If living without pasta and bread, or giving up cheese and bacon make losing weight difficult, the latest diet books may provide some incentive to drop that added holiday weight. Instead of deprivation, restricting food groups or counting calories, new weight loss plans offer different approaches to slimming without feeling hungry. "It's really a diet

Tiny Qatar's success in winning the right to host the 2022 soccer World Cup, arguably sport's greatest extravaganza, capped a glittering year for Asian sport which began with Olympic gold in Vancouver. Kim Yuna carried the weight of expectation from 50 million South Koreans on her dainty shoulders for four exquisite minutes, being crowned Olympic

Shares in Japan and China eased on Tuesday as concerns that further Chinese monetary tightening will cool the engine of world economic growth overshadowed Japanese data that pointed to improving demand. The euro spiked against the dollar, although market players attributed its strength to technical factors in light holiday trade, and oil edged up near

The prolongation of the de facto division of Cyprus is in the interest of Turkey and not of the people of Cyprus, Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said Monday. Inaugurating an exhibition of the Press and Information Office in Nicosia, on behalf of President of the Republic Demetris Christofias, to mark the end of a series

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Angela Merkel will pay a one-day working visit to Cyprus on 11 January 2011. A spokesperson for the German Embassy in Nicosia told CNA Monday the visit has not been officially announced by the Chancellor’s office in Berlin. However he confirmed that the embassy is definitely working

Chinese shares slid and European stocks followed suit on Monday as the impact of China's Christmas Day interest rate rise sunk in to thin markets. Chinese shares dropped 1.9 percent after the People's Bank of China raised interest rates on Saturday for the second time in just over two months. European stocks were 0.7 percent

Almost a quarter less shoppers turned out for Britain's traditional Boxing Day retail sales this year compared with last year, a survey by Synovate Retail Performance said on Monday. The total number of shoppers fell by 22.8 percent nationally on the day after Christmas Day, although stores in London — where retail hubs such as

Suspected explosive packages were found at several embassies in Rome on Monday, days after parcel bombs claimed by an Italian anarchist group wounded two at the Swiss and Chilean missions. Police said a suspect package found at the Venezuelan embassy was found to be a false alarm, while checks were being conducted at the embassies

China was Grinch-like in raising interest rates on Christmas Day, but in fact investors have good reasons to be grateful. The government provided much-needed reassurance that it was determined to rein in price pressures — and a salutary reminder that more yuan appreciation than the market expects could be in the offing. The key take-away

Hotel occupancy rates in the Athens-Attica region were absolutely disappointing in the off-season month of November compared to the same month last year. A monthly report by the Union of Athens-Attica Hoteliers said the biggest decline in occupancy rates was recorded in five- and four-star hotels, 16.70 pct and 10.50 pct respectively; 6.10 pct in