A1SaudiArabia.com

Bangladeshi community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrated Bengali New Year.

To celebrate the occasion, Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah organized traditional Cake Festival and cultural function at consulate premises Friday. A number of diplomats, media persons and over 3,000 Bangladeshis attended the festival.

Bangladeshi Consul General Golam Sarwar said, “Celebration of Bengali New Year is one of the important traditional events of our culture. I am happy that we celebrate this special day here in Jeddah as an exclusive colorful event”.

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The Royal Thai Consulate General in Jeddah in cooperation with the Thai Community Club in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia held a Songkran Day Festival or Thai New Year celebration at the Consul Generals residence on Thursday. A Charity Food Bazaar was organized to raise funds for the nonprofit Thailand Non-Formal and Informal Education Learning Center in Jeddah.

         More than 1,000 Thai and non-Thai residents of Jeddah, Makkah and Taif took part in the the celebrations and, at the same time, helped to contribute funds to the Learning Center run by the Consulate General for Thai children in Jeddah and nearby areas.

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BEIJING – Chinas exports rose in February in a new sign of growing global demand that could help persuade officials to let the Chinese currency rise.

Exports were up 45.7 percent over a year earlier, the Chinese customs agency reported Wednesday, beating analyst forecasts of 35 to 40 percent growth. Imports surged 44.7 percent, the agency said, reflecting growing demand in China as it emerges from the global crisis.

“Chinas trade is extending its recovery,” said Zhu Jianfang, an economist for Citic Securities in Beijing. “Exporters are getting more orders these days.”

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SHANGHAI – Chinas passenger car sales climbed 55 percent from a year earlier in Feburary, despite a long national holiday, on strong demand for smaller cars and sport utility vehicles, an industry group reported Tuesday.

Sales of cars, commercial vehicles and SUVs rose to 942,900 units, while sales of all vehicles including trucks and buses rose 46 percent year-on-year to 1.21 million, according to the government-affiliated China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

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SHANGHAI – Chinas passenger car sales slowed in February as buyers in the worlds biggest auto market stayed away during the Lunar New Year holiday, a research group said Friday.

Passenger car sales rose a still healthy 45 percent to 881,085 units for the month, the Shanghai-based China Passenger Car Association reported, citing data from automakers. Sales had jumped 84 percent year-on-year to 1.22 million vehicles in January. Official data on total vehicle sales for February are due next week.

Chinas total vehicle sales soared 45 percent last year to an estimated 13.6 million, overtaking the U.S. as the worlds biggest auto market. Most analysts expect growth to exceed 10 percent this year, but to fall short of last years stunning recovery.

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FRANKFURT – German sportswear company Adidas AG said Wednesday its fourth quarter net income declined 64 percent to ?19 million ($26 million) on rising purchasing costs, currency effects and a drop in demand during the downturn.

The Herzogenaurach-based company earned ?54 million in net income during the October-December period of 2008. Revenue for the quarter was steady around ?2.5 billion.

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SINGAPORE – Asian stocks tumbled Friday after the US central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates for emergency bank loans, triggering fears that growth could slow in the worlds largest economy. European markets also lost ground.

The Federal Reserve said Thursday it will bump up the so-called “discount” lending rate by one-quarter point to 0.75 percent effective Friday, part of a pullback of the extraordinary aid it provided to fight the financial crisis.

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LONDON – World stocks rose Wednesday on upbeat corporate earnings reports and as worries about Greeces debt crisis eased.

Kraft Foods Inc. and apparel retailer Abercrombie and amp; Fitch reported earnings that beat expectations on Tuesday, while drugmaker Merck and amp; Co. and UK banking giant Barclays also reported soaring profits. Frances BNP Paribas, the eurozones largest bank, posted its fourth straight quarterly profit on Wednesday.

That helped drive Britains FTSE 100 benchmark index up 0.7 percent to 5,278.14 and Germanys DAX 0.8 percent higher to 5,637.88. Frances CAC-40 rose 1.2 percent to 3,714.15.

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LONDON – Oil prices vaulted above $75 a barrel Tuesday as the dollar weakened, making oil cheaper for investors holding other currencies.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for March delivery was up $1.23 at $75.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With markets closed Monday in the US for the Presidents Day holiday, the contract last settled on Friday, falling $1.15 to $74.13.

Trading volume was light in Asia as markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia remained closed for the Lunar New Year.

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washington – US retail sales opened the year with a surprisingly strong lift, official data showed Friday, suggesting consumers are spending more despite high unemployment amid a fragile economic recovery.

The Commerce Department reported that seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 0.5 percent to $355.8 billion in January.

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