Category: Other

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

KINAHREJO, Indonesia, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – The guardian of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi leads a silent procession — or what should be — around his hamlet under the cover of night in a bid to appease the volcano’s ancient spirits. Merapi, which means “Mountain of Fire”, has been belching potentially deadly heat clouds from its […]

DHAKA, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – Almost half of Bangladesh was plunged into darkness as the national electricity grid tripped, shutting down most of the country’s power generation units, reports said Friday. The capital Dhaka and districts across the north were affected by the more than two-hour shutdown late Thursday as summer temperatures soared above […]

KINAHREJO, Indonesia, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – The guardian of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi leads a silent procession — or what should be — around his hamlet under the cover of night in a bid to appease the volcano’s ancient spirits. Merapi, which means “Mountain of Fire”, has been belching potentially deadly heat clouds from its […]

KARACHI, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – A new line of jeans for Muslims who want to stay comfortable when they pray has drawn mixed reactions from religious hardliners in Pakistan, where the trousers are being made. Designed by an Italian company and named after the Arabic term for Jerusalem, Al Quds Jeans are baggy with […]

HEATHROW AIRPORT, England, May 18, 2006 (AFP) – The biggest passenger aircraft in the skies, the Airbus A380, landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on Thursday.The super-jumbo touched down at the west London airport at 1:19 pm (1219 GMT), making its British debut to test new facilities for jumbo aircraft. The arrival of the gigantic double-decker […]

LONDON, May 18, 2006 (AFP) – The average British worker spends just 3.5 minutes on average actually eating lunch, in order to cram as much as possible into their break, according to a survey published Thursday.The study of 2,000 people suggested nearly two-thirds (64 percent) tried to fit a number of activities into their lunch […]