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) Accessible Asia: Three countries, three cultures, three weeks
River cruises. Fresh beer. Strong coffee. French baguettes. Bike rides along shaded canals. Cooking classes in secluded villas. Five-star hotels with sky bars and rooftop pools. Paris, Venice, London?Try Hanoi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
If it's your first time or your tenth, surprises await in modern Southeast Asia. More accessible and easier to travel around than ever, it's a place where English is widely spoken and the dollar still packs power. Beginning Monday, join in online as travel writer Carol Pucci reports from Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Follow her dispatches, see her photos and offer your own comments and tips.
Returning to Asia, where changes abound BANGKOK — When my husband, Tom, and I made our first trip to Asia 19 years ago, Bangkok was our first stop. More>>
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) Focus on Woods Bagot
WITH its 137-year history, offices in 15 cities from Adelaide to Abu Dhabi, Brisbane to Bangkok, Shanghai to London and a staff of about 800 people, Woods Bagot is the undisputed grand-daddy of South Australia's "big three". Founded in 1869 by Edward Woods and Walter Bagot, its august register of former partners includes Louis Laybourne Smith who, with Bagot, founded the SA School of Architecture which now bears his name, and Sir James Irwin, a former lord mayor of Adelaide. The first of the Adelaide firms to set up in the Middle East and Europe, it has offices in Dubai, Bahrain and Doha and is recruiting staff for Abu Dhabi. Its projects there include masterplans for Dubai's Maritime City development and the Oquyana World Islands project – 18 islands, hundreds of apartments and villas, shops and hotels and, in Doha, the new 200,000sq m Quatar Science and Technology Park. More>> - (
) Kingdom's diversification policy pays off
JEDDAH � The Asian investment diversification policy of the Saudi-owned Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) has contributed substantially to the company's first-half earnings, and is expected to grow in the years ahead, according to the Bangkok Post.Chief executive Sarmad Zok was quoted as saying: "Since the beginning of 2006, KHI has acquired interests in approximately $2 billion worth of hotels in high-growth emerging markets. The 19 hotels acquired since 2006 represented a strong delivery on our acquisition objectives. We are now approaching a new phase in our development as we focus on integrating the diversified assets in our portfolio; we are on track to continue deploying capital in key areas of under penetrated growth or where we have invested."
The daily said that nearly all the hotel expansion undertaken by KHI in the past year has been in Asia, a region which generated 21 per cent of the group's total consolidated hotel revenues in January-June 2007, which according to the company report, was up from 1 per cent in the same period of 2006. More>> - (
) Myanmar soldiers club activists, shut down monasteries
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Soldiers clubbed and dragged away activists while firing tear gas and warning shots to break up demonstrations Friday before they could gain momentum. Troops also occupied Buddhist monasteries and cut Internet access, raising fears that a deadly crackdown was set to intensify in Myanmar.The government said 10 people have been killed since the violence began earlier this week, but diplomats say the toll is likely much higher. Dissident groups have put the number as high as 200, although that number could not be verified. Witnesses said security forces aggressively broke up a rally of about 2,000 people near the Sule Pagoda in the largest city, Yangon. About 20 trucks packed with soldiers arrived and announced over loudspeakers, “We give you 10 minutes to move out from the road. More>> - (
) Rising sea level threatens inundating Mumbai, Karachi
Sydney, Oct 22 (ANI): Rising sea levels as a result of global warming threatens inundating 21 major cities, including Mumbai and Karachi, a new report by the WorldWatch institute has revealed.Other cities in the highly vulnerable risk category include New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Cairo, the 'State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future' report said.
Researcher Zoe Chafe said: "Although natural disasters are often presented as rare and unexpected tragedies, the reality is they now occur more frequently, affect more people and cause greater economic damage than ever before".
She said the world was already "seeing hints" of the way climate change would affect cities by amplifying natural hazards, including rising sea levels. More>>