Featured

Civilian killed, nine injured in twin Baghdad blast

Iraq MapBaghdad  - Consecutive bomb blasts in a western-Baghdad residenti

IAAF chief says Rogge showing "lack of respect" for athletics

International Olympic Committee (IOC)Monte Carlo - The head of the international athletics federation Friday accused International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge of showing "a lack of respect" for athletics.

Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said he was surprised at Rogge's criticism of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's celebrations after winning the 100 metres in world-record time at Beijing Olympics.

Vienna exchange takes majority stake in Prague bourse

PraguePrague/Vienna  - Contracts were signed Friday for the takeover of 92.4 per cent of the Prague stock exchange by the Vienna bourse, Vienna Bourse AG announced.

The bourses were mum on the price paid for the takeover, but Czech media estimated the value of the Prague exchange at between 200 and 400 million euros (257-514 million dollars).

"The Prague bourse is an important partner for us and strengthens the already existing Budapest-Ljubljana-Vienna bourse axis," said Michael Buhl, the chairman of Vienna Bourse AG.

Somalian delegates stranded in Kenya: no money for air tickets

BBC NewsNairobi  - More than 200 Somalian parliamentarians have found themselves stranded in Nairobi, lacking the money to pay for air tickets for their return home, BBC reported Friday.

Citing a spokesman for the parliamentarians, who had attended an international conference in the Kenyan capital, BBC said that the UN Development Program (UNDP) on Thursday did pay the fares of 27 stranded delegates for a flight back to Mogadishu.

But the UNDP denied this.

BA half-year profits nosedive in turbulent environment

British AirwaysLondon- Pre-tax profits at British Airways (BA) slumped by nearly 92 per cent to just 52 million pounds (83 million dollars) over the summer period - "one of the bleakest on record" the airline said Friday.

Half-yearly profits between April and September were down from 616 million pounds for the same period in 2007 after fuel costs increased from 511 million pounds to 1.5 billion pounds, the airline said.

Spanish travel group Marsans orders 61 Airbus planes

Spain's largest tour and travel group, MarsansParis - Spain's largest tour and travel group, Marsans, has ordered 61 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus, including four A380 superjumbos, Airbus said on Friday.

The order also includes 10 long-haul A350 planes, which will not be delivered to customers until at least 2013, and 42 planes from the medium-distance A320 family, Airbus said in a statement released in the southern French city of Toulouse.

"We are very proud to become the first operators of the A380 in Spain and Latin America," Marsans head Gonzalo Pascual said.

Pages