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Mobile Auction
Dec 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan fisherman are using mobile phones to ‘auction’ their catch before reaching shore, allowing them to get better prices, backed by better bargaining power, an official said. Once the fishermen land their catch, it has to be sold quickly before the fish starts to spoil. “As soon as they […]
Russia tries to counter weak macro-management with agriculture
MOSCOW, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged government ministers to fight inflation by making Russia’s agriculture sector competitive against foreign food imports.The bank’s earlier 2008 inflation target was between six and seven percent.“One of the key tasks for 2008 is to fight inflation. Unfortunately we have not been successful at […]
Benazir Bhutto dead in Pakistan attack
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally, the interior ministry told AFP. A suicide bomber blew himself up just after the rally and it was not immediately clear how she died. “It may have been pellets packed into the […]
Nepal hikes petrol prices after shortages
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Dec 26, 2007 (AFP) – Nepal’s state-owned oil company on Wednesday hiked petrol prices by nearly 10 percent, the second increase in the last two months, to meet a rising import bill in the landlocked nation, officials said.Shah said there would be a gradual improvement in supplies in the next few weeks. “The […]
Malta, Cyprus to go Euro on January 1
VALLETTA, Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – The tiny Mediterranean island nations of Cyprus and Malta join the eurozone on January 1, turning the single-currency area from a 13-country zone into a club of 15.Large companies will take the change in their stride, said Gordon Cordina, advisor of Malta’s employers’ federation.“For a small open economy like […]
Sri Lanka army commandos go in to free minister
Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka sent a crack commando unit into the state-run television station Thursday to rescue a government minister kidnapped by journalists for allegedly assaulting a colleague, officials told AFP.An anti-hijacking and hostage rescue squad of army commandos was already at the Rupavahini state television network to free Labour Minister Mervin […]
Sri Lanka minister storms state tv; news director assaulted
Dec 27, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan junior government minister stormed into the state-owned Rupavahini television station with armed thugs and assaulted its news director a short while ago, journalists said Thursday. International media rights organization have described Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous place for journalists in the world after Iraq and […]
Sri Lanka bombs Tamil Tiger naval assets
Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military announced air strikes inside rebel-held territory on Thursday, a day after a sea battle left a large number of combatants dead, according to both sides.He said security forces had already scored major victories against the guerrillas in the past year and hoped to build on them. War […]
Sri Lanka 3-month treasuries soar to 21.30-pct
Dec 26, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 3-month treasury bill yield soared 116 basis points to 21.30 percent amid a year-end cash crunch as the Central Bank refrained from printing money to intervene in the bill auction Wednesday.During the past four weeks, 3-month yields have shot up 523 basis points, 6-month 220 basis points and […]
Bridge Building
MATARA, Sri Lanka, Dec 26, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka marked Wednesday the third anniversary of the devastating Asian tsunami by opening a showpiece bridge in the south of the island where 31,000 people died.President Mahinda Rajapakse formally commissioned the 116-metre (383 feet) bridge across the Nilwala river here in this southern coastal town of […]