All Blogs
Sri Lanka flirts with flour price controls as inflation rages
Oct 03, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka consumer affairs ministry said it was amending laws to bring a Singapore-owned flour mill under its control as rising global wheat prices drove bread prices in the island to record levels. Consumer Affairs Minister Bandula Gunewardene said the law governing the country’s consumer protection authority has a specific […]
Sri Lanka Tea Board to monitor export quality closely
Oct 02, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Tea Board plans to set up a tea testing laboratory to make sure that chemical residues and impurities do not get into exports, Tea Board chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi said. . The lab will in future handle all the testing done by the Board some of which is […]
Stiff Penalties
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – An Islamist lawmaker in Kuwait called for the interior ministry on Tuesday to draw up a blacklist of employers who mistreat their domestic helpers and urged stiff penalties for physical abuse.MP Waleed al-Tabtabai said in a statement that employers who abuse their maids “physically or morally” should be […]
Easy Connections
Oct 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has signed up PC House, an IT firm, to package broadband connections with its computers, the telecommunications provider said. “Through this initiative SLT will be able to offer Broadband products to its customers via 41 PC House branches including North and East in addition to SLT […]
Air ambulance to evacuate wounded British honeymooners
Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – An air ambulance arrived in the Maldives Tuesday to evacuate a British honeymoon couple wounded in a weekend bomb attack, a minister said. The plane, chartered by the Maldivian government, will airlift Christian and Jennifer Donelan, both 32, to Britain, where they will undergo further medical treatment, Tourism Minister Mahamood […]
Yearly inflation in OECD area falls to 1.8 percent in September
PARIS, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – Annual inflation in the 30 industrialised members of the OECD fell to 1.8 percent in the year to August from 2.0 percent in July 2006, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday.In Japan, prices were down by 0.2 percent in August compared with a year earlier after […]
Lonely Planet founders say BBC sale offers chance to move on
SYDNEY, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – The founders of Lonely Planet guidebooks said Tuesday that they decided to sell the “backpackers’ Bible” to BBC Worldwide because they wanted to “move on” and have more time for travel.Tony and Maureen Wheeler founded the hugely successful publishing business 34 years ago when they compiled a list of […]
Soaring euro, slowing economy dampen odds of eurozone rate hike
FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – The European Central Bank is keeping an eye on inflation but the chances it will raise its base lending rate Thursday are nil owing to the soaring euro and signs the eurozone economy is slowing down.In Britain, the Bank of England was also expected to hold rates steady, two […]
Indonesia issues tsunami alert after quake
JAKARTA, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) – Indonesia issued a tsunami warning to coastal areas along its west Sumatra island Tuesday after a 6.4-magnitude quake struck offshore, the meteorology office said. . .
‘s wife to be auctioned
LONDON, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – Jewels that once previously belonged to Anita Delgado, a Spanish dancer who became the fifth wife of a wealthy Indian maharaja, are to be auctioned in London, auction house Christie’s said Monday. The eight pieces of jewellery, described by Christie’s as consisting predominantly of art deco pieces, will be […]