Category: Other

HONG KONG, May 16, 2006 (AFP) – With the click of a switch, brightly polished restaurant tables lift almost magically into the ceiling and from sliding panels in the floor ice buckets emerge in time for the waiter who arrives with the champagne.As the drinks are served the main back wall lifts slowly to reveal […]

May 16, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged artillery fire across a truce line in the northern peninsula of Jaffna Tuesday, military officials said.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired across the army-held line at Nagarkovil and wounded at least two soldiers, the officials said. “The firefight lasted about […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15, 2006 (AFP) – Malaysian parents anxious to know what their children are up to at school will soon be able to receive daily SMS text messages from schools. The service is being offered at 88 schools in a pilot project but will be made available nationwide over the next two years. […]

TOKYO, May 15, 2006 (AFP) – “A salaryman can never have high hopes,” Takao Kimijima says on a Tokyo street as he finishes a puff on his cigarette outside his non-smoking building.The soft-spoken 30-year-old is not among the needy but a dark-suited corporate researcher who earns five million yen (45,000 dollars) a year, slightly above […]

LONDON, May 15, 2006 (AFP) – Record numbers of radio listeners are tuning into the BBC World Service, the public broadcaster said on Monday.The Service is attracting an average of 163 million listeners per week to its 33 language services during 2006, up from 149 million last year. The new high beats a previous weekly […]

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2006 (AFP) – Don’t be so loud.Listen. Dress up. Those are among the tips offered to US business executives traveling abroad in a new guide aimed at countering the image of the “ugly American”.Launched this month by a non-profit group concerned about mounting anti-Americanism worldwide, the “World Citizens Guide” has 16 suggestions […]

SINGAPORE, May 15, 2006 (AFP) – The commercial aviation sector faces a critical five years where the two key players, airlines and airport operators, must take the initiative to innovate ahead of a new era in passenger travel, industry experts said Monday Those who refuse to adapt will be left behind and could become takeover […]

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2006 (AFP) – Don’t be so loud.Listen. Dress up. Those are among the tips offered to US business executives traveling abroad in a new guide aimed at countering the image of the “ugly American”.Launched this month by a non-profit group concerned about mounting anti-Americanism worldwide, the “World Citizens Guide” has 16 suggestions […]

LONDON, May 14, 2006 (AFP) – The prices of commodities such as oil, copper, aluminium, platinum and sugar are smashing records — and will head higher owing to fierce demand from economic powerhouses India and China, analysts say. With sizzling rates of growth in the two emerging giants, home to one third of the world’s […]

NEW YORK, May 14, 2006 (AFP) – Microsoft and Google are girding for battle for supremacy over the information technology sector, a duel watched closely by others in the sector.The spectacular rise of Google in the past few years has raised questions about whether the Internet search titan is on track to dethrone Microsoft and […]

NEW DELHI, May 14, 2006 (AFP) – The clamour is growing for Rahul Gandhi, scion of India’s most powerful political dynasty, to step into the spotlight after steering his mother Sonia Gandhi to a landslide by-election win.“Son Rises,” said the Times of India in a headline after Sonia racked up a record 417,000-vote victory margin […]

NEW DELHI, May 14, 2006 (AFP) – The clamour is growing for Rahul Gandhi, scion of India’s most powerful political dynasty, to step into the spotlight after steering his mother Sonia Gandhi to a landslide by-election win.“Son Rises,” said the Times of India in a headline after Sonia racked up a record 417,000-vote victory margin […]