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Sri Lanka Tigers claim civilian deaths
June 3, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government commandos killed six civilians including two children with a roadside mine inside the Tamil Tiger-held north of the island, the rebels said Tuesday.The LTTE has been fighting to carve out a separate Tamil state in the ethnic Sinhalese-majority island since 1972. Tens of thousands have died on […]
Sri Lanka Tigers place senior leader under house arrest: military
June 2, 2008 (AFP) – The elusive head of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka has placed a senior rebel leader under house arrest over a worsening internal dispute, the defence ministry said Monday. Seevaratnam Prabaharan, alias Pulidevan, who is attached to the Tigers’ peace secretariat, has been placed under arrest on the direct orders […]
Sri Lanka Janashakthi public offer opens June 16
June 03, 2008 (LBO) – An initial public offering of Janashakthi Insurance would open on June 16, the Colombo Stock Exchange said, making it the first initial public offering in two years. However, 30 percent revenue growth, beating the industry average in the early part of the decade, has slowed to 18 percent in 2006 […]
” noises
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 (AFP) – Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the central bank is “attentive” to the sagging dollar and would look at steps “to guard against risks” to inflation from a weak currency. Bernanke, speaking via satellite to a monetary conference in Barcelona, Spain, offered a mixed assessment of US economic […]
As prices rise, Americans turn to coupons, home-grown veg
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 (AFP) – Amid skyrocketing fuel and food prices, consumers in the United States are hitting the breaks on spending and even discovering the merits of home-grown food. With petrol prices inching toward four dollars a gallon — up 25 percent in just five months — and domestic food inflation up 6.3 […]
Iceland and Norway resume whale meat exports to Japan
REYKJAVIK, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – Iceland and Norway resumed whale meat exports to Japan this year after an 18-year interruption, industry representatives from both Scandinavian countries said.“Iceland and Norway resumed exporting whale meat to Japan,” Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, president of the Icelandic association representing Minke whale hunters, told AFP. “We (Iceland) have exported to […]
WTO says no point in further talks on industrial products access
GENEVA, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – The WTO’s chief negotiator on freeing up access for industrial products said Monday he sees no point in further talks until member states are ready to compromise over tariffs and other key sticking points. The 152 members of the WTO need to “work among themselves to bridge their positions […]
Well Well
SINGAPORE, June 3, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices eased in Asian trade Tuesday on continuing concerns over global energy demand, dealers said.“On the supply side, we are urging all oil producing countries to open oil markets to foreign investment, which would support faster and more efficient growth,” he said in a speech in the oil-rich […]
Sri Lanka flood death toll rises; 250,000 displaced
June 3, 2008 (AFP) – The death toll from a week of torrential rain across Sri Lanka has risen to 17 and more than 253,000 people have been driven from their homes, the island’s disaster management centre said Tuesday.Sri Lanka depends on the monsoons for irrigation and power generation but they frequently cause loss of […]
Sri Lanka will not try forcible curbing of fuel use: minister
June 3, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will not try to impose laws on productive sectors of the economy to curb oil use, but is aiming to cut energy use in the state sector by about 20 percent, a government minister said. Siyambalapitiya said the trains, state buses and the military consumed substantial amounts of […]