Bill Gates still top dog but rising billionaires catching up

NEW YORK, March 8, 2007 (AFP) – Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world, but his lead over other entrepreneurs is narrowing, according to Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires published Thursday. Despite Gates leading the rich list for a 13th straight year with a tidy nest egg of 56 billion […]

European stock markets rally after Tokyo bounce

LONDON, March 8, 2007 (AFP) – European stock markets moved higher on Thursday, following bumper gains earlier in Tokyo, as investors regained confidence after a recent slump in global equities, dealers said. However, trading was cautious ahead of crucial interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE). London’s […]

If you want to see carnivorus cattle, rush to India

KOLKATA, India, March 8, 2007 (AFP) – Hundreds of people have rushed to a village in eastern India to see a male calf defy its herbivore nature by eating live chicks. In majority Hindu India, the cow is revered as a sacred animal. Ghosh said his calf has now been named Lal (‘Red’), after the […]

Rajiv Gandhi murder accomplice wins Indian citizenship for daughter

CHENNAI, India, March 8, 2007 (AFP) – An Indian woman convicted along with her Sri Lankan husband in the 1991 killing of former premier Rajiv Gandhi has secured Indian citizenship for their daughter. A court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday gave the federal government four weeks to issue an entry permit […]

Post-strike blues hit Sri Lanka tea production

March 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka, one of the world’s biggest exporters of tea, has reported its lowest monthly output in nine-years this January, as bad weather slowed recovery of strike-hit estates. Crop figures in January fell 14 percent to 21.1 million kilos from 24.6 million kilos a year earlier, the lowest since 1996, […]

Under Fire

March 7, 2007 (AFP) – Nine media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka over the past 15 months, rights groups said Wednesday, voicing concerns over deteriorating conditions for journalists. No one has been charged over the deaths, leading to fears that media freedom is being deliberately and violently suppressed through threats, abductions and attacks, […]

’t smell rotten fish

BANGKOK, March 6, 2007 (AFP) – Five Thai fishermen died and two were taken to hospital after inhaling gas released by rotting fish in the hold of a trawler, police said Tuesday.They fainted at the smell of the decomposing fish kept in the bottom of the trawler along the Andaman coast of southern Thailand on […]

Global shares rally but analysts warn of possible turmoil ahead

LONDON, March 6, 2007 (AFP) – European and Asian share prices rebounded on Tuesday following recent heavy falls as US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson reassured that Asia’s two biggest economies, Japan and China, remained sound. On Wall Street, shares closed lower Monday following declines across Europe and Asia, with the Dow Jones index shedding 0.53 […]

Iran moots idea of international Islamic human rights court

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6, 2007 (AFP) – Iran has mooted the idea of an international court focussing on Islamic human rights issues, a report said Tuesday. Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroud, Iran’s chief of judiciary system, said during a visit to Malaysia that his country has formed a secretariat to look into the matter, the New […]

‘ eyes on China

TOKYO, March 5, 2007 (AFP) – Asian stock markets came under fresh selling pressure in early trade on Monday, tracking Wall Street lower amid continued anxiety about the health of global markets, dealers said.They said that investors in the region were keeping a close watch on the Shanghai market where share prices extended losses in […]

Markets stabilize after rout, as Wall St. and Shanghai rebound

NEW YORK, Feb 28, 2007 (AFP) – Global stock markets steadied Wednesday a day after the worst slide in years as Wall Street nerves were calmed by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Shanghai clawed back some of its massive losses. Latin American markets meanwhile rebounded on Wall Street’s coattails. Brazil’s Bovespa index shot up 1.73 […]

‘s Dilmah shakes a cocktail with Ceylon tea

March 01, 2007 (LBO) – At the Water’s Edge in Battaramulla on a humid Monday evening, tea drinkers and cocktail fans find common ground ranging from chivas regal to green tea. Here in this upmarket golf club house, six kilometers from Colombo city, tea-tenders are busy dreaming up concoctions to serve up tea in variations that, […]

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