Cadbury chocolate takeover deal.

Gordon Brown has been criticised after it was revealed the taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland is funding the takeover of Cadbury by a US company.

(18 January, 2010)  British chocolate-maker Cadbury has been swallowed up by the US food giant Kraft for just under $20 billion.

Kraft has been trying to take control of Cadbury for some time now, and this improved offer seems to have sealed the deal.

IMF head in 'double-dip' global economy warning

Monday, 18 January 2010 | The International Monetary Fund head has warned that the global economy could experience another downturn - a so-called double dip recession.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn (picture) said countries should not exit from stimulus packages that have bolstered growth through huge amounts of government spending.

Greece faces New Year debt woes

With the global economy still struggling, the Greek government insists there is no danger of the country defaulting on its debt and needing a bail-out from partners in the euro zone.

It comes after panic hit the Athens stock exchange in December, when leading agencies downgraded Greeces credit rating after a sharp rise in the deficit.

Zimbabwe eyes tourism revival

Zimbabweans are hoping a steady return of tourists will help jolt its economy towards recovery.With the Victoria Falls as one of its major attractions, the country had 1.4 visitors in 1999.

But numbers took a plunge in 2000 following unrest related to the land-redistribution policy implemented by President Robert Mugabe. Now they are slowly bouncing back, but the country still has a long way to go to become a major tourist destination again.

World's Fastest train debute in China's, Wuhan-Guangzhou.

BEIJING, Dec. 26 -- The Wuhan-Guangzhou high speed railway will go into operation today with 28 passenger trains carrying an estimated 1,300 people. Travel time between Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province, and Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong province, will be cut to only three hours.

The high speed rail link is nearly nine-hundred and 90 kilometers in length and is built to the highest technical standards. The stations along the line have distinct designs representing local styles and are built to be environmental-friendly with easy access for disabled people. Thursday, the first batch of five hundred passengers got to take a test ride.

Is war the answer to a depression & necessary for progress?

Robert Pollin: It wasn't war that ended the 1930s Depression, it was massive government spending.

It's not war that creates technological development, it's the state investment 

Bank Negara faces a 'credibility problem'

'Probe all those found using the services of these money changers to illegally transfer funds out of this country as this could be ill-gotten money.'

RM600k 'wired illegally' to Rosmah in Dubai

IMF Gets Its Policies & Figures Wrong

MAPUTO (Mozambique), Dec 12 09  |  Bernama

-- The resident representative in Maputo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Felix Fischer, admitted on Friday that the IMF has been making "conservative predictions" of the growth in Mozambican GDP, Mozambique's AIM news agency reported.

At a press conference called to announce the IMF disbursement of 14.2 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs - about US$22.6 million) to Mozambique under the Fund's Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF), AIM asked Fischer to explain the huge differences between the IMF figures for Mozambique's growth, and those produced by Mozambican economists and statisticians.

International Investment Collapses In 2009, Says OECD

JAKARTA, Dec 11  09  |  Bernama

-- International mergers and acquisitions are forecast to decline by 56 per cent in 2009 compared with 2008, the largest year-on-year decline since 1995, Indonesia's Antara nes agency said quoting the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as saying in a report here Thursday.

The estimate is based on OECD's analysis of data for international M&A activity up to 26 November 2009, OECD reported.

The fall was largely due to the 60 per cent decline in value of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by firms based in the OECD area, from over US$1 trillion in 2008 to US$454 billion in 2009, it said.

Licensing Issues Retarding Swiftlet Nest Industry

By Syed Azwan Syed Ali | KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 09 | Bernama

-- The edible swiftlet nest industry in this country is a highly lucrative one with the annual turnover reaching RM1 billion.

But a critical issue pertaining to the licensing of the swiftlet farms within buildings located in towns may retard the industry if no solution is found.

Local authorities are against the idea of having swiftlet farms in towns as they can cause nuisance to the public and pollute the environment.

PETRONAS HALF YEAR RESULT: A WAKE UP CALL TO RESTRUCTURE THE ECONOMY

10TH DECEMBER 2009  —PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—

PETRONAS HALF YEAR RESULT: A WAKE UP CALL TO RESTRUCTURE THE ECONOMY

We welcome the release of PETRONAS’ half year results for the financial year ending 31 March 2010. While we congratulate PETRONAS on its efforts to grow the international revenue which has grown to 48.6% of the overall revenue, We are alarmed by drastic decrease of the revenue and profitability.

50,000 rumah terbengkalai seluruh negara

Azamin Amin | KUALA LUMPUR, harakahdaily  

: Parlimen diberitahu hari ini bahawa sejumlah 31,824 pembeli menjadi 'mangsa' kepada 148 projek yang melibatkan 49,913 bilangan rumah terbengkalai sejak 1990 sehingga 30 September tahun ini.

Menurut Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan Dato' Seri Kong Cho Ha (BN-Lumut)berkata daripada jumlah itu, hanya 12 projek telah berjaya disiapkan dengan Sijil Layak Menduduki (CF).

Manakala sejumlah 49 projek dalam proses pemulihan oleh pemaju penyelamat dan pemaju asal dan 87 projek lagi masih terbengkalai dan dalam usaha mendapatkan pemaju penyelamat.

Malaysia's Overall Balance Of Payments Records A Larger Surplus Of RM11.5 Billion In Q3'09

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 -- Malaysia's overall balance of payments (BOP) recorded a larger surplus of RM11.5 billion in the third quarter of this year compared to RM2.1 billion in the previous quarter, said the Department of Statistics.