Category: Other
” Wonders of the World named amid controversy
LISBON, July 8, 2007 (AFP) – Seven “new” wonders of the world including the Great Wall of China and the Coliseum in Rome, selected by nearly 100 million voters and upsetting cultural experts, were announced late Saturday at a celebrity-studded televised ceremony in the Portuguese capital. The others are the Taj Mahal in India, the […]
”: Boeing
SEATTLE, Washington, July 6, 2007 (AFP) – The revolutionary materials used to build Boeing’s ground-breaking Dreamliner 787 passenger jet look set to transform the civil aviation industry forever, officials said Friday. Speaking to journalists ahead of the 787’s formal roll-out on Sunday, Boeing officials declared that the composite plastics that make up around 50 percent […]
Indian baby girl rescued after being buried alive
HYDERABAD, India, July 7, 2007 (AFP) – A baby girl buried alive by her grandfather in southern India was in good condition on Saturday after being rescued, hospital officials said. The child’s grandfather and mother have been arrested for attempted murder following the baby’s rescue in Mahbubnagar district, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Hyderabad, […]
Graft Block
July 6, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan civil society has developed an action plan to counter corruption with help from USAID’s Anti-Corruption Program (ACP), the United States embassy in Colombo said. The embassy says the draft plan identifies priority actions to be taken by various constituencies including government, the private sector, civil society, media, and […]
‘t buy cars so fast, pleads Chinese mayor
BEIJING, July 6, 2007 (AFP) – The mayor of one of China’s showpiece economic cities has urged his 11 million residents to stop buying cars in a bid to ease worsening traffic and pollution woes, state media reported Friday. The booming southern city of Shenzhen, just across from the border from Hong Kong, now has […]
Tobacco giant tries research trick in Asia
SEOUL, July 6, 2007 (AFP) – South Korean health campaigners Friday criticised three university hospitals for accepting more than one million dollars from a US tobacco giant for research into smoking. “I don’t think my research will be used by the tobacco company to boost sales. I believe anti-smoking groups are protesting my research because […]
‘s money printing rate hits 5.75 percent
LONDON, July 5, 2007 (AFP) – The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 5.75 percent on Thursday, the highest level for more than six years, in a bid to dampen British inflation. The BoE’s move to hike the cost of borrowing for the fifth time since August 2006 had […]
Islamic banking and finance set to grow in Asia
SINGAPORE, July 5, 2007 (AFP) – Islamic banking and finance is likely to continue growing in the Asia Pacific region but the real test of its sustainability will be how the system reacts to a major financial crisis, a report said Thursday. The industry is set to develop its own identity separate from conventional banking […]
‘s botched execution
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2007 (AFP) – The mother of a US man whose 2006 execution took 86 minutes and involved sticking needles into him 19 times has sued the prison team which oversaw the execution for civil rights violations.On Monday Irma Clark filed suit in the Cincinnati, Ohio, district court, alleging her son Joseph Clark […]
Tougher tobacco rules urged at global anti-smoking talks
BANGKOK, July 2, 2007 (AFP) – Health advocates called Monday for tougher regulations on tobacco, as officials from 145 countries met in Bangkok to discuss ways of boosting global efforts to stop smoking.The week-long meeting organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to find ways of harmonising national laws to tighten tobacco controls, particularly […]
Light Touch
July 01, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s rule book and compliance based financial regulatory system needs to be changed to one of principle based risk focused system, a top central banker has said. A rule-based intrusive supervision system doesn’t work always, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ranee Jayamaha, told a forum […]
Asia recalls crisis that brought region to its knees
HONG KONG, July 1, 2007 (AFP) – When Thailand floated its currency on July 2, 1997, it meant to ease the immediate pressure on its faltering economy.Instead, it set off a chain reaction which destroyed many of the gains of Asia’s ‘economic miracle’ years as currencies, stocks, commodities and property prices went into free-fall and […]