Category: World

LONDON, May 18, 2006 (AFP) – The world’s first “theme park” dedicated to sex and relationships is set to open in London’s bustling West End later this summer, its promoters said Thursday.Amora: The Academy of Sex and Relationships, featuring “high-tech and interactive exhibits together with new media displays,” expects up to 600,000 visitors within its […]

CANNES, France, May 17, 2006 (AFP) – The most hotly-awaited movie of the year “The Da Vinci Code” failed to crack an audience of movie critics here at a sneak preview ahead of Wednesday’s opening of the Cannes Film Festival.Several whistles instead of applause were all that greeted the end of Ron Howard’s 125-million-dollar film, […]

TOKYO, May 17, 2006 (AFP) – Japan’s parliament narrowly approved Wednesday a bill to follow the United States in fingerprinting and photographing foreign visitors, despite concern the security measures violated privacy.The upper house voted 131 to 94 to support the bill, which would also allow the justice minister to expel terrorist suspects. The lower house, […]

CANNES, France, May 17, 2006 (AFP) – The most hotly-awaited movie of the year “The Da Vinci Code” failed to crack an audience of movie critics here at a sneak preview ahead of Wednesday’s opening of the Cannes Film Festival.Several whistles instead of applause were all that greeted the end of Ron Howard’s 125-million-dollar film, […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16, 2006 (AFP) – Malaysia’s largest telecommunications provider Telekom Malaysia has seen a sharp gain in its first quarter profit, including gains from Indonesian mobile subsidiary PT Excelcomindo Pratama.Telekom said in a statement late Monday that its three months to March net profit rose 39 percent from a year earlier to 518.95 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]