Category: World

SINGAPORE, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Asians buy more designer wallets than any other region but luxury-brand loyalty varies from country to country, a global consumer survey revealed Monday.The survey of 21,000 Internet users in 42 countries conducted by research firm ACNielsen showed that the most popular designer brand globally is Ralph Lauren followed by […]

NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Bountiful early monsoon rains are raking in millions of dollars for Indian bookies taking bets on the amount of rain that will drench the country between June and September, a report said Monday.The weather office has predicted a below normal monsoon this year but bookies have stacked the […]

DHAKA, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – A Bangladesh city will impose taxes on polygamists to deter the “outdated” practice of marrying more than one wife, an official said Monday. The tax will come into force from July 1 in northern Rajshahi, Bangladesh’s fourth-largest city, mayor Mijanur Rahman Minu told AFP. As part of the city’s […]

NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Visitors to Indian zoos often throw stones at animals, many of whom are already in pain and enclosed in filthy, concrete boxes, officials and animal rights groups say.Deteriorating conditions prompted rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals last month to sue states running zoos and the […]

TOKYO, June 2, 2006 (AFP) – Anyone for rattlesnake ice cream? Japan is no stranger to bizarre frozen deserts and this year is no exception with cow tongue, Indian curry, cheese and even cactus among the flavours on offer for courageous taste buds at an annual event at the Namjatown theme park. Other ice creams […]

MANILA, May 30, 2006 (AFP) – The World Health Organization (WHO) Tuesday accused the global tobacco industry of continuing to use misleading labels to lure millions of people, including children, to take up smoking.On the eve of World No Tobacco Day, WHO said it would focus on the “tobacco industry’s lies” and the great variety […]

LONDON, May 30, 2006 (AFP) – The growing number of people who migrate from developing countries to over-populated Western states in search of a better life is damaging the planet and could be avoided, a think-tank said Tuesday.Governments and aid agencies should encourage families to stay put by tackling environmental degradation, such as the spread […]

SINGAPORE, May 30, 2006 (AFP) – Southeast Asias have the unhappiest sex lives in the world, making love less often than people elsewhere and getting the least satisfaction from it, a global survey showed Tuesday.Mexicans scored the highest sex satisfaction levels with 74.5 percent declaring they were very satisfied, followed by Brazil at 64.5 percent […]

EDINBURGH, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – Global press chiefs gathered in the Scottish capital Edinburgh to thrash out how best to wrestle with the rise of the Internet, stay on top of technology, and beat countless bloggers and citizen journalists to the story. The three-day International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress opened Sunday with fervent […]

NEW DELHI, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – An Indian sexologist was shot dead by a patient depressed by worsening impotency, reports said Monday. Javed Ali, 22, on Sunday pumped seven bullets into the self-styled sexologist who had been treating him for two years, The Hindustan Times said. Thirty-three-year-old Rajesh Abbot fell under a hail of […]

HONG KONG, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – The powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia was just the latest display of violent seismic activity on the archipelago, which stretches across one of the most unstable parts of the Earth’s surface.The country’s position on the planet’s crust means it will continue to experience such catastrophes, just as it […]

EDINBURGH, May 27, 2006 (AFP) – Journalism in the modern, high-tech age and the perils of reporting on terrorism will be the key topics thrashed out at the International Press Institute’s annual world congress, which opens here Sunday. The three-day conference in the Scottish city brings together some 450 participants from 60-odd countries to tackle […]