Mizzima: Affluent Burmese can opt for career as pilot

Mizzima: Affluent Burmese can opt for career as pilot
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Ambitious and well heeled Burmese people, who might be in search of a career in flying, can now apply at a flying school in the Philippines by paying 35,000 US dollars.
An official of the Myanmar Golden Bridge Co. Ltd, in Rangoon’s Yakin Suburban [...]

China to cut army by 700,000 troops

China to cut army by 700,000 troops
BEIJING, Sept 30 — China plans to cut back its army and boost the navy and air force, sources with ties to the People’s Liberation Army said, extending its military reach and risking greater regional tensions.
China, which celebrates the 60th founding of the People’s Republic tomorrow with a [...]

Indian doctors resign en masse over pay dispute

Indian doctors resign en masse over pay dispute
BANGALORE, Sept 30 — Over 3,500 doctors in Karnataka Tuesday resigned en masse in protest against the government’s refusal to accept their demand for salary hike, the Press Trust of India reported.
Rejecting the government’s appeal not to resign till talks are held on Oct 4 to resolve the [...]

Iran holds 10 policemen in jail abuse case

Iran holds 10 policemen in jail abuse case
TEHRAN, Sept 30 — Iran has so far detained ten policemen who worked at a jail where protesters were held and mistreated after a disputed election in June, a semi-official news agency reported today.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in July ordered the closure of Kahrizak detention centre [...]

Cliff Richard returns, but no longer the same singer

Cliff Richard returns, but no longer the same singer
LONDON, Sept 30 — It seemed like a good idea to catch evergreen pop star Cliff Richard as he kicked off his big 50th anniversary reunion tour with his original band the Shadows, who went separate ways 20 years ago. But as Simone Signoret famously said, [...]

Holding politicians to moral standards

Holding politicians to moral standards.
Does public opinion matter?
Pic. encodinglife.blogspot.com. Barbara Berlusconi, daughter of the prime minister of Italy, commented on her father’s womanising by saying: “… public officials cannot afford to differentiate between their public and private spheres”.
She went further to state that: “Politicians who are called upon to govern well, to make a [...]

ADB calls for ‘Asia-common’ currency to avert crisis

ADB calls for ‘Asia-common’ currency to avert crisis
SEOUL, Sept 30 — The president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) called today for an “Asia-common” currency as another international reserve currency, as part of the region’s joint effort to prevent another global financial crisis.
“Asia could make the third international currency or Asia-common currency in the [...]

Fashionistas furious over Berlusconi link

Fashionistas furious over Berlusconi link
MILAN (Reuters) – Italian fashionistas on Wednesday hit back at foreign media reports that their latest creations were for “bimbos” inspired by the sex scandals surrounding Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s private life.
In reviews of Milan’s spring/summer 2010 womenswear fashion shows on Monday, the Financial Times and International Herald Tribune had linked [...]

Let’s talk about sex

Let’s talk about sex
SINGAPORE, Sept 30 — Young people in the Asia Pacific region need to get over taboos on talking about sex, with a survey showing most don’t know much about contraception while a third do not discuss it with their partner.

President Yudhoyono instructed to celebrate “batik party” to show off the world after Unesco’s recognition of Indonesia cultural heritage

President Yudhoyono instructed to celebrate “batik party”
to show off the world after
Unesco’s recognition of Indonesia cultural heritage
Indonesia’s president is pressing the country’s 234 million people to wear batik clothes to celebrate a triumph over Malaysia in a poisonous feud over cultural heritage. The UN cultural organisation Unesco is set this week to add Indonesia’s [...]

Working mums’ kids likely to lead unhealthier lives: study

Working mums’ kids likely to lead unhealthier lives: study
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) – Children whose mothers work are less likely to eat healthily or exercise as often as children with stay-at-home mums, according to a British study that is likely to raise the hackles of working mothers.
The UK Millennium Cohort Study looked at the dietary habits [...]

Skinny friends may make you eat more

 Skinny friends may make you eat more
NEW YORK, Sept 30 — That friend who stays thin despite eating anything and everything is not just annoying. He or she might also wreck your diet, according to new research.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, Canada, found that when college students watched a movie and [...]

Najib shows his funny side to Forbes

Najib shows his funny side to Forbes
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 —Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak went on a humour offensive last night as he sought to win over potential investors from around the world who had gathered for the annual Forbes CEO Conference here.
Najib showed that apart from his political acumen, he was [...]

Secularism

Secularism
Secularism is the concept that government or other entities should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs.
In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives [...]