Reuters, Seoul- These days when customers walk into electronics stores, the first question they ask is how much electricity the fridge, washing machine or laptop computer they are contemplating buying consumes.

AP, BEIJING -- China's premier called for continued vigilance against inflation that has reached 12-year highs, saying the government should ensure that price increases are ''acceptable,'' a state-run news agency reported Sunday.

REUTERS, NEW YORK- One coffee drinker's bad news is another coffee drinker's good news, it seems. Financial woes at Starbucks Corp, which is planning to close 600 underperforming US stores, is evoking glee and little sympathy from aficionados who say they resent the coffee shop giant and favour small independent cafes.

REUTERS, LONDON- Oil dropped below $144 a barrel on Friday, but was still within sight of record highs reached in the previous session when traders bought into the market ahead of a holiday weekend in the United States.

AFP, BERLIN - International Energy Agency chief Nobuo Tanaka has predicted that world oil markets will remain tight until 2013, according to an interview with the German economic daily Handelsblatt.

Rate rise signals

REUTERS, FRANKFURT- The European Central Bank's interest rate rise sends a signal that it is serious about combating inflation, policymakers said as they staged a public relations offensive to justify Thursday's increase.

AFP, LONDON - Gordon Brown is trying to burnish his record on the 60th anniversary of Britain's National Health Service Saturday, but experts say the ploy could misfire as both he and it struggle to get off the sick list.

REUTERS, PARIS - France's Banking Commission on Friday fined Societe Generale 4 million euros ($6.3 million) for serious breaches in internal controls revealed by the French bank's 4.9 billion euro rogue trading loss.

REUTERS, SEOUL- Unionized employees of Hyundai Motor Co will walk off the job for four hours next week to push for a pay increase, the auto maker's union said on Saturday.

South Korean police said they expect about 35,000 to gather on Saturday for a protest against a US beef import deal and the polices of the new president, whose government has faced a crisis due to the weeks of street rallies, reports Reuters.

REUTERS, TOKYO- G8 leaders aim to present a united front against global inflation, driven by soaring oil and food prices, at a summit in Japan next week, but solving the problem requires more than just a strong message from rich nations.

REUTERS, YANGON- At least 38 people died when their ferry sank in a river in Myanmar's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta, official newspapers reported on Friday.

Reuters, Bangalore- Goldman Sachs said the European banks sector needs to raise about 60 billion to 90 billion euros, or withhold one year of dividends, to reach an aggregate Tier I ratio of 9 percent -- a level achieved by European banks that have recapitalized recently.

REUTERS, LONDON- Poverty-ridden countries reaping the benefits of soaring oil and commodity prices should be investing their wealth at home, not putting it in sovereign funds, a senior United Nations official says.
 
Record crude and other commodity prices have seen some countries such as Nigeria bank billions of surplus revenue in sovereign wealth funds which are then reinvested, often in the developed world with the aim of conserving and growing them.

REUTERS, LONDON - Oil was near $145 a barrel on Friday, close to record highs reached in the previous session when traders bought into the market ahead of a holiday weekend in the United States.

Bdnews24.com

The government needs to take drastic steps for the IT-based business in Bangladesh to flourish, says Lokesh Mehra of Cisco Systems, a leading supplier of networking equipment and network management.

REUTERS, GENEVA- July is "the moment of truth" for a long-sought global trade pact, the failure of which would erode economic growth, sour diplomatic ties and hurt poor countries, the World Trade Organization head said on Friday.
 
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has invited trade ministers to Geneva from July 21 to broker deals in the two most sensitive areas of the so-called Doha round -- cuts to farming tariffs and subsidies, as well as to import duties on manufactured goods.

REUTERS, KARACHI - Justifying hefty increases in oil and gas prices to cut subsidies, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday his government wouldn't flinch from taking unpopular decisions to stabilise the economy.

"High growth in macroeconomic imbalances testifies that the country was living beyond its financial affordability," Gilani said in a speech at the State Bank of Pakistan to mark the central bank's sixtieth anniversary.

AP, DES MOINES, Iowa -- Midwest floods may not contribute as much to food inflation as was feared.

REUTERS, MUMBAI - Indian shares provisionally ended down 4.14 percent on Tuesday as investors dumped stocks on growing worries about high oil prices, inflation and political uncertainty.