Category: Other
Macau to lead the way in Asia’s gaming boom: industry
SINGAPORE, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Casino gaming is increasingly accepted as a revenue stream for Asian governments and the sector is set to continue growing phenomenally with Macau leading the way, industry players said Monday. From Australia to Singapore and other Asian countries, the region’s governments now recognise that integrated gaming “resorts”, offering casino […]
Romantic proposals to get hitched being ditched: British poll
LONDON, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – The classic romantic wedding proposal where a man offers his would-be fiancee an engagement ring while down on bended knee, is going out of fashion, according to a British survey published Monday. Nearly one in three British couples just “agree together” to get married, according to a survey of […]
‘s gaming boom: industry
SINGAPORE, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Casino gaming is increasingly accepted as a revenue stream for Asian governments and the sector is set to continue growing phenomenally with Macau leading the way, industry players said Monday. From Australia to Singapore and other Asian countries, the region’s governments now recognise that integrated gaming “resorts”, offering casino […]
Burgeoning trade ties no guarantee of Asian peace: analysts
SINGAPORE, July 23, 2006 (AFP) – Burgeoning economic links through a web of free trade agreements (FTAs), financial cooperation and investments may reduce the risk of war in Asia but are no guarantee of peace, analysts say.Nationalist sentiments and historical animosities between major Asian countries could sideline economic considerations should tensions come to a boiling […]
Cooking oil cars turn the table on high fuel prices
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – A growing number of Americans are setting up mini-refineries in their homes to produce biodiesel, a fuel made from waste cooking oil which is cleaner and cheaper than the petrol sold in gas stations.The sky-high price of crude oil is scaring everyone. Biodiesel has Hollywood backers like actress Julia […]
Weary foreigners ramp up mass exodus from Lebanon
NICOSIA, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – Thousands of foreigners huddled in makeshift transit centres Friday, weary but relieved, as governments around the world ramped up a mass evacuation from the raging conflict in Lebanon. Warships, cruisers and ferries criss-crossed the eastern Mediterranean from ports in Lebanon toward Cyprus and Turkey, packed with refugees, while planes […]
Tea exporters in cash and logistics crunch due to port strike
July 20, 2006 (LBO) – A backlog of tea shipments and falling prices due to trade union strikes at the Colombo port has vessels bypassing Sri Lanka and tea exporters worried over tight cash flows. Trade union action and go-slows at the port over a wage hike entered its tenth day on Thursday, with no solution […]
Shopping an Asian pastime: survey
SINGAPORE, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Shopping for shopping’s sake has become a “national pastime” for many Asian countries, a global online survey said Wednesday. Seven of the top 10 markets that shop once a week for recreation all hail from the region, the survery by ACNielsen said. The survey of 22,000 Internet users in […]
Japan to cut foreign aid budget by three percent
TOKYO, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Japan plans to cut its budget for foreign aid, long a top tool of Tokyo’s foreign policy, by three percent in the fiscal year starting in April 2007 due to financial constraints, officials said Wednesday.Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso agreed on the plan over the […]
Indian bloggers angry over blocking of sites after Mumbai blasts
NEW DELHI, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Indian Internet users, angry at being denied access to popular weblogs, lashed out at the government on Wednesday for banning some websites in the wake of last week’s Mumbai train bombings.There are nearly 38 million Internet users among the 1.1 billion population. “India has clearly joined the Internet […]
Public Smoke
July 18, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s monopoly cigarette maker has asked for six months to enforce a public smoking and advertising ban, following legal amendments to anti-smoking laws that were passed in July. The amendments to the National Tobacco and Alcohol Authority Act softens some of the rules on public smoking in hotels, restaurants […]
Doggie hotel opens — 23 dollars a night, television optional
WASHINGTON, July 18, 2006 (AFP) – Washingtonians can now drop their pooches off at a pet hotel that cares for their friendly canines in a five-star environment — pet-themed television shows optional. In the mahogany paneled lobby of the PetSmart PetHotel, which just opened in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, the pets’ human “parents” line […]