Wednesday, November 25, 2009 KATHMANDU: Nepal's first international fast-food restaurants opened in the capital Kathmandu on Wednesday, reflecting the country's cautious attempts to attract more investment from Western companies.Long queues formed outside Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut, with KFC serving more than 500 people in the first two hours of business."It has been an exciting day after a long period of planning and preparation," Vishnu Reddy, country manager for the two brands said. "We are happy and satisfied with the overwhelming response from customers."KFC and Pizza Hut arrived in Nepal as the country recovers from a decade-long civil war that claimed more than 16,000 lives before a peace deal was reached between rebel Maoists and the government in 2006.During the violence, rebels targeted foreign ventures including Coke, Pepsi and Unilever but more recently Kathmandu has seen rapid growth in restaurants, malls and supermarkets.Many of the ingredients for KFC and Pizza Hut are imported from abroad, including the chicken from Brazil and potatoes from Australia."We have to maintain our products and original taste," Reddy said.The Nagarik newspaper welcomed the restaurants, saying they gave "an opportunity for Nepalese customers for cheaper and better food and an alternative."
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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