Category:
Nine rebels killed in Sri Lanka clashes: military
Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) – At least nine Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and five government soldiers wounded in weekend battles in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Monday.The nine members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in northwestern Mannar district, the ministry said in a statement. Army troops also […]
Normal Light
August 27, 2007 (LBO) – The powerful engineers union of Sri Lanka’s state-owned electricity utility has temporarily suspended industrial action started last week, following talks with senior government officials. Secretaries to the President, the treasury and energy and the CEB chairman met the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) Sunday after a work-to-rule campaign began […]
Banking Revolution
August 25, 2007 (LBO) – Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank has reached out to 124 million poorest families globally during its 31 years of existence, its founder, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus says. The Grameen Bank reaches into ‘risky market segments that formal banking sectors in poor countries dare not reach, touching the lives of millions of people. […]
” as blasts kill 42
HYDERABAD, India, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – Indian security forces launched a manhunt Sunday for those behind twin bombings in the southern city of Hyderabad that killed 42 people, with officials pinning the blame on Islamic militants.More than 50 others were injured in the blasts late Saturday, which ripped through a packed street restaurant in […]
Victims tell how Hyderabad laser show crowd was struck by bombs
HYDERABAD, India, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – Romanna was bleeding and in shock after being wounded in a series of terror blasts that rocked this southern Indian city late Saturday, killing 36 people and injuring 60. A string of explosions went off in an auditorium packed with families watching a laser show, while other blasts […]
Sri Lanka defence analyst silenced amid fears for life
Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – A top Sri Lankan defence columnist stopped writing fearing for his life after he exposed alleged corruption in the purchase of second-hand supersonic jets, the Sunday Times weekly said.The “Situation Report” by Iqbal Athas was not being published Sunday after the government withdrew police body guards who had been assigned […]
‘s biggest Buddhist pageant goes ahead despite bomb scare
Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka police Sunday defused a powerful bomb near the route of a major Buddhist festival in the sacred city of Kandy, officials said.Police removed the three-kilogramme (6.6 pound) bomb from an abandoned building near a path taken by the Kandy Perahera, or pageant which moves through the city’s streets, […]
Blasts in south India kill 28 people in suspected terror attack
HYDERABAD, India, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – Two near-simultaneous blasts tore through the Indian city of Hyderabad late Saturday, killing at least 28 people in what a state official said was a suspected terror attack.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts in Hyderabad and voiced his deep concern, the Press Trust of India reported. One […]
Wall Street steadies, but more to come
NEW YORK, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) – Wall Street found its footing over the past week after the market’s drubbing earlier this month, as investors pondered whether the storm over housing and a related credit squeeze was over. Despite a strong rebound in the week to Friday, analysts said they expect nervous trading ahead with […]
Venezuela consolidates Zimbabwe path
CARACAS, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) – Lawmakers Friday launched a national campaign for constitutional reform to consolidate President Hugo Chavez’s power and socialist agenda that a weak and splintered opposition seems powerless to stop.With Chavez loyalists taking up all 167 seats of the single-chamber legislature, the constitutional reform is assured passage before it is put […]
Shell accuses Argentina of discrimination in fuel battle
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) – Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch/Shell, whose top executives are under threat of arrest, accused the Argentine government of “discrimination” in a page-wide advert published Friday in leading newspapers.“The discrimination Shell is being subjected to is inadmissible,” said company president Juan Aranguren in the statement, adding that the firm […]
‘s Tata confirms interest in Land Rover, Jaguar
NEW DELHI, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) – The head of India’s Tata conglomerate confirmed Friday that his group was interested in bidding for luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, in an interview with an Indian news channel.Last month, Indian news reports said that two Indian automakers — Tata Motors and the Mahindra group […]