Category: World

YANGON, June 17 (Asia Pulse) – Most of the rice mills in Myanmar’s Yangon division, which were destroyed in a cyclone storm early last month, have resumed operation after prompt repair, the local weekly Flower News reported Tuesday. Of the 110 over-15-ton rice mills in Yangon division, nearly 100 have returned to normal operation since […]

SINGAPORE, June 17, 2008 (AFP) – Finnish telecom giant Nokia has launched two new email-capable handsets for business users and vowed to defend its position as the world’s leading mobile phone maker.Nokia said the E71 and E66 were pre-loaded with Microsoft’s popular email programme and would cater to business professionals who wanted easy and instant […]

SINGAPORE, June 16, 2008 (AFP) – South Korea’s Samsung on Monday unveiled its latest smart phone, a touch-screen model to be commercially launched in Southeast Asia this week.The Omnia, which means “everything” in Latin, comes with a five megapixel built-in camera, 3.2-inch (eight-centimetre) screen as well as video functions, the company said. With its touch-sensitive […]

DUBAI, June 16, 2008 (AFP) – Britain has warned of a high risk of a terror attack in the United Arab Emirates, the booming oil-rich Gulf state and regional economic and tourst hub that is home to several million foreigners.“There is a high threat from terrorism.We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks […]

OSAKA, June 15, 2008 (AFP) – Group of Eight finance chiefs sent a warning signal to oil speculators this weekend, highlighting the inflation threat to the global economy in an attempt to cool red-hot energy prices, analysts said.Although the finance ministers said it was unclear how much influence speculators wield over energy markets, their remarks […]

BAGRAM, June 15, 2008 (AFP) – “I don’t really know what it is for,” says a salesman with some embarrassment, despite the explicit illustrations on the bottle of “Long Love Spray”.Alongside it on the shelf of a tiny shop in the bazaar at Bagram is a “special sex” gel as well as distinctive blue pills […]

LONDON, June 13 (Asia Pulse) – In the world of hi-tech gadgetry, you no longer need to keep up with the Joneses but with the Patels. Analysis of buying behaviour among people with common surnames has found that those called Patel are most likely to own must-have gadgets. Based on 12 months of sales figures […]

MADRID, June 14, 2008 (AFP) – It will take the the United States a century to recover from the damage wreaked by President George.W. Bush, US writer Gore Vidal said in an interview published Saturday.“The president behaved like a virtual criminal but we didn’t have the courage to sack him for fear of violating the […]

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2008 (AFP) – The US airline industry is set to crash as record oil prices threaten to push several carriers into bankruptcy, threatening “our American way of life,” an industry study said. “As a consequence of the skyrocketing price of oil, the US commercial aviation industry is in full-blown crisis and heading […]

BRUSSELS, June 12, 2008 (AFP) – ECB is preparing for a “moderate increase” in interest rates next month but not a series of hikes in the face of record inflation, governing board member and Belgian central banker Guy Quaden said. “What’s on the table for the month of July, is a moderate increase and not […]

Backyard gardener dies after inhaling fungal spores PARIS, June 12, 2008 (AFP) – An otherwise healthy 47-year-old man fell horribly ill and died within 10 days after inhaling fungal spores that had grown in a bag of gardening mulch, according to a study released Friday. The man, whose identity was not revealed, showed up at […]

OSAKA, June 13, 2008 (AFP) – The worst of the financial crisis appears to be over but the major economies are likely to grow sluggishly for the rest of this year, International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Friday. “We have good reason to think that the financial crisis is mostly behind us but it’s […]