Author: lbostgadmin
Australian wine industry battling oversupply of grapes
SYDNEY, June 11, 2006 (AFP) – The Australian wine industry is drowning in a glut of grapes, as it struggles to sell up to one billion litres of wine sloshing around in storage tanks across the country. Record output in 2004 and 2005, and a near-record crush this year, have led to a massive oversupply […]
Oily Cousins
June 11, 2006 (LBO) – Two kinds of oil. One fires up vehicles, the other adds flavour to cooking. The two have managed to create a nasty oil spill between Sri Lanka and India, with trade relations between both countries simmering to boiling point. The spat between Colombo and Indian Oil Corp’s local unit over […]
Slow Trot
June 10, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka raise fuel prices from midnight Saturday after a two-month lag to offset a surge in global oil prices, a top official said. Sri Lankan guzzles around 30 million litres of petrol, 130 million litres of diesel and 18 million litres of kerosene each month. -by Mel Gunasekera The […]
Norway reaffirms Sri Lanka peace broker role
STOCKHOLM, June 10, 2006 (AFP) – Norway said Saturday it would continue to act as peace broker between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger rebels despite the recent breakdown in talks between the two sides, which had thrown its role into doubt. The rebels on Thursday aborted a two-day meeting in Oslo with Colombo representatives arranged […]
Indonesia arrests 107 Sri Lankan illegal immigrants
JAKARTA, June 10, 2006 (AFP) – Indonesian officials Saturday said they have arrested more than 100 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka in the latest crackdown on human trafficking.A total of 107 Sri Lankan men were detained when immigration officials raided two houses Thursday in the resort town of Cisarua, said Muhammad Indra, a director with […]
Olive Branch
June 9, 2006 (LBO) — Sri Lanka plans to repay millions of dollars due to the troubled fuel retailer Lanka IOC, in cash and bonds to meet immediate purchases of petrol stocks, the Indian firm said Friday. To date, Colombo owes the Indian fuel retailer over 76 million dollars in unpaid subsidies for selling fuel […]
Norway blames Tamil Tigers for failed talks
OSLO, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Norway on Thursday officially declared talks between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tigers to improve the security of foreign ceasefire observers a failure, blaming the rebels for the breakdown.The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan representatives were to hold direct talks for the first time since […]
Norway puts Sri Lanka on notice amid fresh war fears
June 9, 2006 (AFP) – Norway was reconsidering its peacebroker role Friday as Tiger rebels aborted talks and demanded the removal of ceasefire monitors from European Union member states.On Thursday, at least 19 people were reported killed across the troubled northern and eastern regions, pushing the death toll since December to more than 680. The […]
Norway points finger at EU for Sri Lanka talks breakdown
OSLO, June 9, 2006 (AFP) – Norway on Friday blamed the European Union for contributing to a breakdown in talks between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tigers which has thrown the question of further Norwegian mediation wide open.The rebels on Thursday aborted a two-day meeting in Oslo with Colombo representatives arranged by Norway to discuss the […]
Sri Lanka attacks peace monitors over truce report
June 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government, under pressure for allegedly backing a breakaway Tamil rebel faction, on Friday accused Scandinavian truce monitors of partiality and said they lacked professionalism.The government in a four-page statement lambasted the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and also accused its chief, Swedish army Major General Ulf Henricsson, of […]
‘s inflation rate soars to new high
HARARE, June 9, 2006 (AFP) – The inflation rate in economically-ravaged Zimbabwe soared to a new record high of 1,193.5 percent for May, officials said on Friday, with economists predicting even higher rates in the coming months. “The year-on-year rate of inflation in May 2006 was 1,193.5 percent, gaining 150.6 percentage points on the April […]
Last Resort
June 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s CBNSat a local cable television operator — is appealing to customers to be patient while they engage in a court battle aimed at re-starting operations. Sleuths from the criminal investigation department switched off the equipment at CBNSat’s affiliate company SonicNet technology, bringing its activities to a halt. The […]