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‘s inflation soars, world fears knock-on effects
SHANGHAI, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – As China’s factory floors feel the pressure from spiralling costs, there is growing nervousness in the rest of the world that the Asian giant’s next big export could be inflation.From air-conditioned US shopping malls to bustling African street markets and remote Asian villages, shoppers have become accustomed over recent […]
Sri Lanka suicide attack kills two
Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – A suspected Tamil rebel suicide bomber killed two rival militants in eastern Sri Lanka on Sunday, officials said, as the government stepped up security in the capital to prevent new attacks. The suspected suicide attacker crashed his motorcycle into another motorbike carrying two members of a breakaway rebel faction in […]
Credit Crunch
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Loans approved by Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank in the nine months to December 2007 has plunged to 10 billion rupees from 17 billion a year before, the company told shareholders. DFCC said lower credit demand for capital expenditure, high interest rates and an effort to maintain credit quality slashed loan […]
Medicine Men
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sales representatives of Sri Lankan medical firms are to be given identity cards through the pharma industry and given access to government hospitals during specified hours. They would also have to observe a strict code of conduct under a deal worked out between the industry and the health ministry to […]
Submarine Mafia
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s coastal fisheries and coral reefs are being destroyed by a rapid rise in dynamite blasted ‘fishing’, with the lucrative practice now exploding into an organized crime involving big money, officials said. . Dyanamite fishing is a destructive way of killing fish by setting off explosives underwater so that […]
Singapore Airshow sees 13.4 billion dollars in deals: organisers
SINGAPORE, Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) – The Singapore Airshow saw more than 13.4 billion US dollars in sales of aircraft and related equipment this week, thanks to a booming aviation market, organisers have said. Another 2.6 billion dollars was generated from contracts for facilities and other services, they said in a statement issued late Friday, […]
Commodities boom as Fed money printing weakens dollar
LONDON, Feb 22, 2008 (AFP) – The price of oil soared to an historic high above 101 dollars this week, while gold and platinum also scored record peaks as speculators dived into already buoyant commodities markets. The Eastern Index slid to 9.74 Australian dollars a kilo, from 9.92 Australian dollars a week earlier. Prices of […]
Sri Lanka bomb blast outside capital injures 17: military
Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) – A parcel bomb exploded on a bus in a Colombo suburb on Saturday, wounding at least 17 people in the latest in a string of violent attacks, the defence ministry said.But casualties would have been far greater if an alert passenger had not spotted the booby-trapped package and shouted at […]
Sri Lanka bus blast in Colombo south
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – A bomb exploded in a bus in Mount Lavinia, a suburb south of the Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo Saturday, police said. The office of Sri Lanka’s police spokesman said at least two bus passengers were injured. Passengers had discovered the bomb and most of them were already out of the […]
Bomb blast outside Sri Lanka capital injures eight: hospital
Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) – A bomb went off in a bus in a Colombo suburb on Saturday, wounding at least eight people, a hospital official said. Passengers were evacuated from the bus in the town of Mount Lavinia after the crew raised the alarm over a suspicious parcel left inside the vehicle, Sri Lankan […]