World News

Abu Dhabi, Oct 8 (IANS) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reiterated its foreign policy commitment to building bridges and partnerships around the world, promoting dialogue and providing aid to less fortunate countries.

London, Oct 8 (IANS) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday announced an unprecedented 500-billion pound bailout package as central banks around the developed world cut interest rates in a coordinated move aimed at rescuing the global economy from a crippling credit crunch.

Frankfurt, Oct 8 (DPA) Major central banks jointly slashed interest rates Wednesday, with the European Central Bank (ECB) reducing its benchmark refinancing rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 percent.

London, Oct 8 (IANS) Two men have been sentenced to a total of 36 years in prison for smuggling in 5.5 million pounds of heroin stashed within plastic straws sewn into the thread weaving of Afghan carpets.

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) Saudi Arabia's economy and financial institutions will not be greatly affected by the global financial crisis as these have not been exposed to the international financial institutions that faced problems in recent times, a senior official was quoted here as saying.

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) With just a week left for the expiry of an amnesty scheme in Kuwait for illegal expatriates to regularize their status, over 3,400 Indians have put in their applications.

Rome, Oct 8 (DPA) Italy's scientific community is up in arms over what it charges as the unfair exclusion of an Italian researcher from this year's Nobel Prize for physics.

Nairobi, Oct 8 (Xinhua) Kenya has ordered out an American author who wrote a controversial book slamming US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) A new chair on corporate governance and strategy has been set up in the Abu Dhabi campus of the international business school INSEAD.

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) India is among the countries investors in the Middle East are looking at as investment destinations following the global financial meltdown.

Sydney, Oct 8 (IANS) Australia's flagship carrier, Qantas, will cut fuel surcharge on its international fares beginning Thursday with flights to India costing 15 Australian dollars or Rs.500 less.

Warsaw, Oct 8 (IANS) With the recent financial meltdown, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal may have seen his wealth eroded by a reported 16 billion pounds, but he is very active in Poland and increasing investments, says the online news agency EuAsiaNews.

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) A terrorist cell busted in Yemen last month after a suicide attack on the US embassy there had links with an Israeli intelligence agency, the state-run Saba news agency reported.

Sydney, Oct 8 (IANS) Gamblers are motivated to seek help only in a crisis involving financial loss or hardship, often accompanied by psychological distress, according to a two-year research project.

Havana, Oct 8 (IANS) Cuban authorities have detained Spanish aid worker Garcia Regojo and are making arrangements to send her back home, EFE reported Wednesday.

Johannesburg, Oct 8 (DPA) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has condemned the brutal slaying of a Somali family in South Africa and urged the government to take measures to protect foreigners from xenophobic attacks.

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) The Indian embassy in Kuwait will hold a written test for candidates applying for the Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) Sunday.

London, Oct 8 (IANS) A British schoolboy, who planned to make bombs and blow up members of Britain's far right political party BNP, has been standing trial for allegedly angering his teachers and fellow pupils with his radical views.

London, Oct 8 (IANS) Thousands of Bengalis are thronging a town hall in a leafy suburb this week as Durga Puja celebrations return to their traditional London venue after a gap of 18 years.

Sydney, Oct 8 (DPA) It would take a month to find out why a Qantas flight dropped altitude dramatically, injuring at least 36 passengers before it made an emergency landing, investigators said Wednesday.