Category: Other
100 killed, foreigners taken hostage in Mumbai attacks
MUMBAI, November 27, 2008 (AFP) – Army commandos laid siege Thursday to two luxury hotels in Mumbai where gunmen held foreign guests hostage as part of coordinated attacks across India’s financial capital that left up to 100 dead. A group calling itself the “Deccan Mujahedeen” claimed responsibility for the attacks late Wednesday night on the […]
Indian commandos battle Islamist gunmen, over 100 dead
MUMBAI, November 27, 2008 (AFP) – Indian army commandos were Thursday battling Islamist gunmen who launched coordinated attacks against luxury hotels and other targets in Mumbai, taking foreign hostages and killing over 100 people.One of the gunmen holed up in the Oberoi/Trident told the India TV channel by phone that they wanted an end to […]
Sri Lanka tea farmers demand govt support
Nov 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea small holders are pressing for government support to save the industry from ruin after demand dropped and prices crashed at auctions in Colombo.To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Chandrasena Wijesinghe, convenor of the Joint Federation of Tea […]
IMF board approves 7.6 billion dollar credit to Pakistan
WASHINGTON, November 24, 2008 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund said Monday its executive board approved a credit of 7.6 billion dollars for Pakistan, the Fund’s first rescue in Asia since the global financial crisis began. The credit will “support the country’s economic stabilization program,” the IMF said in a brief statement. The Fund and […]
Sri Lanka tea prices down; quality improves, volumes fall
Nov 20, 2008 (LBO) – The quality of black tea production in Sri Lanka has improved while quantities are coming down, as producers tightened standards in response to the crisis caused by the collapse in prices, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 “Reduced […]
Property Lure
Nov 19, 2008 (LBO) – Several Sri Lankan government institutions are scrambling to get land in a government property near the capital Colombo whose ownership reverted back to the state on a recent court order, a senior official said Court had ordered how the land could be used for its original flood retention purposes. Ramanujam […]
Slave labor reality of Sugar-cane ethanol
SAO PAULO, November 17, 2008 (AFP) – The cost of slave labor in sugar cane fields should not be overlooked when promoting the virtues of ethanol, the Roman Catholic Church said Monday, as an international conference on biofuel got under way in Brazil. “Without taking such (human) cost into account, you cannot promote the relative […]
Floods under Antarctic ice speed glaciers into sea: study
PARIS, November 17, 2008 (AFP) – Scientists unveiled Sunday the first direct evidence that massive floods deep below Antarctica’s ice cover are accelerating the flow of glaciers into the sea.How quickly these huge bodies of ice slide off the Antarctic and Greenland land masses into the ocean help determine the speed at which sea levels […]
Sri Lanka sea pollution increasing
Nov 17, 2008 (LBO) – Pollution of the seas around Sri Lanka is increasing mainly because of pollutants from land, the Marine Pollution Prevention Authority (MPPA) has warned.MPPA chairman Ranjith Kularatne said most people were not aware that 90 percent of the pollution of the island’s waters came from activity on land. These include pollutants […]
” to buy more tea
November 15, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka, a key exporter of tea, has appealed to “friendly countries” to buy more of the brew to help the island weather the global financial crisis, officials said Saturday.The foreign ministry said ambassadors and envoys of Egypt, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar were briefed about Sri […]
Sri Lanka tea market recovers
Nov 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea market is continuing its recovery with demand picking up at this week’s auction, brokers said. Prices of low grown teas, the hardest hit when demand and prices collapsed last month causing severe cash flow problems for the trade, improved at this week’s sale. “Demand for low grown […]
Sub-regional Asian summit calls for closer ties, free trade pact
NEW DELHI, November 13, 2008 (AFP) – A regional grouping of seven South and Southeast Asian countries on Thursday agreed to improve relations and called for the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement.The group’s last summit was held in Thailand in 2004. The top leaders of the seven nations that form the Bay […]