Category: World

GENEVA, Jan 9, 2007 (AFP) – The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos this month will enter the virtual reality of web-based Second Life in a bid to open up the elite meeting of political and business leaders, the organisers said Tuesday. After being televised, webcast and podcast […]

BAN NAM KHEM, Thailand, Dec 26 (AFP) – With prayers and flowers and tears, from Thailand’s beaches to the islands of India, mourners paid tribute to their loved ones Tuesday on the second anniversary of the Asian tsunami. Emotional ceremonies across the region recalled the day when giant waves killed 220,000 people in a sweep […]

BERLIN, Dec 24, 2006 (AFP) – Germany said Sunday it will not offer the Sri Lankan government new aid until the peace process in the country advances and called on other nations to increase the pressure on Colombo. Overseas Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told Berlin’s daily Tagesspiegel that Germany had been frustrated that its aid […]

MUMBAI, Dec 23, 2006 (AFP) – India’s economy will continue to boom in 2007 but analysts say demand will slow as its central bank hikes interest rates to curtail consumer spending and higher prices. India’s one-billion-plus population are buying more cars, phones, homes and goods than ever before and its companies have expanded quickly to […]

HONG KONG, Dec 22, 2006 (AFP) – Malfunctioning democracies and legal systems are the main causes of violations of human rights and the rule of law in many countries around Asia, a new rights report says. The study said respect for human rights had worsened in most countries in the region and that people had […]

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 […]