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Sri Lanka says 33 killed in weekend fighting
COLOMBO, March 17, 2008 (AFP) – At least 31 Tamil Tiger rebels and two security personnel were killed in weekend clashes in Sri Lanka’s north, the defence ministry said Monday. Sri Lanka pulled out of a six-year truce with the LTTE in January, saying it had gained the upper hand militarily in the decades-long conflict. […]
” over worker attacks
Mar 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Rupavahini television station was running with a skeleton staff Monday after the management declared a ‘holiday’ overnight to avert a strike, union workers said. Sri Lanka Rupavahini Workers Union, whose president Anurasiri Hettige was attacked by club-wielding thugs last week, said only a few selected workers were […]
Sri Lankan study sees politics, non-tariff barriers constraining South Asian trade
March 17, 2008 (LBO) – Politics and non-tariff barriers are likely to constrain trade among South Asian nations even if import tariffs are removed, a new study on the benefits of a regional trade pact had said. The study on the benefits of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) says estimates show that the […]
Sri Lanka central bank is creating inflation: economist
Mar 17, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s central bank is accountable for inflation and claims of ‘cost push’ factors for rising prices cannot be accepted when well managed countries are reporting single digit price increases, an economist has said.“Inflation is a purely monetary phenomenon,” lead economist of LirneAsia Harsha de Silva, who is a strong […]
India Sri Lanka power cable can be built in 40 months: report
March 16, 2008 (LBO) – An India state-run firm that is preparing a feasibility study on an undersea power cable to Sri Lanka has said the project could be completed in 40 months if given the go ahead, a media report said. India’s The Hindu Business Line newspaper said a detailed report is being prepared […]
Suicide vest now weapon of choice for Qaeda in Iraq: US
BAGHDAD, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – The explosive vest has become the weapon of choice for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, with most jihadists nowadays wearing the lethal garment and the number of suicide attacks on the rise, the US military said Sunday. “There has been an increase over time in the use of suicide vest bombers,” […]
” killed in Tibet unrest: govt-in-exile
DHARAMSHALA, India, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – Eighty people have been “confirmed” killed in unrest in Tibet, the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile said Sunday.“Regarding bodies, it’s 80. We have 80 unidentified bodies,” said Thubten Samphel, the spokesman for the Tibetan administration in Dharamshala. He said the toll had been established from “calls made from Tibet” by […]
Sub-prime crisis hit municipal bonds, student loans
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – The financial hurricane tearing through Wall Street has sparked vast losses at major banks, but it has also exposed a formerly secretive corner of America’s financial markets. Millions of Americans track the Dow Jones Industrial Average and their stock portfolios on a daily basis, but the trillion-dollar trade in […]
Eurozone becomes biggest economy as money printing shrinks real US economic size
FRANKFURT, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar’s plunge has made the eurozone the world’s biggest economy by one measure and has underscored shifts that are reorienting the 15-nation bloc towards Asia, Russia and oil-rich Gulf states, analysts say. “With the euro now trading around 1.56 against the dollar, the size of its annual output […]
‘s Caribbean tour opens against inexperienced side
PROVIDENCE, Guyana, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka open their tour of the Caribbean on Monday against an inexperienced West Indies Select XI at the Guyana National Stadium. The three-day tour match will be the visitors’ only chance for match practice ahead of the first Test of two against West Indies, starting next Saturday […]