Author: lbostgadmin
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WASHINGTON, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) – A former top US military commander in Iraq said Friday that the current White House strategy in Iraq will not achieve victory in the four-and-a-half-year war, which he described as “a nightmare with no end in sight.” In the bluntest assessment of Iraq by a former senior Pentagon official […]
EU to step up sanctions on Myanmar, ban timber, gems
BRUSSELS, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) – The European Union is set to beef up its sanctions against Myanmar next week by introducing an embargo on timber, gems and metals, according to a draft text agreed Friday.EU foreign ministers could approve the import bans — which would notably affect Myanmar’s teak and jade trade — when […]
Backdoor Fund
October 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s supreme court has been asked to probe the allocation of over 50 billion rupees in next year’s budget for unspecified spending outside the authority of parliament which has raised suspicions of a hidden fund. The Court is expected to announce this week if it will allow the case […]
Sri Lanka country-wide inflation rockets to 21%
Oct 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s country-wide inflation has rocketed to 21 percent in July 2007 even as authorities derided a more widely watched price index that measures prices in the capital Colombo as being outdated. In July the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) only showed a 17.6 percent increase over the previous 12-months […]
Sri Lankan fighting kills 12
Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) – At least 11 Tamil Tiger rebels and a government soldier were killed in clashes across Sri Lanka’s embattled northern region, the defence ministry said Friday.Six members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the soldier died in the Wanni region while four more guerrillas were killed further north […]
‘s forex reserves top 1.43 trillion dollars
BEIJING, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) – China’s foreign exchange reserves, already the world’s largest, surpassed 1.43 trillion dollars at the end of September, the central bank said Friday. The figure was up 45.1 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in a statement posted on its website. The news came the same day […]
Copycats
Oct 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan companies should keep a close tab on the trade marks registry to ensure protection of their own marks, an intellectual property rights lawyer said Monday. Not being alert may result in copycat competitors registering similar trade marks and capturing market share, president’s counsel Harsha Cabral said. From multinational […]
Port Bids III
Oct 12, 2007 (LBO) –Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence conglomerate said Friday that it appeared to have made the highest bid to build and operate a new container terminal in Colombo port. The company bid for the project in alliance with Port of Singapore Authority (PSA Corp) which runs the port of Singapore. “It appears from […]
Sri Lanka gross borrowings to rise by Rs85bn next year
Oct 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will have to borrow 740 billion rupees in 2008, to bridge the budget deficit and roll-over existing debt in 2008, a bill put before lawmakers this week showed. Last year the government got parliamentary nod to raise 655 billion rupees but lack of cheap concessional debt has pushed […]
Oil Hunt
Oct 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Ministry said Thursday that 42 companies including seven oil majors attended a series of road shows held to promote exploration off the island’s west coast. Petroleum minister A.H.M. Fowzie said in a statement that three road shows were held in London, Houston and Kuala Lumpur in September […]
Sri Lankan minority party members rejoin Cabinet
Oct 11, 2007 (LBO) –Members of a Sri Lankan political party, Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), whose support was considered important to keep the ruling coalition in power, rejoined the cabinet Thursday. CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman was sworn back in to his previous portfolio as Minister of Youth Empowerment and Socioeconomic Development by President Mahinda Rajapakse […]
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Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) – A former Sri Lankan foreign minister on Thursday accused the government of failing to investigate extra-judicial killings and using “terrorism” to fight Tamil Tigers rebels.Government lawmaker Mangala Samaraweera said an ongoing visit to the island by the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, underlined the international focus on […]