From its inception in 1999 until its ultimate sale to China Netcom in 2003, Milroy was instrumental in the creation of the company and its expansion across the Asian continent.

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And over the next five years, wealth is set to rise rapidly across the Asian continent: KPMG estimates that centa-millionaires may increase by 114 percent in India, 76 percent in Russia and 65 percent in Hong Kong.

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One intractable aspect of the problem in some parts of the country - highlighted before though not mentioned in the more recent clampdowns - is families' taking extended leave to visit relatives overseas, especially in the Asian sub-continent or the Caribbean.

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They are able to open up vast new markets in the Indian and Asian continent, as anyone who has been in those airports in the middle of the night can see.

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But England team director Andy Flower said on Wednesday that he thought Prior was a better option on the Asian sub-continent pitches.

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'It is the right of the African continent to present a joint bid in a similar way (to what) the Asian confederation did for the 2002 World Cup.

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Barring a smattering of genes from Neanderthals and other archaic Asian forms, all our ancestors lived in the continent of Africa until 150, 000 years ago.

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Through three decades of summits, conferences, common initiatives and consensus-building, the organization has reduced tensions among Southeast Asian nations and elevated the nine as a group to an enviable position of influence in the continent, if not the world.

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We believe that in today's rapidly changing Africa, there is great room for experimentation and mutual learning: the continent could be at the forefront of an overdue exercise in soul searching by the international media, whether Asian, Arab, African or Western.

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