Newspaper battle on

COPENHAGEN: A new free newspaper hit the streets of Copenhagen on Wednesday, the first of at least four such publications being launched in what has been labeled a “newspaper war” by Danish media. The tabloid “dato,” published by media group Berlingske Officin, was being handed out at key traffic points in the Danish capital, and will also be distributed directly to homes in Denmark’s major cities starting Thursday. —AP

Gas-powered scooters

HANOI: Vietnam’s first scooters using environmentally friendly liquid petroleum gas (LPG) will hit the streets soon, the leader of the project said. Tens of millions of scooters and motorcycles crowd the streets of Vietnamese cities, causing major transport and environment headaches for the authorities. Now a local university research team has developed a kit that transforms regular oil-powered motorbikes into LPG-powered machines, promising savings of up to 40 per cent of fuel costs. — AFP

S Lanka rates steady

COLOMBO: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka surprised markets Wednesday and kept interest rates steady in its monthly economic review despite rising inflation and renewed fighting in a decades-old ethnic conflict. The central bank held the repurchase rate at 9.125 per cent and the reverse repo rate at 10.625 per cent, both at three-year highs. The decision came despite market expectations that double-digit inflation and renewed fighting between would force another rate hike. — AFP

S’pore in aid to Russia

SINGAPORE: Singapore will advise Russia on setting up special economic zones under a pact signed with Moscow, the city-state’s ministry of trade and industry said late Tuesday in a statement. Singapore has developed economic zones in some of Asia’s fastest growing economies including China, India and Vietnam and in June Singapore signed a

pact with Indonesia to establish another three such zones. Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang signed the deal. — AFP

Consumer confidence

SYDNEY: Consumer confidence in Australia tumbled 16.2 per cent in August in a sign that rising interest rates are beginning to bite into the country’s booming economy, analysts said on Wednesday. The plunge, measured by the monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment, was the second largest drop in more than 30 years and took confidence to its lowest level since March 2001. Analysts said the collapse was a clear sign that the August 4 rate rise had registered with consumers. — AFP