUX, France: French former President Nicolas Sarkozy has not been put under formal investigation by magistrates looking into whether he received illegal campaign funds from France's richest woman in 2007, but has instead been designated a witnes...

European stocks edge higher at open

LONDON: Europe's main stock markets rose slightly at the start of trading on Friday, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies edging up 0.09 percent to 5,796.26 points. Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.18 percent to 7,258.33 points and in ...

Japan, Germany Donate $33M for Airport Expansion

The Japanese government will donate US$20 million for the expansion of Kabul International Airport while Germany has pledged $13 million for Mazar-e-Sharif airport, Afghan Aviation Minister Dawood Ali Najafi said Wednesday. The expansion project in...

SLanka top judge attends House hearing

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's top judge attended parliament on Friday for the start of a process in which she is expected to be impeached over alleged financial misconduct, witnesses and officials said. Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, 54, left the Superi...

Oil prices ease in Asia on Gaza truce

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell in Asia Friday in thin trade following the US Thanksgiving holiday, with a truce in Gaza and gloomy eurozone manufacturing data weighing on markets, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in...

British MPs under fire over trips abroad

LONDON: British lawmakers were under fire Friday for racking up #1.5 million ($2.4 million, 1.9 million euros) worth of visits to foreign countries in the last two years. paid for by governments, firms and pressure groups. Some 242 members of parliam...

Nigeria to host D8 trade talks February

ISLAMABAD: Nigeria will host trade talks among the Developing Eight in February as part of efforts to increase business within member states and Africa, Nigeria's trade and investment minister said. "I will be hosting the trade and industry ministers...

Nangarhar Saffron Pilot a Success: Agriculture Ministry

Nangarhar farmers who switched from opium cultivation to saffron in a pilot program under the Ministry of Agriculture have said that their income has more than doubled from the sale of the spice, a promising statistic being touted by the Ministry. ...

Forex reserves fall 0.22 pc to $13.814bn

KARACHI: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves dropped to $13.814 billion in the week ending Nov 16, from $13.845 billion the previous week, State Bank of Pakistan said.RESERVES Week ending Previous Week Change/pct($ billions) Nov 16 Held by SBP 9.125...

Most Afghans Will Have Internet Access in 2 Years: Officials

More than 80 percent of the Afghan population will have access to internet within the next two years, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) said after it issued an internet service license of Vimax to three private internet...

Hard choices as Afghanistan seeks to exploit mineral riches

Huge riches lie buried below the dusty plains and mountains of Afghanistan — both mineral wealth and historical treasures accumulated over thousands of years. As the country seeks to build a prosperous and peaceful future after more than 30 years o...

Opium Cultivation Rises in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: A report Tuesday from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the amount of Afghan farmland planted with opium poppies has increased by nearly 20 percent this year. Record high prices for opium combined with corruption and a lack...

Tethyan Company given rare concession:CJ

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhru said on Wednesday had Supreme Court orders in Karachi case been implemented situation in the port city would not have deteriorated. The remarks came as a three-judge bench headed by the CJ resumed h...

Pakistan to host Muslim leaders summit

ISLAMABAD: Muslim leaders gather Thursday for a rare summit in Pakistan designed to increase trade and investment but likely to be overshadowed by the Gaza conflict as diplomats scramble to arrange a ceasefire. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ...

No Co. could take favors beyond law: CJ

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Wednesday said that no company could take such favor, which is not provided in the law and added that Tethyan Company was given extraordinary favors, the court has to be satisfied that...

Salman for Pak exhibitions in India

NEW DELHI:Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir has urged Pakistan industrialists to hold exhibitions in India, media reported. He was talking to a delegation of Federal Chamber of Commerce and Trade visiting India. Bashir asked the de...

Pakistani products have an impact on regional, int’l markets: UN

UNIDO, FWBL launches Pakistan’s first Business Growth Centre Women asked to shape their future through innovation Islamabad: The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) on Tuesday inaugurated ...

Trade increases among D8 countries: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf Tuesday said that D8 Business Forum can ensure development and prosperity in the member states. Addressing the D8 Business Forum here, the prime minister said that the trade has increased among the D8 coun...

Crude down in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Crude was down in Asia Tuesday as traders took profits and ratings agency Moody's downgraded the French government bond rating, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, shed 31 cents to $88.97 a b...

Asian markets up on US hopes, euro eases

HONG KONG: Asian markets rose again Tuesday on growing confidence that US politicians will agree a deal to avert a fiscal cliff but the euro took a hit as France lost its top-notch credit rating. The decision by Moody's to downgrade French debt staun...

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