Category: Other
Sri Lanka Kelani Valley estates revenues recover but profits dip in June quarter
August 08, 2007 (LBO) – Kelani Valley Plantations, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group, saw profits dip 36 percent in the quarter ended June 2007 as turnover rose by 3 percent, as it recovered from the effects of a strike the previous year. . Consolidated net profit after tax fell to 63.3 million from […]
Sri Lanka brew at British beer fest
LONDON, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) – The doors to the biggest pub in the world swing open Tuesday as the 30th Great British Beer Festival gets underway. The annual bash, which raises a glass to finely-crafted ales from around Britain and the globe — and hurls bland, fizzy lager straight down the sink — promises […]
Two ministers quit Maldives cabinet in protest
COLOMBO, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) – Two senior Maldivian ministers have quit the cabinet accusing President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of obstructing reform, officials and dissidents said Monday.Attorney General Hassan Saeed and Justice Minister Mohamed Jameel quit Sunday blaming Gayoom, Asia’s longest-serving ruler, of blocking reforms ranging from a new constitution to independence of the judiciary. […]
Australian rates tipped to rise
SYDNEY, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) – An Australian interest rate rise Wednesday is almost a certainty, according to economists, creating a political headache for Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will announce the results of Tuesday’s monthly monetary policy meeting early Wednesday, with most economists tipping a 0.25 point […]
Virgin to form alliance with AirAsia for long-haul ops
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) – Asian low-cost airline pioneer Tony Fernandes looks set to score a major coup with British businessman Richard Branson coming on board to help get his struggling, high-risk long-haul venture off the ground, analysts said Tuesday.Branson of Virgin Group is to take a 20 percent stake in Malaysia’s AirAsia […]
Mugabe at anti-poverty summit in Malaysia
LANGKAWI, Malaysia, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, internationally condemned for his nation’s economic meltdown and human rights abuses, was given a warm welcome Monday at an anti-poverty summit in Malaysia, delegates said.While he has proved elusive to the packs of journalists and photographers staking out the venue, he was said to […]
US soldier gets 110 years in rape, killing of Iraqi girl
WASHINGTON, Aug 4, 2007 (AFP) – A US soldier was sentenced Saturday to 110 years in jail for raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and slaying her family, the army said.That investigation focused a critical light on the US military’s controversial rules of engagement in Iraq.“Private First Class Jesse Spielman was sentenced to 110 […]
Zimbabwe money printing, price control mess, boom for border town
MUSINA, South Africa, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) – James Diop rings up another sale and then contemplates his good fortune to work in a supermarket in South Africa as the stores across the border in Zimbabwe grow emptier by the day.“We’ve had a 300 percent increase in sales since June which is unprecedented … and […]
Rural Japan puts thorn in side of farm reform
TOKYO, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) – Fearing their government cares more about big business than small farmers, Japan’s rural dwellers are deserting the ruling conservative camp, leaving its plan to open up the agriculture market in doubt.With the opposition now in control of one house of parliament, experts say the government may find it harder […]
Level Play
August 4, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state sector has to improve governance for the country to progress, at a time when private firms were coming under increasingly tight regulation and self regulation, a senior business executive said. Former chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange and current chairman of Hatton National Bank Rienzie Wijetilleke said […]
China blacklists companies exporting poor-quality goods
BEIJING, Aug 4, 2007 (AFP) – China has established a blacklist of companies that have violated rules on the quality of exports, the commerce ministry said Saturday amid growing global concern about the safety of China-made goods.“We have set up a blacklist system for companies in the exporting sector and punished some companies that have […]
India and US in landmark nuclear deal
NEW DELHI, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) – India and the United States unveiled on Friday the text of an operating agreement for their controversial civilian nuclear technology deal, with key provisions on fuel supplies and safeguards.The agreement, which took two years to complete, spells out how a plan for Washington to share nuclear technology with […]