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French charity vows to “get to bottom” of Sri Lanka massacre
COLOMBO, Aug 11, 2006 (AFP) – The head of a French charity vowed Friday to “get to the bottom” of the massacre of 17 employees in Sri Lanka and said his group was reassessing its operations given the escalating conflict there. The 13 men and four women, aged 23 to 54, worked mostly as engineers […]
Three killed handling unexploded mortar in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Aug 11, 2006 (AFP) – Three villagers were killed in Sri Lanka on Friday when they tried to prise open an unexploded mortar found near a military munitions dump that exploded overnight, doctors said. The blast came amid heavy long-range attacks in the same district where troops and Tamil Tiger rebels had been locked […]
Widow of aid worker appeals for truth about Sri Lanka massacre
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, Aug 11, 2006 (AFP) – S. Ganesh was a 16-year veteran aid worker who had followed Sri Lanka’s Tamil insurgency since it began, so his wife thought little of his routine trip near a conflict zone last week. But six days after he left his modest home on July 31, his body […]
Sri Lanka looks at reviving sovereign bond issue : CB Governor
Aug 10 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is looking at reviving a sovereign bond issue, which was shelved earlier this year, to raise medium term dollars, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. After getting a sovereign rating last year, (BB- from Fitch and B+ from S & P) Sri Lanka was planning to go to the […]
Done Deal
August 10 (LBO) – John Keells Holdings said Thursday that it bought up about a million shares or just over an eleven percent stake in Associated Motorways Limited, through a private placement. A block of 1,032,231 shares of ten rupees was sold at a premium of 370 rupees apiece, a shareholding of 11.12 percent of […]
Top Speed
Aug10 (LBO) – Associated Motorways Limited (AMW) posted an 18 percent jump in net profits to 143.8 million rupees in the first quarter 2007, led by growth in its passenger vehicle segment. The group’s net turnover was also up 76 percent to 2.6 billion rupees for the same period, over a company turnover performance of […]
Bank Tie
The Sri Lanka government agency that overseas state-owned enterprises is drawing up plans to merge a state-owned Sri Lankan housing bank with a savings bank that has a strong presence in the housing market, officials said. The State Mortgage and Investment Bank, a specialist housing bank with assets of 9.1 billion rupees was recently downgraded […]
British bomb plot causes worldwide airline chaos
LONDON, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – Air travel to and from Britain was plunged into chaos on Thursday in the wake of the discovery of a plot to blow up airlines on transatlantic flights. Many airlines said they were cancelling all flights to Britain and to the epicentre of the threat, London Heathrow, one of […]
Coke, Pepsi struggle to find fizz in India
NEW DELHI, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – With a billion-plus people in a hot climate and a booming economy, India should be a choice market for Coke and Pepsi — but the two cola giants have instead faced a very bumpy local ride. The brands are in the midst of a publicity nightmare after an […]
Weary Sri Lankan medics fight fatigue as casualties mount
KANTALAI, Sri Lanka, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – Doctor Iranthi de Silva has worked for 15 hours straight, battling fatigue and stress as casualties in Sri Lanka’s strife-torn northeast mounted Thursday. A brief lull in the chaotic, makeshift emergency room at the Kantalai Base Hospital allowed her to sit down. But the distant wailing of […]
Fresh fighting dims Sri Lanka peace hopes, rebels say more than 50 killed
KANTALAI, Sri Lanka, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan warplanes bombed Tiger positions as fighting broke out again near a disputed waterway in the troubled northeast Thursday, leaving more than 50 people dead according to the rebels. Some 30,000 people who fled their homes last week because of fighting between troops and the Tigers […]
Two soldiers dead in renewed fighting near Sri Lanka waterway
KANTALAI, Sri Lanka, Aug 10, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed Tamil Tiger positions as the two sides shelled each other around a disputed waterway near here Thursday, leaving at least two soldiers dead and 26 wounded. “We are on a defensive operation,” spokesman Upali Rajapakse said. “We had to retaliate when our […]