Author: lbostgadmin
Warner Music sees Asia as the driving force mobile music growth
SINGAPORE, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – Asia is now the driving force behind demand for mobile music services which will make up for lost revenue by telecom firms in their voice-only services, a US recording label Warner Music said Monday.South Korea and Japan dominate the mobile music market and Asia Pacific holds the largest market […]
Le Divorce
Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Monday ordered the breakup of the restive Northeastern Province, a massive administrative region claimed by Tamil Tiger rebels as a separate state.The creation of the province was a key Tamil demand accepted by a 1987 peace accord that gave limited authority to minority Tamils in the […]
Sri Lanka opens government bond market to foreign investors
October 16, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to liberalise its capital account by throwing open the government bond market to foreign investors, the Central Bank said Monday.Foreign investors are currently allowed to invest in equities, corporate debt and Sri Lanka development bonds or dollar bonds issued by the government. Central Bank’s superintendent of […]
Sri Lanka navy sinks suspected Tiger trawler
Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy sank a suspected Tamil Tiger trawler Sunday along the island’s northwest coast, killing at least four people, after the ship opened fire on patrol craft, military sources said.Naval patrols had ordered the trawler to stop before it fired on the government boats, a source said, adding that […]
Outgunned but not out-foxed, Tigers go to talks seeking upper hand: analysts
Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers’ pummeling of Sri Lankan troops has proved that, despite apparent battlefield setbacks, they are still a force to be reckoned with ahead of peace talks later this month, analysts say. In just six hours last Wednesday, the Tigers turned back a government push into their territory, deftly […]
Japanese peace envoy in bid to save Sri Lankan ceasefire
Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi was expected in Sri Lanka Sunday for talks with government and rebel leaders amid fears that the island is veering dangerously close to all-out war.His arrival follows reports of overnight shelling and other bloodshed that capped off one of Sri Lanka’s most violent weeks since […]
‘s Congress party brings back trusted slogan to woo masses
NEW DELHI, Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – It was the slogan that propelled India’s then premier Indira Gandhi to her first re-election victory in 1971 by a landslide. Thirty-five years on, the Congress Party government has brought back “Garibi Hatao” — “Eradicate Poverty”. The government, elected in 2004 on an anti-poverty programme, is hoping the […]
” deals: analysts
HARARE, Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe, shunned by the West, is trawling ever wider for alternative business partners, but analysts say much-trumpeted deals with its new friends are unlikely to yield meaningful benefits to the country.The state-run Zimbabwe Central Bank summoned reporters to a press conference last week to attend the signing of a […]
Latin soap operas winning TV hearts around the globe
CANNES, France, Oct 15, 2006 (AFP) – True love is making a comeback on the television screen, winning the hearts of audiences around the globe.It’s also making big bucks for some of the world’s leading programme makers, contradicting playwright William Shakespeare’s famous observation that “the course of true love never did run smooth”. The staple […]
Sri Lanka central bank talks up rupee, as the currency comes under renewed pressure
October 15, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is talking up the rupee ahead of market opening on Monday, as the currency came under heavy pressure, despite falling oil prices. Analysts estimate that the central bank has spent close to 150 million dollars in the past few weeks defending the rupee. The rupee floated […]
Sri Lankan jets drop 48 bombs on Tamil Tiger village: website
Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan army jets dropped 48 bombs on a village in Tamil Tiger-controlled territory on Friday, a pro-rebel website said, amid ongoing violence in the troubled northeast.Japan, Sri Lanka’s main financial backer, was also sending special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi to the island on Sunday to meet with the government […]
‘ bodies to be exhumed in Sri Lanka
Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) – The bodies of 15 aid workers massacred in Sri Lanka will be exhumed next week in a fresh bid to determine who killed them, their French employer said Saturday as sporadic fighting continued in the troubled north of the island.The aid victims were among 17 mostly Tamil workers with the […]