Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka floods subside, 40,000 in temporary shelters
Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s monsoon floods were subsiding but just over 40,000 people remained in temporary shelters, the disaster management centre said Tuesday.More than 210,000 people were initially affected by the floods, with 40,225 of them remaining in schools, temples and other public buildings, and receiving food from state agencies, the centre […]
Sri Lanka says 13 rebels killed in ongoing heavy fighting
Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – At least 13 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed on Christmas Eve in heavy clashes with Sri Lankan security forces in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Tuesday.Six members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in a confrontation in the district of Mannar on Monday while […]
” from Iraq to Sri Lanka
VATICAN CITY, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented the “grim sound of arms” in the world’s conflict zones, from Sudan to Sri Lanka and especially the volatile Middle East, in his Christmas message.“On this day of peace, my thoughts turn especially to those places where the grim sound of arms […]
Australia remain the team to beat
LONDON, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – By the end of a year where Australia continued to remain supreme as the leading Test and one-day side it was easy to think little had changed in world cricket.They won a third straight World Cup and, after a run of 14 consecutive Test wins, they were closing in […]
England fined for dawdling against Sri Lanka
LONDON, Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – England captain Michael Vaughan was on Monday fined 40 percent of his match fee for his team’s slow over rate during the third and final Test against Sri Lanka. The tourists failed in their bid for victory in the match in Galle last week, with the drawn result meaning […]
In Christmas homily, pope deplores selfishness, harm to environment
VATICAN CITY, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday used his Christmas homily to speak out against selfishness and the degradation of the environment as he celebrated midnight mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica.The tradition of the creche in St Peter’s Square was established by Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II in 1982. “Man […]
Sri Lanka needs more money for tsunami house re-building: World Bank
Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – The World Bank says Sri Lanka needs more money to re-build houses destroyed in the 2004 December tsunami, and its program is lagging behind in the island’s war-ravaged areas. World Bank says its program has helped restore the livelihoods of around 100,000 families and re-build 44,000 damaged houses. “Together, the […]
IMF urges more flexibility for Sri Lanka rupee
Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Sri Lanka’s exchange rate appears to be competitive but urged the government not to resist pressure on the rupee and allow it to depreciate. ” . . . greater downward flexibility in the exchange rate is needed to help reduce vulnerability and safeguard […]
” of a journalist
Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement said it was “appalled” by an attempt to define journalists as people who hold a card issued by the Sri Lanka government, after an international rights body named Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous place for media workers in the world. “The Free Media […]
Over 175,000 displaced as heavy rains lash Sri Lanka
Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – Torrential rains have driven more than 175,000 people from their homes in Sri Lanka, authorities said on Monday.Heavy monsoon rains over the weekend made some roads impassable while nearly 2,300 houses had been damaged, the national disaster management centre said. Worst hit was the eastern district of Batticaloa where close […]
Fed money printing will not influence ECB: Trichet
LONDON, Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pledged, in an interview published Monday, to focus on eurozone inflation, and not let interest-rate cuts in the United States and Britain distract the bank from tightening monetary policy.Speaking to the Financial Times from Frankfurt, in an interview conducted on December 13, Trichet […]
China raises tax threshold to ease burden on poor
BEIJING, Dec 23, 2007 (AFP) – China has proposed lifting millions of its citizens out of the income tax net to ease the burden on low-wage earners amid rising inflation, state press said Sunday.The country is expected to raise the monthly tax threshold from 1,600 yuan (218 dollars) to 2,000 yuan and the legislature was […]