Category: World

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 […]

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 […]

NEW DELHI, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – India’s real estate market is in overdrive as developers snap up land to build malls and housing enclaves, but high prices and opaque rules make it hard for first-time buyers to land a dream home. The sector, worth 12 billion dollars, is growing at 30 percent a year, […]

LONDON, Dec 14, 2006 (AFP) – Crude oil prices could head lower in 2007 after striking all-time highs above 78 dollars per barrel this year, as global production catches up with demand and geopolitical risks lessen, experts say. “This year, the main story has been the political risks story,” Global Insight oil analyst Simon Wardell […]

MANILA, Dec 13, 2006 (AFP) – Asia’s urban population is expected to grow by 70 percent to more than 2.6 billion over the next 25 years, placing severe strain on services, according to a book jointly published by the Asian Development Bank. “Development in Asia is tied to the growth of sustainable cities,” he added. […]

SINGAPORE, Dec 12, 2006 (AFP) – Asia-Pacific financial markets will remain generally strong but face greater volatility and higher risks in 2007, Standard and Poor’s said Tuesday. The US-based credit watchdog said in a statement that the regional economic outlook remained positive despite an expected US slowdown next year. But higher financing costs, increased corporate […]

PARIS, Dec 12, 2006 (AFP) – For the companies and individuals inhabiting the web’s ever-evolving ecosystem, three big revolutions have taken place almost unnoticed by outside observers. The first, they argue, was the initial phase — or what they call “Web 1.0” — when corporations like the BBC, Disney and established newspapers set up virtual […]

HARARE, Dec 11, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s inflation spiral rose to 1,098.8 percent last month, up 28.6 percentage points from October, the Central Statistical office said Monday.Last month, Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa predicted a marginal economic growth in the coming year, adding that inflation would dip to 350 percent as he presented the budget for […]

WASHINGTON, Dec 10, 2006 (AFP) – A stellar cast of US economic leaders heads to China this week to press for the world’s manufacturing workshop to overhaul the desperately one-sided trade between the two nations.Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will head the US delegation for the inaugural meeting of a […]

LONDON, Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) – Garment workers in Bangladesh are working 80 hours a week for just five pence (seven euro cents, nine cents) an hour to produce cheap clothes for British consumers, a report claimed Friday. Anti-poverty charity War on Want said the employees were also having to endure poor working conditions to […]

BEIJING, Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) – When Shanghai police broke up a counterfeit pharmaceuticals ring that produced fake Tamiflu in August, it seemed a blow had been struck against China’s notorious intellectual property thieves.Tamiflu, produced by Roche, is one of the few treatments deemed effective against bird flu, and the seizure of 400 kilograms of […]