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‘s massive new cabinet risks ineptitude: analysts
NAIROBI, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Kenya’s massive 42-member power-sharing cabinet, named to help restore stability after a bloody post-poll dispute, risks becoming crippled by inefficiency, analysts said.President Mwai Kibaki on Sunday appointed political rival Raila Odinga as his prime minister under a February 28 power-sharing deal that ended months of political violence sparked by […]
Sri Lanka opposition, govt trade charges over sanctions threat
April 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition political party says the island is facing international isolation and economic sanctions, a charge rejected by the government. The opposition United National Party accused the government of being unable to effectively address international concerns over human rights abuses by the military. But a government spokesman dismissed […]
Sri Lanka war zone hospitals short of medical staff, aid: ICRC
April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Hospitals in Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebel-held territory are running low on basic medicines and medical staff, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday.Fighting between security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels has escalated since January, when the government withdrew from a 2002 truce arranged by peace broker Norway and […]
Sri Lanka govt subsidies fuelling inflation: central bank
April 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has said heavy government spending to subsidise fuel, electricity and fertiliser destabilises the economy, leads to waste and hurts the poor by eventually fuelling inflation. Regular domestic fuel price hikes in keeping with rises in global oil prices are needed, the bank said in its 2007 […]
Sri Lanka Telecom share transfer boosts turnover
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Nearly 32 million Sri Lanka Telecom shares were traded on the Colombo bourse at 49 rupees a share, boosting turnover on an otherwise slack Wednesday, dealers said.The transaction was a foreign-to-foreign transfer to an investment fund, said Danushka Samarasinghe, research manager at Asia Securities, the broking house which did the […]
Sri Lanka Telecom share price edges up as large stake changes hands
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Nearly 32 million Sri Lanka Telecom shares changed hands on the Colombo bourse at 49 rupees a share, up 25 cents Wednesday.Brokers said the seller was believed to have been a Sri Lanka-born investor who had bought the stake before the UT bid and was making a sizeable profit within […]
Sri Lanka steps up air strikes, ground battles: military
April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stepped up air attacks against Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday, deploying jets and helicopter gunships as 12 guerrillas were killed in ground battles, defence officials said. Fighter jets bombed a suspected Tamil Tiger base in the northern town of Oddusudan overnight while Mi-24 helicopter gunships were deployed to attack […]
Sri Lanka war planes hit Tiger communication centre: military
April 15, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed a communications centre inside rebel-held territory Tuesday after heavy ground battles left seven Tamil Tigers dead, the defence ministry said. The target was taken on Tuesday afternoon as ground troops battled the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along the de facto border of […]
‘s highest apartment rents: survey
SINGAPORE, April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Hong Kong has the world’s priciest apartment rents, with the lease for a three-bedroom unit costing more than 9,700 US dollars on average a month, a survey released Wednesday said.Singapore, which positions itself as a Southeast Asian business hub, saw Asia’s biggest year-on-year rental increase of more than 30 […]
Eurozone March inflation at 3.6 percent
BRUSSELS, April 16, 2008 (AFP) – Inflation in the 15 nations sharing the euro reached a record 3.6 percent in March, the European Union’s Eurostat data agency said Wednesday, revising up a first estimate of 3.5 percent. The rate, the highest since the launch of the single European currency in 1999, exceeded economist forecasts for […]