Category: Other

NEW DELHI, May 6, 2006 (AFP) – A ship carrying scientists conducting environmental studies sank off the India’s eastern coast early Saturday, a report said. All 18 people on board, including the crew, escaped, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. “The accident occurred after an explosion, the reason for which is under investigation,” […]

BANGKOK, May 4 (AFP) – A top official for the UN’s tsunami recovery effort was meeting Thursday in Bangkok to launch a new drive to improve accountability for the 13 billion dollars donated to five countries hit by the deadly waves.“There was a great appreciation that accountability to donors, the affected populations, and to the […]

PARIS, May 3 (AFP) – Governments and organisations around the world Wednesday made gestures of support for journalists on World Press Freedom Day, but at least one reporter was killed and dozens of leaders came under fierce criticism for infringing on free expression.The global media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF – Reporters Without Borders) in […]

LOS ANGELES, May 4 (AFP) – Movie piracy costs Hollywood’s big studios about 6.1 billion dollars last year, far more than the 3.5 billion dollars the industry had previously conceded, a stunning report revealed Wednesday.A study ordered by the US film industry’s lobbying group, the influential Motion Picture Association of America, revealed that pirates were […]

LONDON, May 4, 2006 (AFP) – An unemployed man has been charged with murder after two shop workers in one of three allegedly racially motivated firebomb attacks on Asian-run convenience stores in London, police said Thursday. Robert Torto, 32, is accused of killing shopkeeper Khizar Hayat, who was originally from Pakistani Kashmir, and his employee, […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (AFP) – Malaysian motorists who read or send SMS text messages while behind the wheel face going to jail, authorities warned in a report Wednesday, saying texting is more dangerous than talking on the phone. Malaysia’s Road Transport Department last year nabbed 600 motorists for using text messaging services and is […]

BEIJING, May 2 (AFP) – Governments in Asia are considered among the world’s worst “enemies” of Internet freedom, as they increasingly censor websites and jail people who express views deemed dangerous online. Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, experts say countries including China, Vietnam and Nepal are feeling more threatened by cyberspace than […]

LAVAL, France, May 2 (AFP) – From virtual water that you stir in a real bowl to little digital dwarves to play with, the latest trend from Japan is making technology both fun and thought-provoking.The works of art along the Japanese aisle at the International Conference on Virtual Reality in Laval, western France this weekend […]

SINGAPORE, May 2 (AFP) – Singapore-listed Asia Pacific Breweries, which makes Tiger beer, said Tuesday it has acquired 76 percent of Indian brewer Aurangabad Breweries for 18 million US dollars. The company is a joint venture between the Fraser and Neave Group of companies and Heineken of Holland. The deal includes a provision for Asia […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (AFP) – Low-cost carrier AirAsia Tuesday announced a big increase in passenger traffic in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2005.Figures released for AirAsia and its Asian associates showed 55.3 percent more passengers were carried from January to March 2006, the third quarter of […]

PARIS, May 2 (AFP) – Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) is to mark international press freedom day Wednesday by naming five new “predators on the freedom of the press” to add to the 32 it has already identified.The names, made available Tuesday, are those of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, armed Tamil […]