All Blogs
Chavez to grab control of Venezuela central bank, international reserves and be president longer
CARACAS, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) – President Hugo Chavez late Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to Venezuela’s constitution to remove presidential term limits and consolidate his vision of “21st Century Socialism”.Addressing a National Assembly stacked with loyalists, the leftist leader offered a reform plan that would also end autonomy of the country’s central bank and put […]
Bruised Asian markets struggle to find a floor
TOKYO, Aug 17, 2007 (AFP) – Credit fears unleashed fresh turbulence on Asian stock markets Friday as Tokyo spiralled lower and other bourses in the region struggled to find a floor a day after one of the worst routs in recent years.A late recovery overnight on Wall Street helped shares to open higher in Sydney, […]
Singapore money market orderly despite global slump: MAS
SINGAPORE, Aug 17, 2007 (AFP) – Singapore’s central bank said the domestic money and foreign exchange markets have been orderly despite the global turmoil sparked by a crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage sector. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a statement issued late Thursday it has been “closely monitoring” developments in the […]
” built on cheap yen
NEW YORK, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar tumbled against the yen Thursday, but notched up gains against the euro and the British pound as investors unwound risky “carry trades” that had previously depressed the Japanese currency.Analysts said the Japanese currency’s fortunes had risen as some speculators unwound so-called carry trades, in which investors […]
Kenya beat Sri Lanka A by two wickets
NAIROBI, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) – A brilliant 62 from opener Morris Ouma coupled with a patient innings of 24 from captain Thomas Odoyo handed Kenya a thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka A in their tri-series match at the Nairobi Gymkhana on Thursday.Medium pacer Peter Ongondo had earlier restricted the Sri Lankans to 194 […]
Sri Lanka hosts anti-terrorism meet to highlight plight of victim states
August 17, 2007 (LBO) – A top French anti-terrorism judge and leading conflict specialists are among speakers at a counter-terrorism conference to be held in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. Sri Lanka will seek to focus attention on the plight of countries affected by terrorism, especially its own near 30-year experience during the International Conference […]
Chinese Connection
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port has sent dock worker union leaders to study practices in a modern Chinese port and has now won their support for better work norms, a top official said. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said relations between port management and workers was now better than last […]
Double Deal
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Eagle Insurance, a unit of Aviva, has reported sharply higher net profit for the June quarter of 50 million rupees up 203 percent, with higher investment income boosting the bottomline. “Eagle’s bancassurance partnerships with NDB bank and Standard Chartered Bank have continued to contribute positively to results in […]
Insurance Value
Aug 16, 2007 (LBO) – Net profits of Union Assurance surged 84 percent to 30 million rupees in the June quarter, interim accounts released by the insurer showed. General and life insurance premiums for the quarter grew by 23 percent, to 1.1 billon rupees in 2007 from 924 million in 2006. The firm paid 711 […]
Sri Lanka pushes sports events to revive tourism
August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka wants to use sports events like a forthcoming marathon to entice more tourists to the island and rebuild an image tarnished by war and allegations of human rights abuses, officials said. The number of tourists to Sri Lanka fell 20 percent to 44,142 in July and arrivals in […]