‘s Premier League cricket

NEW DELHI, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other top news agencies have said they will not cover cricket’s inaugural Indian Premier League, which starts Friday, due to curbs on the distribution of photographs.IPL officials have prohibited news agencies from supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites for the eight-team, Twenty20 tournament. The London-based […]

Bank of England to pump 100 bln dlrs into banking system: BBC

LONDON, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Britain’s central bank is to pump an extra 50 billion pounds (63.4 billion euros, 99.9 billion dollars) into the banking system as early as the end of next week, BBC television said Friday. Without citing sources, the broadcaster said the Bank of England would issue one-year bonds over three […]

Marks and Spencer agrees India joint venture

LONDON, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Marks and Spencer said Friday it had entered into a joint venture with Reliance Retail of India in the hope of establishing the British food-to-clothes retailer as a “major retail brand” in South Asia. “Reliance Retail is the ideal partner for us to accelerate our expansion and create the […]

Malaysian special ops to protect Olympic torch: report

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Malaysia will deploy an elite police squad along with 1,000 police officers to protect the troubled Olympic torch relay amid fears that protesters will disrupt the leg, a report said Saturday.The torch arrives early Sunday, Malaysian Olympic officials said, ahead of Monday’s relay.It will be kept at an […]

Iran says oil price too low at 115 dollars a barrel

TEHRAN, April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Even at 115 dollars a barrel, oil is priced too low, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments published on Saturday adding that the commodity “should find its real value”.“Oil at 115 dollars a barrel in today’s market is a deceiving figure, oil is a strategic commodity and should […]

‘s strengths: analysts

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – Tough times in the US economy play into Google’s strength as businesses trust the Internet giant to best target their precious advertising dollars, analysts said Friday.While the US economy staggers and the dollar sinks, Google’s profits defied worries and soared to 1.31 billion dollars in the first three […]

Iranian president to inaugurate Sri Lanka hydro-power project

April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Sri Lanka later this month to inaugurate construction of an Iranian-funded hydroelectricity project, the government said on Friday.Iran is paying for the 450-million-dollar Uma Oya power project which is slated to produce 100 megawatts of electricity annually. “The Iranian president will be arriving […]

Sri Lanka says 29 killed in fighting

April 19, 2008 (AFP) – At least 28 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier have been killed in artillery duels across Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged north, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Security forces killed 25 members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar district while three others were killed in nearby Weli Oya […]

Broad Service

April 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Electroteks, a communications firm, says it will launch a wireless broadband service in May which will have voice telephony services at half the existing tariffs. Electroteks chief B A C Abeywardene says the service will use CDMA (code division multiple access) based technology to provide up to 1Mbps […]

Sri Lanka media watchdog says its treasurer threatened, ransom demanded

April 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM), a media watchdog, said Friday its treasurer, journalist K. Rushangan, has received threats demanding the payment of a ransom before April 25. Despite complaints to the police, no action has been taken to probe the threats, the organisation said in a statement. Rushangan is […]

” in Germany: report

FRANKFURT, April 18, 2008 (AFP) – More than one German in five works in the “low wage” category, a higher proportion than in Britain but below that in the United States, a press report said Friday.The left-of-centre Frankfurter Rundshau quoted researcher Gerhard Bosch as saying the trend was “worrying.” “The conclusions for Germany are worrying,” […]

Google profits jump 30 pct despite worries over online ads

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2008 (AFP) – Google reported Thursday that its profits surged more than 30 percent to 1.31 billion dollars in the first three months of the year, erasing fears of sagging online advertising revenues. Google’s stock leaped more than 17 percent to 526 dollars a share in after-hours trading on the news. […]

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