Category: World

NAIROBI, May 23, 2006 (AFP) – Kenya’s famed lion prides could be driven to extinction because ritual killings by tribal warriors are decimating their ranks in and around the country’s protected game reserves, wildlife experts warned Tuesday.The findings were immediately dismissed by members of the Maasai tribe, which is blamed for most of the deaths […]

BANGALORE, India, May 23, 2006 (AFP) – US-based Intel Corp, the world’s largest maker of semiconductors for computers, may build a facility to test its devices in India, the company’s chief executive said Tuesday.“We are in discussion with the Indian government for setting up an ATMP (assembly-test-mark-pack) plant in India with partners,” Paul Otellini told […]

NEW DELHI, May 23, 2006 (AFP) – India, the world’s largest mango producer, is set for a big push to sell its succulent “king of fruit” to countries like Japan and the United States, officials say. The mango is native to India, which grows 12 million tons (10.8 million metric tonnes) of the fruit, more […]

NEW DELHI, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – India has agreed to cut tariffs on a basket of products to pave way for the implementation of a proposed free trade argreement (FTA) with Southeast Asia, a report said Monday.The agreement between India and the 10-member ASEAN is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2007 […]

MANILA, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – For decades the troubled Philippines economy has been able to bank on one key asset in attracting foreign investors — proficiency in the English language.In recent years it has helped win outsourcing contracts in the booming business process and call center sectors, one of the few areas of the […]

TOKYO, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – The Japanese government is considering whether to continue slashing foreign aid and defense spending through fiscal 2011, a news report said Monday. The latest proposal would ensure that the current policy of cutting government spending would continue after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi steps down in September, the Nihon Keizai […]

MUMBAI, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – Indian share prices recovered from a 10 percent plunge Monday that halted trading for an hour to close down 4.18 percent as domestic funds helped prop the market, dealers said. “In light of the developments in the stock exchanges, the RBI has been in touch with major settlement banks […]

DHAKA, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – Several people were injured when security forces fired live rounds to disperse tens of thousands of textile workers protesting for higher wages near the Bangladesh capital Monday, police said.The protest started around noon at the Export Processing Zone, and its adjoining areas at Ashulia, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – A prominent Malaysian cleric has warned Muslims against repeatedly marrying and divorcing for fun after reports of a man who married 30 times and has scores of children and grand-children.Harussani Zakaria, a religious leader in northern Perak state, said in a report over the weekend it was sinful […]

DHAKA, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – The Bangladeshi prime minister Sunday removed the power minister amid growing protests over massive power shortages across the South Asian nation which faces a federal election by early 2007.Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who heads a four-party coalition, removed Minister for Power Iqbal Hasan Mahmud and reassigned him as junior […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – A prominent Malaysian cleric has warned Muslims against repeatedly marrying and divorcing for fun after reports of a man who married 30 times and has scores of children and grand-children.Harussani Zakaria, a religious leader in northern Perak state, said in a report over the weekend it was sinful […]

LONDON, May 20, 2006 (AFP) – The French were voted the world’s most unfriendly nation by a landslide in a British poll published on Saturday. They were also voted the most boring and most ungenerous. A decisive 46 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed by travellers’ website Where Are You Now (WAYN) said the French […]