Category: Other
Pay-TV piracy on the rise in Asia: study
HONG KONG, Oct 24, 2006 (AFP) – Pay-TV piracy in Asia is estimated to cost the industry 1.13 billion US dollars in 2006, up 6.6 percent from 2005, a survey said Friday. The annual report by the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), that studied TV markets across 11 Asian countries, said the […]
At Hong Kong high-tech cafe, everything is served with microchips
HONG KONG, Oct 23, 2006 (AFP) – With a whir and a flash of lights, a robot whizzes to the restaurant table and takes a customer’s order, while a second races to another table to deliver plates of steaming food.This isn’t a scene from a science fiction book. Rather, it’s the daily routine at a […]
Air Zimbabwe hikes fares by 500 percent
HARARE, Oct 23, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, announced fare increases on Monday of up to 500 percent on both international and domestic routes.A spokesman said the airline had no option but to implement the masssive price hikes as a result of surging overhead costs and the high inflation rate. “The […]
‘s cinnamon exports, following new standard
Oct 19, 2006 (LBO) – The European Union has lifted year long restrictions on Sri Lanka’s cinnamon exports, following approval of a new standard for the spice.The disagreement stemmed from sulphur residue levels in Sri Lankan shipments, with the EU not having a fixed standard on allowable levels, until now. “Exports to Germany came to a […]
Le Divorce
Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Monday ordered the breakup of the restive Northeastern Province, a massive administrative region claimed by Tamil Tiger rebels as a separate state.The creation of the province was a key Tamil demand accepted by a 1987 peace accord that gave limited authority to minority Tamils in the […]
Warner Music sees Asia as the driving force mobile music growth
SINGAPORE, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – Asia is now the driving force behind demand for mobile music services which will make up for lost revenue by telecom firms in their voice-only services, a US recording label Warner Music said Monday.South Korea and Japan dominate the mobile music market and Asia Pacific holds the largest market […]
‘s Congress party brings back trusted slogan to woo masses
NEW DELHI, Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – It was the slogan that propelled India’s then premier Indira Gandhi to her first re-election victory in 1971 by a landslide. Thirty-five years on, the Congress Party government has brought back “Garibi Hatao” — “Eradicate Poverty”. The government, elected in 2004 on an anti-poverty programme, is hoping the […]
” deals: analysts
HARARE, Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe, shunned by the West, is trawling ever wider for alternative business partners, but analysts say much-trumpeted deals with its new friends are unlikely to yield meaningful benefits to the country.The state-run Zimbabwe Central Bank summoned reporters to a press conference last week to attend the signing of a […]
Latin soap operas winning TV hearts around the globe
CANNES, France, Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – True love is making a comeback on the television screen, winning the hearts of audiences around the globe.It’s also making big bucks for some of the world’s leading programme makers, contradicting playwright William Shakespeare’s famous observation that “the course of true love never did run smooth”. The staple […]
Champagne now the tipple of choice for hip-hop royalty
LOS ANGELES, Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) – For centuries regarded as a sparkling symbol of decadence sipped by kings and queens, Champagne has today become the tipple of choice for hip-hop royalty.But while rap stars have kept the bubbly flowing from magnums, Methuselahs and jereboams in fashionable nightclubs from New York to Los Angeles, not […]
Microcredit gives hope to Bangladesh rural poor
DHAKA, Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) – A tiny Grameen bank loan to buy a cow was a lifeline for 32-year-old Margina who now runs a successful rice business but was once so poor she could not afford to eat.Like millions of others, Margina saw her life transformed through a 3,000 taka (42 dollar) loan from […]
‘s Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank
OSLO, Oct 13, 2006 (AFP) – The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and the Grameen Bank which offers loans to poor people without any financial security. “Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such […]