Author: lbostgadmin
Pirate Attack
Sept 26, 2007 (LBO) – Several fishing vessels chased and tried to board a yacht off southern Sri Lanka in a rare attempted incident of piracy, according to a report from a piracy watchdog. The yatch, whose identity was not revealed, was enroute from the Maldives to Malaysia. The yacht managed to evade the attempted […]
Sri Lanka media watchdog sounds alarm over moves for new clampdown
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM), a media rights watchdog, said Monday it was concerned over an alleged government move to ban reporting on arms purchases. “If such regulations are intended to be promulgated, FMM calls on the government to desist from such a regressive course of action forthwith.” The […]
Sri Lanka violence leaves 16 more dead
COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sixteen people were killed and 39 others injured as security forces clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka’s embattled north and east, the two sides reported Tuesday.More than 60,000 people have died since the LTTE launched a military campaign for an independent state for minority Tamils in 1972.Four […]
Maldives goes for a sovereign rating
September 25, 2007 (LBO) — The Indian Ocean Island of Maldives hopes to use its upcoming sovereign rating to help local firms raise cash in international markets, the atoll’s finance minister said. A sovereign or country rating serves as an indication of a nation’s ability to repay its debt and is a key requirement to […]
Myanmar junta warns against more protests
YANGON, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – Myanmar’s military regime warned its people Tuesday not to join a swelling nationwide protest movement that has escalated into the most potent threat to their hardline rule in nearly 20 years. Local government officials using loudspeakers rode trucks through central Yangon warning against new anti-junta protests, a day after […]
World Bank eyes more easy credit for developing nations: report
WASHINGTON, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – For the first time in almost a decade the World Bank is set to make meaningful cuts in the interest rates it charges China, Brazil, Mexico and other big developing countries, The Wall Street Journal Europe reports Tuesday. Under a deal to increase assistance to poor nations, unnamed bank […]
Maldives borrows US$30mn from HSBC
Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – The Maldivian government has secured a 30 million dollar commercial loan from the global banking giant HSBC to rebuild harbours, a senior minister said Tuesday.The money will be used to repair jetties damaged by the December 2004 tsunami that cost the atoll nation nearly two thirds of gross domestic product […]
Magna Carta to go on sale in New York
NEW YORK, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – A rare copy of the Magna Carta, a 13th century English document enshrining the rule of law, is to go on sale in New York in December, in one of the most important ever sales of a document.The royal charter, dated 1297 and bearing the seal of King […]
Chat Tax
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Mobile users in Sri Lanka would pay a new 10 percent tax on call charges from today, a senior treasury official said Tuesday. The tax bill authorizing the increase was signed into law by the Speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament, yesterday, he said. The official said the government hopes to […]
Last Week
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – The deadline for the repatriation of Sri Lankans working illegally in Oman without being fined ends on September 30, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Tuesday. It said in a statement that relatives of workers in Oman without valid visas have been asked to inform their family members without delay of […]
‘s level
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production for August was higher than the same month last year but the island is still to fully recover from the disruption in harvesting caused by a strike and bad weather, officials said. The total production for August rose 11 percent to 24.2 million kg compared with […]
Apples and Oranges
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund which has warned of further fallouts from the sub-prime crisis has called on credit evaluators to use a new rating scale to describe default risks of asset-backed securities. Now asset-backed debt products or securitized instruments use the same rating scale that is used from straightforward bonds […]