All Blogs
Creative Fusion
Sept 25 (LBO) – Sri Lankan song writers and other artistes are hoping a new licensing and royalty scheme being drawn up will help protect their creative work and prop up earnings. Local artistes have banded together to form ˜collective societies™, on the lines of similar groups in the United Kingdom, to represent the rights […]
Trade Discounts
Sept 25 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slashed tariffs by up to 70 percent on top imports like cement imported duty free from India, under a trade deal with the neighbouring country. Sri Lanka™s bilateral trade deal with India allows for a phasing out of tariffs over an eight year period, for goods that are […]
Sri Lankan sprinter denies dope charge
COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan woman sprinter denied Monday taking performance enhancing drugs during the South Asian Games in Colombo last month, investigators said. If proved guilty, Silva would lose both her 4×100 metres relay gold medal and the 100metres silver. Sri Lankan officials had earlier said that athletes from Pakistan, […]
Tigers deny forcing Muslims out of Sri Lanka town
COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Monday denied forcing minority Muslims to quit a coastal town where 17 aid workers of a French charity were massacred last month. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they were not responsible for distributing leaflets among thousands of Muslims in the […]
Sri Lanka troops, Tigers fight heavy sea battle
COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy and Tamil Tiger rebels fought a fierce sea battle on Monday, with both sides giving conflicting casualty figures ranging from three to 70 killed. A navy vessel detected several boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Mullaitivu sparking a battle […]
Oil Slump
SINGAPORE, Sept 25, 2006 (AFP) – Oil prices fell back below 60 dollars in Asian trade Monday to their lowest level in six months, before regaining some ground, partly on easing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, dealers said. At 2:40 pm (0640 GMT) New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was down […]
Safe Funds
LONDON, Sept 24, 2006 (AFP) – Islamic finance is soaring around the world owing to an influx of petro-dollars from the Middle East and growing demand by investors, both Muslim and non-Muslim, according to analysts. The Islamic finance sector, compatible with Sharia law based on the Koran, is now worth between 300 and 500 billion […]
Fighting picks up in Eastern Sri Lanka despite peace efforts
Sept 24 (AFP) – Tamil rebels and Sri Lankan troops waged artillery duels Sunday in the embattled east, the military said, in continued fighting despite a push by Norway to restore a ceasefire ahead of talks. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired artillery and mortar bombs at the Kiran and Vavunathivu army […]
Condoleezza Rice urges Sri Lanka to push ahead with peace talks
NEW YORK, Sept 23, 2006 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged her Sri Lankan counterpart here Saturday to make a concerted effort in planned peace talks with rebels from the country’s Tamil minority, a senior US official said.Meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaweera on the sidelines of the UN General […]
More democracrazy in the Maldive Islands?
COLOMBO, Sept 22 (AFP) – The Maldivian government freed a top political dissident from house arrest Friday, opening the door for talks with the opposition on democratic reforms, both sides said.At the same time, the government warned that the released leader Mohamed Nasheed, better known as Anni, would continue to face terrorism charges unless he […]