Category: World

HARARE, Aug 22, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabweans struggled to offload soon-to-be worthless cash on Monday as chaos and confusion prevailed ahead of a midnight deadline to convert to a new currency aimed at combating galloping inflation.Banks extended their working hours to cater to crowds who came to dispose of their old notes while others went […]

BANGALORE, India, Aug 19 (AFP) – India’s southern state of Karnataka has filed a case against US soft drinks giant Coca-Cola, accusing it of selling products with unacceptably high pesticide levels, a minister said Saturday.The case was filed August 12 after state health department-supervised laboratory tests showed excessive amounts of pesticide in Coca-Cola product samples, […]

NEW DELHI, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) – India’s biggest private company Reliance Industries said Friday it aims to launch its first store next month as part of a plan to build an Indian version of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retail chain. Reliance, whose main business is oil and petrochemicals, has said it plans to invest […]

BEIJING, Aug 17 (AFP) – A city in central China is agonizing over whether it should preserve an ancient building that once housed a brothel in case it is seen as promoting prostitution, state media said Thursday. The problem is that if the authorities at Jinggang in Hunan province decide not to save the structure, […]

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (AFP) – Japanese officials on Thursday proposed a sprawling 16-nation free-trade grouping with China, South Korea, Australia, India, New Zealand and the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc, officials said. The 16 last year formed the East Asia Summit — seen as a precursor of a giant free-trade community embracing half the world’s […]

Aug 16 (AFP) – The Maldives said Wednesday it had freed a leading opposition figure as part of efforts to move the island nation towards multi-party democracy. Jennifer Latheef, who was jailed for 10 years on terror charges linked to a 2003 pro-democracy riot, was pardoned and released, the Maldivian government said in a statement. […]

TORONTO, Canada, Aug 15, 2006 (AFP) – South Asia’s AIDS epidemic could smash through vulnerable populations unless India and its neighbours take the battle into high-risk areas, including the sex industry, the World Bank warned Monday.The report, issued at the world’s biggest-ever AIDS meeting, painted a picture of an HIV time bomb that ticked in […]

NEW YORK, Aug 14, 2006 (AFP) – Global beverages giant PepsiCo Monday named Indra Nooyi as its new chief executive, capping a rapid rise to the highest ranks of corporate America for the Indian-born woman. Nooyi, 50, will succeed the 58-year-old Steve Reinemund on October 1st, although Reinemund will keep working for the company until […]

HONG KONG, Aug 11, 2006 (AFP) – Passengers at Asian airports faced delays and were stopped from taking electronics and liquids on board US-bound flights Friday as security was stepped up after British police foiled an alleged plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic Ocean. Additional dog squads and bomb disposal and detection teams […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – Personal computers have transformed society in a mere 25 years and they are just getting warmed up.In the short time since IBM launched its pioneering PC on August 12, 1981, teenagers have gone from hiding secrets in locked diaries to baring all on social networking websites such as […]

NEW DELHI, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – With a billion-plus people in a hot climate and a booming economy, India should be a choice market for Coke and Pepsi — but the two cola giants have instead faced a very bumpy local ride. The brands are in the midst of a publicity nightmare after an […]

LONDON, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – Air travel to and from Britain was plunged into chaos on Thursday in the wake of the discovery of a plot to blow up airlines on transatlantic flights. Many airlines said they were cancelling all flights to Britain and to the epicentre of the threat, London Heathrow, one of […]