Daily News Channel
Sri Lankan officials rejected a proposed cease-fire from the Tamil Tiger rebels Sunday, warning instead that government troops intended to continue a new offensive until the group surrenders, a senior government official said. “The government is firm that (the rebels) lay down their arms and surrender. We do not recognize this so-called offer,” said Lakshman Hulugalle, director of Sri Lanka’s Media Center for National Security.
The Chinese government has become more aggressive about buying foreign assets. Chinese leaders recently said they would begin to make investments in Europe through their sovereign wealth fund. The country has capital available to buy assets driven down by the recession.
The president of Costa Rica announced Wednesday that he is re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba more than 47 years after one of his predecessors severed them. “The time has arrived for direct and open dialogue, for official and normal relations that should permit us to tackle our agreements and our disagreements, talking with ourselves openly and with sincerity,” President Oscar Arias said in a written statement
General Motors’ European division announced Friday that its German subsidiary, Opel cars, will become an independent unit of the company.
Finance ministers from the world’s leading industrialized nations were holding their second and last day of meetings in Rome on Saturday with an agenda squarely focused on the world financial crisis. Italy is hosting the meeting of the Group of Seven in its role as G7 president for 2009. G7 members are the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Britain, and Canada.