Troubled Gulf Air places US$4bn Boeing order

MANAMA, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – The Bahrain-based airline Gulf Air has ordered 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliners valued at around four billion dollars and taken options for eight more, an airline official told AFP on Saturday.Gulf Air places four billion dollar order with Boeing ATTENTION – ADDS background /// “Gulf Air has signed today (Saturday) […]

Sri Lanka cricket chief urges umpiring revamp

Jan 13, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cricket chief and World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Sunday called for a revamping of the umpiring system in international matches.“My personal view is that two local umpires must officiate with the ICC (International Cricket Council) panel umpire sitting in the box with the match referee,” Ranatunga told […]

Sri Lanka may lose vital aid because of war

Jan 13, 2008 (AFP) – Japan’s peace envoy opened talks in Sri Lanka on Sunday, hinting international donors may hold back much-needed foreign aid if the island’s decades-long ethnic conflict escalates, officials said. Yasushi Akashi, who arrived in Sri Lanka for three days of crucial talks on Sunday, met the Marxist JVP, the main left […]

Delayed Reaction

Jan 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised fuel prices from midnight Sunday with petrol and furnace oil going up by 10 rupees, diesel 5 rupees and kerosene 2 rupees, the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said. The new price of 90-octane petrol is 127.00 rupees, 95-octane petrol 130.00, auto diesel 80.00, super diesel […]

Sri Lankan betel farmers benefit from Pakistan buying: minister

Jan 12, 2008 (LBO) – Pakistan’s removal of a quota on Sri Lankan betel leaf exports has helped raise the quality of life among growers in three of the island’s districts, a government minister said. The government is keen to ensure that the benefits of the island’s burgeoning exports flow down to the villages in […]

Card Scam

Jan 12, 2007 (LBO) – Credit cards purported to have been issued by two Sri Lankan banks were found with a British national arrested in India over a credit card scam, a media report said. Police examinations of his e-mail had revealed that he had received confidential information such as PIN of ATM cards and […]

Most Chinese unhappy at work, seek big pay rises: survey

BEIJING, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – Fewer than one in eight Chinese are happy at work, with most complaining about dead-end jobs and wages eroded by record inflation, according to a new survey.Only 12.6 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their jobs, while 50 percent said they were unhappy with working conditions, according […]

” choice for Americans, expert says

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – As adult obesity balloons in the United States, being overweight has become less of a health hazard and more of a lifestyle choice, the author of a new book argues.“Obesity is a natural extension of an advancing economy.As you become a First World economy and you get all these […]

‘s top donors concerned over latest fighting

Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main financial backers Saturday voiced concern over the mounting bloodshed and called for a United Nations presence in the island. Japan, the United States, the European Union and Norway — the quartet known as the co-chairs — also expressed “deep concern” about rights abuses and called on Sri […]

Sri Lanka short of men to make capital safe: police chief

Jan 12, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka does not have enough policemen to fully secure Colombo and public help is needed to fill the manpower gap in the capital, the island’s police chief said.“At moment Colombo has been given more policemen than other areas.But that is not enough, Inspector General Victor Perera told journalists. “They […]

Page 2988 of 4075