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Sri Lanka exporters say govt giving wrong signals on EU trade
April 28, 2008 (LBO) – A dispute over Sri Lanka’s duty free access to key European markets has snowballed into a political hot potato with exporters alarmed that remarks by the country’s central bank governor could prompt buyers to look elsewhere. Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal’s comment that market access under the GSP+ scheme was a […]
Sri Lanka power supply fails
April 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka was plunged in darkness shortly after nightfall Monday as the power grid operated by state-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) failed for the third time this year. Pulleperuma said the cause for the failure would be investigated later. CEB General Manager Ranjith Pulleperuma said power had failed to most […]
Global giants bid for 12-bln-dlr Indian fighter deal
NEW DELHI, April 28, 2008 (AFP) – Global aviation giants on Monday submitted bids to sell 126 warplanes to India — the world’s richest fighter aircraft deal worth 12 billion dollars, the companies said.Six aeronautical companies from Russia, the United States and Europe offered their proposals to the Indian defence ministry well before an official […]
Bin Laden tycoon aims to build Arab-Africa sea bridge
DJIBOUTI, April 28, 2008 (AFP) – Moses once parted the Red Sea … now Osama bin Laden’s half-brother is planning to build a bridge over it. Building on engineering feats such as the Channel Tunnel between England and France, the Panama Canal linking the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Suez Canal joining the Mediterranean […]
Vietnam rice prices surge to catch-up with world amid surplus production
HO CHI MINH CITY, April 28, 2008 (AFP) – Vietnam’s government Monday said the country has sufficient rice stocks and threatened to punish speculators who hoard rice for profit after price surges triggered a run on the staple grain.Many supermarkets and street stalls quickly ran out of rice in Ho Chi Minh City at the […]
Oil prices hit intraday record near 120 dollars
SINGAPORE, April 28, 2008 (AFP) – World oil prices hit an intraday record near 120 dollars a barrel on Monday after the shutdown of a major North Sea pipeline added to supply worries, analysts said.New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, touched 119.93 dollars a barrel in electronic deals […]
Iranian president touch down in Pakistan before Sri Lanka vist
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, April 28, 2008 (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived Monday in Pakistan for a brief visit to meet the country’s new government and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf.Ahmadinejad’s plane touched down at Chaklala Airbase in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining Islamabad, where an air force honour guard greeted him on the tarmac, […]
Sri Lanka mangrove conservation scheme gathers pace
April 28, 2008 (LBO) – A program to conserve Sri Lanka’s mangrove eco-systems is gathering pace with the support of coastal communities, government and private sector organizations, officials said. The Mangroves for the Future (MFF) initiative launched with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is also working […]
Sri Lanka Tigers launch air strike on military targets: security sources
April 27, 2008 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels deployed light aircraft to bomb military targets in northeastern Sri Lanka early Sunday causing no fatalities, but striking a psychological blow, security sources said. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) flew two planes to hit two military bases in the Weli Oya region, where security forces […]
Tamil Tiger aircraft bomb Sri Lanka military targets
April 27, 2008 (AFP) – Tiger rebels using light aircraft bombed military targets in northeastern Sri Lanka early Sunday as security forces launched a fresh ground offensive after a deadly bus bombing, officials said. . The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) hit two military installations in the Weli Oya region, where security forces launched […]
‘s rainforests vanishing as timber, food demand surge: experts
HANOI, April 27, 2008 (AFP) – Asia’s rainforests are being rapidly destroyed, a trend accelerated by surging timber demand in booming China and India, and record food, energy and commodity prices, forest experts warn.The loss of these biodiversity hot spots, much of it driven by the illegal timber trade and the growth of oil palm, […]
‘s rich get richer
LONDON, April 27, 2008 (AFP) – Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal remains the wealthiest person in Britain, The Sunday Times newspaper’s 2008 annual Rich List said. His 27.7 billion pounds (54.9 billion dollars, 35.1 billion euros), up 8.5 billion pounds on last year, keeps him topping the pile for the fourth year running. And the […]