Category: Other

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – US telecom giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T on Thursday took home the big prizes in a record-setting US wireless spectrum auction while Google got the open access it eagerly craves. The 700 MHz band currently carries standard television broadcasts, and will be freed up when stations switch to […]

TOKYO, March 21, 2008 (AFP) – In an unprecedented experiment, a Japanese astronaut has thrown a boomerang in space and confirmed it flies back much like on Earth. Astronaut Takao Doi “threw a boomerang and saw it come back” during his free time on March 18 at the International Space Station, a spokeswoman at the […]

SEOUL, March 21, 2008 (AFP) – South Korean police said Friday they had arrested a woman accused of telling her six-year-old daughter to steal some 140,000 dollars from a bank. The girl took cash and cheques on Thursday from a small safe under the desk in the VIP room of a bank in the southern […]

LOS BANOS, Philippines, March 21, 2008 (AFP) – As the price of rice hovers near record levels, many poor countries face the spectre of riots by hungry people, according to one of the world’s leading rice experts.Key producers India and Vietnam have both curtailed exports, sending some of the world’s largest rice importers including the […]

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Men and women have different tastes in food, with men favoring meat and poultry, and women fruits and vegetables, researchers said in what was touted as the most extensive study to date of gender differences in eating habits. More than 14,000 adult men and women were surveyed from May […]

LONDON, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Crude oil and gold prices plunged from recent record heights on Wednesday, as markets were rattled by concerns that ongoing global economic turmoil would dent demand for commodities, analysts said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, plummeted 4.22 dollars to 105.20 dollars per […]

SINGAPORE, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – World oil prices continued to fall in Asian trade Thursday, with more volatility expected as investors continue to assess the US economy, dealers said. In early morning trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for May fell 60 cents to 101.94 dollars per barrel from its close of […]

March 20, 2008 (AFP) – British sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke will be buried at a private funeral in Sri Lanka’s capital on Saturday, a close aide to the late writer said.The author had been largely confined to a wheelchair as a result of post-polio syndrome for several decades. Clarke, who captured the world’s imagination […]

March 19, 2008 (AFP) – British-born science fiction guru Arthur C.Clarke who died here Wednesday is likely to be buried at the main cemetery in Colombo at the weekend at a “strictly secular” funeral, an aide told AFP.“The funeral is most likely to be on Saturday,” Clarke’s secretary Nalaka Gunawardena said. “We are awaiting the […]

SHANGHAI, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – China is expected by May to officially launch a company making large jets that could eventually rival Boeing and Airbus, official media reported Wednesday.The state assets watchdog and the government of Shanghai, where the aircraft will be assembled, will be the first and second biggest shareholders respectively, the China […]

SINGAPORE, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Tourism revenues in the Asia Pacific region are expected to surpass 4.6 trillion US dollars by 2010 and visitor arrivals should reach close to half a billion people, an industry association said Wednesday.A US recession is likely to affect the industry, but strong growth in key Asian economies such […]