Business

President Alvaro Uribe was sworn into his second term of office in the Colombian capital of Bogota, Monday, pledging to improve the economy and make peace with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels. Security was tight in order to prevent a repetition of the attack on his first inauguration in 2002 when FARC rebels fired mortars at the presidential palace killing 20. Police reported deactivating a car bomb outside of the capital on Monday. In his inaugural speech, Uribe pledged "Fear will not stop us negotiating. I confess my

Hillside suburbs in Christchurch, New Zealand have been suffering from torrential rain since Monday night. The Heathcote river burst its banks and caused surface flooding in areas. Around 60-millimetres of rain has fallen. The Heathcote river in Beckenham has inundated areas in Eastern Terrace, making some roads impassable. Terry Sefton, Christchurch City Council spokesman, said "Eastern Terrace between Birdwood and Sandwich Roads is impassable and some parts of Palentine and Riverlaw terraces are covered in water." One household near the riv

Roadside bombs have killed a total of 19 people and wounded almost 80 in a series of attacks on Baghdad on Tuesday. Two roadside bombs exploded in the Arabi market killing 10 and wounding 69. Earlier in the day, a bomb destroyed a minibus and a taxi in Baghdad's Nahda district killing nine and wounding eight. Two other bombs targeted police, according to officials, wounding three.

Oil prices rose dramatically on Monday after a major Alaskan oil field shut down operations, halving the total output of oil from Alaska. Coming on top of the ongoing violence in the Middle East, the price of Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose by $1.23 to US$75.99 a barrel in early afternoon Asian trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange. London brent crude peaked at $77.73/barrael. The shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay oil field "caught traders by surprise", says Victor Shum, an energy analyst in Singapore. "The Middle East violence

At least 190 people have been confirmed dead after heavy rains caused a river to burst its banks in the eastern Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa. A further 300 are reported missing. Rescuers have been digging all weekend with just hand tools and garden equipment, although bulldozers have also been used to shift tons of mud. Disaster management teams are expected to reach the city today. The river Dechatu flooded on Saturday night after exceptionally heavy rains. Over 200 homes were destroyed and many died instantly as their houses were swept awa

Rotorua has banned criminals with five or more dishonesty convictions from entering the Central Business District (CBD). The criminals will be issued with trespass notices banning them from the main streets of Rotorua. Eleven out of twelve councillors, including the Rotorua mayor, supported the by-law along with support from the police. Kevin Winters, Mayor of Rotorua, said "The ban also had the support of local businesses, who wanted an end to the thefts, assaults, shoplifting and other street crime on Rotorua streets. Crime was an issue in

Today New Zealand's new coins have been released. The new coins replace the 10, 20 and 50 cent coins, while the 5-cent coin is being removed from circulation for good. The new coins retain the same design as before but the 10-cent coin is now copper coloured. All coins except the 10-cent are now made from plated steel and nickel, making them lighter and cheaper to produce. The 10-cent coin is made from plated steel and copper. Brian Lang, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Currency Manager, said: "The introduction of smaller, lighter coins is one of

The director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, suspended negotiations in the Doha round of trade talks on Monday, after a meeting of six "core" negotiators India, Brazil, the United States, European Union, Japan, and Australia in Geneva failed to make any headway in reconciling differences over agricultural trade liberalisation. The US wanted cuts in import tariffs for farm products, which were rejected by EU, Japan and India, who asked for cuts in agricultural subsidies. Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner,

Ninety New Zealanders have been evacuated from war-torn Lebanon and are on their way to the safety of Cyprus. Three ships are helping in the evacuations, two British Navy and one United Nations (UN) chartered ferry. There are 1,500 people on board the two British ships "There are definitely New Zealanders aboard, but there just isn't an actual passenger list. We're hoping there are quite good numbers of New Zealanders onboard," Helen Tunnah, a spokeswoman for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), said. Officer Andrew G

The UK Environment Secretary, David Miliband proposed a carbon trading scheme for private citizens during the Audit Commission's annual lecture. Under the scheme all individuals will receive equal carbon points and can trade electricity, gas, petrol and air travel for carbon points. Mr. Miliband argues that the government could set limits on the amount of carbon emitted. He says that people with low income who contribute less to carbon emission could benefit by selling off excess carbon points. He also says that the scheme is more empowering

The New York Times reports that safety officials working for the Food and Drug Administration have expressed concerns over the safety of an antibiotic, telithromycin and questioned its approval for use. The drug, marketed under the trade name Ketek, has been widely prescribed since its 2004 FDA approval. The New York Times reports that David Graham, one of four FDA safety officials concerned about safety of the antibiotic in both adults and children, wrote in an E-mail message to another agency official that the drug's 2004 U.S. approval was i

The New Zealand Commerce Commission has fined the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ). It has been forced to pay NZ$5 million in compensation to its customers, $500,000 in fines and $80,000 in costs to the Commerce Commission. The money will be placed into a bank account to be monitored by an auditor, and if there is any money left over it will be donated to a consumer organization. BNZ has been forced to pay these fines for failing to disclose that they were charging their customers for the exchange of foreign currency during February, 2002 until May,