Australia could have its first minority government in 70 years, with an poll showing the Labour party drawing level with the conservative opposition.
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/ 27 January 2009
Australia, long regarded as a model for global pensions reform, has some explaining to do after the markets meltdown, and not just to its own citizens
Golfers who tee-off at the Kabul Golf Course don’t have to worry about their balls landing in the traditional golf hazards of sand bunkers and ponds. The Afghan capital’s only golf course is one giant hazard. From tee to green, there is not a patch of grass; only weeds, rocks, baked-hard mud and the odd strand of barbed wire.
Afghanistan’s largest cellphone company is only four years’ old and has just made its first annual profit, but there are still teething problems. Its field staff have to be wary of kidnappings and landmines, a sub-contractor was recently beheaded, and Taliban militia have reportedly threatened to destroy its communications towers.
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/ 26 January 2007
Malaysia has launched its biggest tourism drive since independence under its famous slogan ”Malaysia: Truly Asia”, but it may as well read ”truly bizarre”. Recent visitors to the South-East Asian nation have read serious newspaper articles about miracle healers and a mysterious giant ape in the country’s southern jungles.
African miner Ashanti Goldfields, near to finalising a life-saving debt overhaul, revealed on Tuesday that platinum miner and major shareholder Lonmin Plc had suggested an 11th-hour alternative refinancing plan.
SABMiller Plc, the world’s second-biggest brewer, said on Tuesday that earnings continued to grow despite some tough markets, giving its shares a boost, but brewing industry analysts were not all impressed.