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RIYADH – Due to software problems in Washington, applicants for non-immigrant US visas around the world are experiencing difficulties accessing and using the new online application procedure (Form DS-160) that has been required to make an appointment for a visa interview since Feb. 8, a press release issued here said Wednesday.

Daniel Goodspeed, Consul General in US embassy here, has said that the US Department of State in Washington is working hard to fix the problem, and anticipates the system will return to full function shortly.

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JEDDAH – Four Saudi women have been selected to attend US President Barack Obamas “Entrepreneurial Spirit” gathering in Washington on April 26 and 27.

Maria Al-Mahdli, Lamis Al-Mufti, Noura Al-Maghrabi and Mona Al-Amir, all students from Jeddahs Dar Al-Hekma College, have been chosen to join 26 other students from around the world following the success of their business ventures, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported Wednesday.

Al-Mahdli set up and runs a website to help improve social youth culture, while Al-Mufti is the founder and chief executive of a home-run business named “You Be the Change”, a project to help improve and support youth skills.

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LONDON – Global oil demand will rise more quickly than expected in 2010, OPEC said on Wednesday, increasing the need for crude from the 12-member group which meets to set policy next week.

OPEC joins the US governments forecaster in raising oil demand estimates this week. Still, OPECs outlook remains conservative and it is widely expected to leave output policy steady when it meets on March 17.

Demand will rise by 880,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2010 to average 85.24 million bpd, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a monthly report. The growth rate is up 70,000 bpd from the previous forecast.

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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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LONDON – A distinct lack of momentum will drag on the rich worlds economic recovery this year, according to the latest Reuters economic outlook in which economists largely bucked a recent trend of rising forecasts.

Median forecasts from the survey of around 250 economists showed slight downward revisions to 2010 quarterly growth forecasts for the United States, while those for Britain and Japan were mostly unchanged from Februarys poll.

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Washington – The number of millionaires in the United States jumped by 16 percent last year after slumping by 27 percent in 2008, a report released Tuesday shows.

Last year, some 7.8 million US households had a million dollars or more in investable assets – not counting capital invested in their primary residence, the report by the Spectrem Group shows.

That was up by 1.1 million from the year before, when the number of US millionaires fell to its lowest point since 2003, hitting 6.7 million as the US economy stumbled.

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MUMBAI – Ford Motor Co. launched its first made-for-India compact car Tuesday, as the US automaker continues its push into fast-growing Asian markets.

The four-door Figo, Italian for “cool,” is the Dearborn, Michigan-based automakers first car designed – and priced – for the mass Indian market.

“Come heat, come dust, come monsoon rains or Delhi traffic, the Figo was born and bred for India,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India.

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HONG KONG – Most Asian markets rose slightly Tuesday, but trading was subdued as investors awaited more clues about the health of the world economy following big gains the day before. European shares slipped in early trade.

A number of Asian markets fluctuated in line with Wall Streets mixed finish. Oil prices fell to near $81 a barrel, while the dollar weakened against the yen and strengthened against the euro.

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FRANKFURT – German mail and logistics company Deutsche Post AG said Tuesday its net loss for the fourth quarter narrowed to ?283 million ($385 million) largely because of a cost savings program and better management of its US express division.

Deutsche Post, which owns express carrier DHL, lost more than ?3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. Revenue for the October-December period of 2009 was 12 percent lower to ?12.4 billion from ?14 billion a year ago.

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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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