Category: Other
Rat in the generator blacks out Cambodian capital
PHNOM PENH, June 13, 2006 (AFP) – A rat which bumbled into one of Cambodia’s largest power plants was blamed for blacking out the entire capital Phnom Penh and much of surrounding Kandal province over the weekend, a power official said Tuesday.Millions were cast into darkness Sunday night and sat through hours of sweltering heat […]
Bad weather, strong demand to keep rubber prices up this week
June 12 (LBO) – Rubber prices in Sri Lanka are expected to stay strong this week as bad weather and a resulting supply crunch drive prices upwards, brokers say.Annual monsoon rains until August is affecting tapping on plantations, with supplies usually falling by as much as fifty percent at this time of the year. Brokers […]
Australian wine industry battling oversupply of grapes
SYDNEY, June 11, 2006 (AFP) – The Australian wine industry is drowning in a glut of grapes, as it struggles to sell up to one billion litres of wine sloshing around in storage tanks across the country. Record output in 2004 and 2005, and a near-record crush this year, have led to a massive oversupply […]
Indonesia arrests 107 Sri Lankan illegal immigrants
JAKARTA, June 10, 2006 (AFP) – Indonesian officials Saturday said they have arrested more than 100 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka in the latest crackdown on human trafficking.A total of 107 Sri Lankan men were detained when immigration officials raided two houses Thursday in the resort town of Cisarua, said Muhammad Indra, a director with […]
‘s inflation rate soars to new high
HARARE, June 9, 2006 (AFP) – The inflation rate in economically-ravaged Zimbabwe soared to a new record high of 1,193.5 percent for May, officials said on Friday, with economists predicting even higher rates in the coming months. “The year-on-year rate of inflation in May 2006 was 1,193.5 percent, gaining 150.6 percentage points on the April […]
Sri Lanka in talks with Russia to lower tea import duties
June 09 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in talks with Russia to lower import duties on tea, as Russia begins freeing up trade in a bid to enter the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Russia, Sri Lanka’s largest market for tea, has offered to lower tariffs of 20 percent on value added black and green tea exports […]
Zimbabwe’s inflation rate soars to new high
HARARE, June 9, 2006 (AFP) – The inflation rate in economically-ravaged Zimbabwe soared to a new record high of 1,193.5 percent for May, officials said on Friday, with economists predicting even higher rates in the coming months. “The year-on-year rate of inflation in May 2006 was 1,193.5 percent, gaining 150.6 percentage points on the April […]
Time not ripe yet for Indian mangoes to hit US
WASHINGTON, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Americans have to wait probably another year before they can relish succulent Indian mangoes. More than three months after President George W. Bush told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that “the United States is looking forward to eating Indian mangoes,” Washington has still not decided to open the doors […]
Cinnamon trees sprout again in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka village
HIKKADUWA, Sri Lanka, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Eighteen months after the tsunami uprooted centuries-old cinnamon plantations in a country where the golden cash crop is a vital source of income, the trees are sprouting “like magic”. Part-time cinnamon planter Wimalawathi Mendis thought her modest plot was doomed when much of her village, Malawenna, just […]
‘s tea crop dips 5% in April
June 7, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea crop for the four-months to April grew to an all time high of 2.9 percent or 108.52 million kilos, helped on by good rainfall, a commodity brokering house said Wednesday. Black tea production for April however, slipped 5-percent to 30.59 million kilos, Asia Siyaka Commodity brokers said. […]
Sri Lanka’s tea crop dips 5% in April
June 7, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea crop for the four-months to April grew to an all time high of 2.9 percent or 108.52 million kilos, helped on by good rainfall, a commodity brokering house said Wednesday. Black tea production for April however, slipped 5-percent to 30.59 million kilos, Asia Siyaka Commodity brokers said. […]
‘s human trafficking woes
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2006 (AFP) – The shattered dream of an Indonesian domestic maid, who lost her fingers and toes, following torture by her employer in the Middle East is being used by the US State Department to illustrate the seriousness of the human trafficking problem. Nour Miyatis dream was simple: To provide a brighter […]