All Blogs
”” hearts
NEW DELHI, April 13, 2009 (AFP) – A professor dubbed “the love guru” is contesting India’s elections on an unusual platform — more freedom for lovers and standing up to vigilante groups who frown on public displays of affection. Matuk Nath Choudhary, who is standing in the Bihar state capital of Patna, is promising that, […]
Dwindling exports hit Bangladesh economy
DHAKA, April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Export growth for Bangladesh’s crucial garments sector has ground to a halt as a result of the global financial crisis, threatening to pull down the rest of the economy, experts said. Clothing manufacture underpins impoverished Bangladesh’s industrial activity, accounting for 80 percent of overseas sales and pulling in 11 […]
Sri Lankan military begins two-day ceasefire
April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces began a two-day ceasefire on Monday, as the government called for the cornered Tamil Tiger rebels to allow thousands of civilians to flee the conflict zone. The Tigers, who are accused of holding the civilians hostage, have suffered months of battlefield setbacks that could finally end […]
Sri Lanka strips Norway of peace-broker role: official
April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday stripped Norway of its role as broker of the island’s moribund peace process, a government official told AFP. Sri Lanka formally invited the Scandanavian nation to act as peace broker in January 2000, and Oslo managed to secure a ceasefire between the government and rebels which […]
‘s residence
SYDNEY, April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Hundreds of Tamil protesters staged a rally outside Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s official Sydney residence Monday calling for a lasting ceasefire in Sri Lanka. About 300 demonstrators gathered outside Kirribilli House and nearby Admiralty House, the governor-general’s residence, to urge the Australian government to call for Colombo to […]
Sri Lanka state enterprises to get tax write-off: report
Apr 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pampered state-enterprises, often overstaffed, and usually distinguished with poor customer service, are to get tax-write offs, a media report said, as the private sector is squeezed by yet new taxes. State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation which has borrowed 150 million rupees from the Treasury will qualify for relief […]
Acid Suit
April 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may sue the owners of Turkish ship which sank off the island’s northeastern coast with a cargo of sulphuric acid, under marine pollution laws, a media report said. The Turkish ship Motari Magnor Granba carrying a cargo of 6,250 metric tonnes of cargo sprang leak near the Trincomalee […]
Summit debacle sets back Asian fight against global crisis
PATTAYA, April 12, 2009 (AFP) – The dramatic cancellation of an Asian summit after rampaging Thai protesters stormed the venue has set back a regional effort to tackle the global economic crisis, analysts said.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was to have hosted two days of talks with the leaders of China, Japan, South […]
‘s Tigers kill five civilians: military
April 12, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels killed five farmers in southern Sri Lanka on Sunday in an apparent revenge attack for military operations against them elsewhere, the army said. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters killed the farmers in the Buttala area in the far south, more than 300 kilometers (187 miles) […]
Sri Lanka declares 48-hour ceasefire in civil war
April 12, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Sunday ordered government troops to halt their offensive against cornered Tamil rebels over the two-day Sinhala and Tamil New Year that starts on Monday. The brief ceasefire is also aimed at allowing more civilians to escape from the remaining rebel-held territory and seek shelter in a […]