Category:
Europe must limit crisis damage amid stagflation threat: IMF chief
PARIS, March 17, 2008 (AFP) – The most urgent economic priority for European governments is to limit the damage from “the financial market crisis” amid threats of inflation and recession, the head of the IMF said here on Monday.Reforms could take different paths in different countries, and a consensus was needed, as had been achieved […]
Stocks plunge, oil and gold soars, in market turmoil
TOKYO, March 17, 2008 (AFP) – World markets saw another day of turmoil and investor jitters Monday as Asian shares plunged, oil hit a fresh high and the dollar fell to a new bottom after the near-collapse of US bank Bear Stearns. Dealers said an emergency cut by the US Federal Reserve to its discount […]
JPMorgan Chase buys crisis-hit Bear Stearns for a song
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – US banking titan JPMorgan Chase said late Sunday it was taking over the crisis-hit investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns for around 236 million dollars. President George W. Bush last month signed a 168-billion-dollar economic stimulus and the government and banks have backed a number of initiatives to help […]
” acts
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – In a rare Sunday action aimed at heading off fresh market upheaval, the Federal Reserve cut a key rate for direct loans to certain financial institutions and said it would offer immediate liquidity to the brokerage system.“Today’s moves by the Federal Reserve are the desperate acts of failing men. […]
‘Indies Bravo cleared to play against Sri Lanka
PORT OF SPAIN, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – Dwayne Bravo has been cleared to play for West Indies in the first Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Saturday in Guyana. Bravo was sidelined with a discomfort in his back for the sixth round of matches in the West Indies first-class championship, when his native Trinidad […]
Sri Lanka police gets hi-tech anti-terror boost from United States
Mar 17, 2008 (LBO) – The United States Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security will donate 220,000 dollars worth of antiterrorism equipment to Sri Lanka’s national police, a U.S. embassy statement said Monday. . “The purpose of the equipment is to sustain and enhance the critical capabilities of the security forces of Sri Lanka […]
Sri Lanka says 33 killed in weekend fighting
COLOMBO, March 17, 2008 (AFP) – At least 31 Tamil Tiger rebels and two security personnel were killed in weekend clashes in Sri Lanka’s north, the defence ministry said Monday. Sri Lanka pulled out of a six-year truce with the LTTE in January, saying it had gained the upper hand militarily in the decades-long conflict. […]
” over worker attacks
Mar 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Rupavahini television station was running with a skeleton staff Monday after the management declared a ‘holiday’ overnight to avert a strike, union workers said. Sri Lanka Rupavahini Workers Union, whose president Anurasiri Hettige was attacked by club-wielding thugs last week, said only a few selected workers were […]
Sri Lankan study sees politics, non-tariff barriers constraining South Asian trade
March 17, 2008 (LBO) – Politics and non-tariff barriers are likely to constrain trade among South Asian nations even if import tariffs are removed, a new study on the benefits of a regional trade pact had said. The study on the benefits of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) says estimates show that the […]
Sri Lanka central bank is creating inflation: economist
Mar 17, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s central bank is accountable for inflation and claims of ‘cost push’ factors for rising prices cannot be accepted when well managed countries are reporting single digit price increases, an economist has said.“Inflation is a purely monetary phenomenon,” lead economist of LirneAsia Harsha de Silva, who is a strong […]
India Sri Lanka power cable can be built in 40 months: report
March 16, 2008 (LBO) – An India state-run firm that is preparing a feasibility study on an undersea power cable to Sri Lanka has said the project could be completed in 40 months if given the go ahead, a media report said. India’s The Hindu Business Line newspaper said a detailed report is being prepared […]
Suicide vest now weapon of choice for Qaeda in Iraq: US
BAGHDAD, March 16, 2008 (AFP) – The explosive vest has become the weapon of choice for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, with most jihadists nowadays wearing the lethal garment and the number of suicide attacks on the rise, the US military said Sunday. “There has been an increase over time in the use of suicide vest bombers,” […]