Sri Lanka train station suicide bombing toll climbs to 12

Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – A suicide bomber attacked a train at Colombo’s main railway station Sunday, killing at least 12 and injuring 100 others on the eve of Sri Lanka’s independence day celebrations, officials said. The blast near a suburban train as it arrived at the Fort terminal came just hours after six people […]

Sobering Thoughts

Feb 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s independent English weeklies have slammed decades of mismanagement as a war-ravaged island wracked by inflation and corruption prepares to mark 60 years of freedom from British rule on February 04.“What we are now confronted with is a nation in peril, at the mercy of foreign aid donors dictating […]

Sunday Bombings

Feb 03, 2008 (LBO) – An explosion at the main railway station in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has killed five people and injured more than 80 police said, hours after a grenade inside a zoo injured seven. The security media centre of the defence ministry said the explosion occurred at 2.05 pm. Military spokesman Brigadier […]

Railway Blast

Feb 03, 2008 (LBO) – A blast ripped through Sri Lanka’s main railway station in the capital Colombo, the military said, within hours of an explosion in the main zoo which injured seven. For the latest on this story go to www.lbo.lk front page or click here for updates . . The security media centre […]

Zoo Blast

Feb 03, 2008 (LBO) – An explosion inside a zoological garden in a southern suburb of the Sri Lanka capital Colombo has injured four, the military said, a day after a bus bombing killed 20 civilians in the central province of the island. Sri Lanka pulled out of a ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers, who […]

Export Benefits

Sri Lanka should ensure that growth in exports last year spread its benefits wider to reduce poverty and unemployment, a senior minister said as inflation hit a new high in the island. The government’s export policy has been remarkably successful in the past year with an across-the-board development of exports by 15 percent, minister of […]

Singapore to buy Westin Hotel Tokyo from Morgan Stanley

TOKYO, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has agreed to buy the Westin Tokyo luxury hotel for 77 billion yen (723 million dollars) from Morgan Stanley, a newspaper said Sunday.Morgan Stanley purchased the Westin Tokyo for about 50 billion yen from Japanese brewer Sapporo Holdings Ltd in 2004. The […]

ECB expected to stand firm on rates, despite concerns

FRANKFURT, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – Faced with record inflation, the European Central Bank is expected to resist pressure for an interest rate cut when its governing council meets this week, in the wake of moves by the US Federal Reserve.They could come as soon as the second quarter of this year, some say.Despite a […]

Kenya killings overshadow peace hopes

NAIROBI, Feb 2, 2008 (AFP) – Dozens died in clashes in western Kenya, police said Saturday, shattering hopes for an accord by political rivals to make efforts to end weeks of violence.Police reported at least 47 new deaths while more accusations flew between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was […]

Sri Lanka wants security after egg attack on Murali

SYDNEY, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday said it has asked Cricket Australia for beefed up security in the aftermath of an egg attack on its touring cricketers and officials in Hobart, Tasmania. Sri Lankan team manager Shriyan Samararatne confirmed the incident happened on Thursday night and said an egg thrown from a […]

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