PARIS (Reuters): France announced 65 billion euros of tax hikes and budget cuts over five years, as President Nicolas Sarkozy seeks to protect the country’s creditworthiness in financial markets without killing his chances of re-election in six months time.  The main goal was to protect a top-notch credit rating that allows France to fund itself ...

I still remember the thoughts that crossed my mind on the day that Harvard University announced the top 50 candidates for the 2011 Global Leaders in Development forum. The excitement was high, but then again the commitment to me personally in Sri Lanka made it a catch 22 decision. The decision was tougher, given that ...

Reuters: Arab foreign ministers stopped short of suspending Syria from their regional organisation on Sunday over its military crackdown on dissent, instead urging the government and opposition to negotiate an end to the violence. “We will call all of the parties of the opposition and government to hold a dialogue within 15 days,” the League’s ...

nAsia Pacific most robust region; flat growth for Western Europe in Q2 nFMCG ad spend shows signs of slowing in Europe and North America, while advertising for clothing and accessories increases in Asia Pacific Despite overall growth of 5.7 per cent for the advertising industry in Q2 2011, ad spending fell in nearly half the ...

Women in South AsiaFollowing is the address delivered by the High Commissioner of Pakistan Seema Ilahi Baloch at the South Asia Women in Media Forum: The women of South Asia must be proud, because our land can boast of some of the greatest women leaders of our times. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Husina ...

Reuters: The man tasked with running the new Libya reminded his forces that the war was not yet over as the latest deadline for the surrender of pro Muammar Gaddafi towns loomed and fighters massed on both sides. Earlier on Thursday, the voice of the on-the-run former leader boomed out from his hiding place, denying ...

Reuters: England piled more misery on India with a thrilling six-wicket victory in a one-off Twenty20 match at Old Trafford on Wednesday. After losing the test series 4-0, India started brightly in the shortest version of the game and racked up 165 all out, only to see England reach their target with three balls to ...

Reuters: The race to pick Japan’s sixth leader in five years appeared on Friday to be shaping up as a battle between the most popular contender and a rival backed by a party powerbroker, although with five candidates in play, the outcome was hard to call. Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who came under fire for ...

Coming from a marketing background I tend to view the happenings of the world from a lens that can be different to many. Last week’s developing story of the Anna Hazare episode in India was unique, in my perception. A man who does not own a computer and is 74 years of age, with little ...

Our ‘poli-socionomic’ dialogue You will recall that like Capt. Kirk in his Star Ship-Enterprise,’ we also ventured into new territory with our first discussions under this theme ‘poli-socionomics,’ which appears to have caught on somewhat; thus, on behalf of those of us who still dare to think, I must thank those editors who carried it. ...

Reuters: Police arrested leading anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare on Tuesday, just hours before he was due to fast to the death, as the beleaguered government cracked down on the self-styled Gandhian activist agitating for a new “freedom” struggle. At least 1,200 followers of the 74-year-old Hazare were also detained, signalling a hardline stance from Prime ...