Members of parliament on Thursday passed an open-ended legislation imposing a 0.095% tax on deposits of banking institutions, saying part of it would help create a financial stability fund. In one of their final acts before dissolving the House of Representatives next week prior to the May 22 elections, the plenary session approved the bill,
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A sacked former telecoms minister and six business executives appeared in court on Friday to face trial in India's biggest case of corruption that has exposed the nexus between government and industry in one of the world's fastest growing economies. The court will rule on the bail applications of officials from the Indian joint ventures
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Security personnel found the body of a pro-Palestinian activist from Italy who was killed and left in an abandoned house in the Gaza Strip following his abduction by militants, a Hamas official said on Friday. Two men were arrested and others were being sought in the killing of Vittorio Arrigoni, the security official added. A
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Asian shares were poised for their first weekly loss in a month on Friday as investors took profits after a recent rally, while a pick-up in inflationary pressures in China and elsewhere sent gold racing to yet another record high on Friday. The euro extended modest early losses after Moody's downgraded Ireland's credit rating by
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Hong Kong shares traded lower on Friday morning, on track to post their first weekly loss in four, with sluggish performance in property counters and other large caps suggesting weakness could spill over into next week. China shares were also ended lower at the midday trading break after a choppy morning session amid the release
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China's turbo-charged growth eased just a touch in the first quarter, while its inflation jumped to a 32-month high, putting pressure on the government to do more to rein in prices and keep the economy on an even keel. China's gross domestic product increased by 9.7% in the first quarter from a year earlier, down
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Chinese police have detained a prominent rights lawyer suspected of "creating a disturbance", while another is feared to have been taken into custody after he said he was being followed, the latest examples of a sustained crackdown on dissent. Dozens of Chinese rights lawyers, activists and grassroots agitators have been detained or have lost contact
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Suppliers to Apple Inc have begun production of white iPhones after a delay of almost 10 months, pointing to a launch date of within a month, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, flagship of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, would assemble the iPhone, one of the people
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Managing talent has overtaken risk as top of the CEO agenda, according to analysis from PwC's 14th annual CEO survey. Some 83% of the 1200 CEOs surveyed globally plan to change their firm's talent management strategy over the next 12 months and for 31% these changes will be major. The next priorities are risk management
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European stocks retreated on Thursday as lingering worries about the euro zone debt crisis hurt banks in the peripheral countries, while miners fell on concerns high inflation in China could lead to more tightening. At 1144 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.5% at 1,129.16 points after rising 0.7% in
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