Hanoi- Vietnamese businesses are having trouble getting loans from banks despite the State Bank's decision to cut the benchmark rate from 13 per cent to 12 per cent effective November 5, executives said Wednesday.
"We find it really hard to ask for loans from banks at this time," said Truong Thai Son, of Hoang Quan Real Estate in Ho Chi Minh City. "We have to cancel or delay about
30 to 50 per cent of our planned projects due to lack of cash."
Dhaka- Dhaka on Wednesday explained to Beijing the reasons for the current tension in the Bay of Bengal over Myanmar's gas exploration in disputed maritime territory between the two neighbouring countries.
"I have explained our peaceful intentions to our Chinese friend, and expressed our hope that Myanmar dismantles the installations on the disputed waters," Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said.
Sarajevo- Bosnian authorities arrested two Serb military officers suspected of taking part in the massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica 13 years ago, local media said Wednesday.
The two high-ranking officers, Momir Pelemis and Slavko Peric, face genocide charges for their alleged role in the imprisonment and execution of 1,700 Muslim boys and men in 1995, after the Bosnian Serb army entered the Srebrenica enclave, in the east of the country.
Stockholm - The SAS Group, the operator of the joint carrier
Scandinavian Airlines, on Wednesday posted a pre-tax loss for third-
quarter 2008, citing high fuel costs, the economic downturn and a
goodwill writedown in its Spanish-based carrier.
SAS chief executive Mats Jansson said the group needed to implement
more belt-tightening measures saying the "crisis in the air travel
industry strikes indiscriminately."
He noted the recent bankruptcy of low-cost rival Sterling Airlines, one of some 30 carriers to fold so far this year.
The SAS Group posted a third-quarter pre-tax loss of 1.78 billion
kronor (231 million dollars) compared to a pre-tax profit of 457
million kronor in the corresponding business period of 2007.
Abuja - Nigerians were jubilant Wednesday after Barack Obama was declared the 44th president of the United States of America.
Many Nigerians stayed glued to their television sets to monitor the election.
The moment Obama was announced to have won Ohio and Pennsylvania, cheering erupted in beer parlours and homes across Africa's most populous nation.
Lai Mohammed, spokesman of Action Congress, Nigeria's main opposition party, whose 2007 presidential candidate is still contesting the election of Umaru Yar'Adua, hailed the poll as an example to other nations.
Beirut - The second round of Lebanon's national dialogue aimed at ending differences between the rival Lebanese factions and discussing the fate of Hezbollah arms started Wednesday, official Lebanese sources said.
They said the issue of increasing the number of participants in the dialogue would top the agenda of the talks held in the Lebanese Presidential Palace, 15 kilometres east of Beirut.
Hanoi- Vietnamese businesses are having trouble getting loans from banks despite the State Bank's decision to cut the benchmark rate from 13 per cent to 12 per cent effective November 5, executives said Wednesday.
Dhaka- Dhaka on Wednesday explained to Beijing the reasons for the current tension in the Bay of Bengal over Myanmar's gas exploration in disputed maritime territory between the two neighbouring countries.
Sarajevo- Bosnian authorities arrested two Serb military officers suspected of taking part in the massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica 13 years ago, local media said Wednesday.
Abuja - Nigerians were jubilant Wednesday after Barack Obama was declared the 44th president of the United States of America.
Beirut - The second round of Lebanon's national dialogue aimed at ending differences between the rival Lebanese factions and discussing the fate of Hezbollah arms started Wednesday, official Lebanese sources said.
