Category: Other

KOLKATA, Dec 21, 2006 (AFP) – Rising sea levels have submerged two islands in the Sunderbans, where tigers roam through mangrove forests in the Ganges River delta, and a dozen more islands are under threat, scientists say. A six-year study of the impact of future climate change on the world natural heritage site that India […]

BEIJING, Dec 21, 2006 (AFP) – From the oil fields of Africa to the living rooms of American homes and Asia’s shopping malls, virtually every part of the world felt the impact in 2006 of China’s ongoing, spectacular transformation. China’s successful courting of Africa during the year, which resulted in a strengthened alliance of some […]

SHANGHAI, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – As children around the globe unwrap Christmas presents with “made in China” labels, some toymakers here are turning their attention to a new and potentially lucrative market — their own. For nearly 20 years, China’s 20,000 domestic factories have served as the elves of Santa Claus’s workshop, exporting a […]

LONDON, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – About half of the billions of dollars donated by individuals, companies and governments worldwide to help the victims of the southeast Asian tsunami two years ago has still not been spent, the BBC said on Tuesday. According to figures obtained by the broadcaster from a database compiled by the […]

HONG KONG, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – Asian stocks recovered from sharp falls Wednesday after Thailand’s military government backed down on imposing harsh currency controls which saw Bangkok shares lose a massive 15 percent. Elsewhere, benchmarks tended to follow local factors resulting in Tokyo closing up 1.40 percent and above the critical 17,000 points mark […]

KLADNO, Czech Republic, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – At a new factory here, real people are now putting together giant characters out of Lego building bricks for a world of make-believe. But they are also building a strategy in one of the toughest games in big business: toymaking The characters are being assembled for Legoland […]

SINGAPORE, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – Loan sharks, prostitutes, money launderers and mobsters — they’re traditionally as much a part of casinos as the punters themselves.But squeaky-clean Singapore is taking steps to make sure criminals have no place in the city-state’s two new gaming centres, which are due to open by 2010. Analysts have confidence […]

HONG KONG, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – Asian stocks were broadly lower Tuesday, with investors spooked by the worst ever losses in Bangkok where the military government imposed capital controls reminiscent of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The controls, aimed at curbing a massive appreciation in the local currency, stunned the region, prompting heavy stock […]

GENEVA, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – More journalists were killed in 2006 than any other year, with the war in Iraq still the deadliest conflict for the third consecutive year, a media watchdog group said on Tuesday. The Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said that 94 journalists lost their lives in the course of their […]

CALANGUTE, India, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – India’s Arabian Sea tourist resort of Goa, beloved of hippies and backpackers, plans to launch an armada of floating casinos to pull in high-roller tourists. Goa’s state government proposed the casinos as India posted a 13 percent rise in tourist arrivals to 3.91 million in the fiscal year […]