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Air Pocket
GENEVA, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – The world’s top airline association on Wednesday predicted a dip in air travel due to the British terror alert this month, but said the prospects for the sector were nevertheless bright.The incident also prompted tougher restrictions on hand luggage worldwide and boosted security checks on passengers.“While we expect to […]
Pushing Buttons
August 30, 2006 (LBO) – One of Sri Lanka’s foremost telecom experts, Rohan Samarajiva is due to chair this year’s Digital Opportunity Forum in Korea on Thursday. Samarajiva, who is the current Executive Director of LIRNasia will also deliver the keynote address: Bridging the Divide: Building Asia-Pacific Capacity for Effective Reforms. The two-day parley is […]
Feeling peckish? British council bans biscuits to beat the birds
LONDON, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – They are an integral part of British tea-time, but councillors in one city are having to forgo biscuits with their daily cuppa to deal with the growing problem of aggressive seagulls.Bristol City Council in the west of England has calculated it could save 25,000 pounds (37,000 euros, 47,500 dollars) […]
Sri Lanka rejects charity worker massacre charge as “outrageous”
LONDON, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka rejected as “outrageous” Wednesday a ruling by independent ceasefire monitors that government forces were responsible for the massacre of 17 employees of a French charity. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who was visiting London, told the BBC that the Swedish-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) had […]
Sri Lanka troops killed 17 French aid workers: monitors
Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops killed 17 French charity workers and waged a bombing campaign against Tamil rebels, truce monitors said Wednesday, amid fears the nation was headed for full-scale war.As of Thursday, the SLMM will have to carry out its duties with just 30 members instead of 57.The Swedish-led Sri Lanka […]
‘s east as death toll mounts
30, 2006 (AFP) – A battle between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels over a key eastern naval port continued Wednesday with sporadic artillery duels as both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy losses. Sri Lankan defence officials and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said shelling continued in a government offensive […]
Journalist abducted in Sri Lanka freed after appeals
Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – An abducted Sri Lankan radio journalist held overnight was freed Wednesday by unidentified men after appeals for his safe return. Nadaraja Guruparan, a member of the minority Tamil community, said he was forced out of his car Tuesday as he drove to his radio station, Surayan FM, but treated well […]
Rights body raises cry over deteriorating media freedom in Sri Lanka
Aug 30 (LBO) – The media rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has voiced deep concern about the rapidly deteriorating media freedom in Sri Lanka.The statement came after the abduction of the news director of a Tamil language radio station in Colombo. Nadarajah Guruparan, the news director Sooriyan FM, a part of the ABC radio […]
Finland, Denmark, Sweden to complete pull out of Sri Lanka observers on time
HELSINKI, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – Finland, Denmark and Sweden will pull out all their ceasefire monitors from Sri Lanka by the end of the month in response to a deadline set by rebels, officials said on Tuesday.In Helsinki the government said that the 10 monitors return home by Wednesday. Most of the Swedish observers […]
Minor Slip
August 30, 2006 (LBO) – Dominant lubricant supplier Caltex Lanka Ltd is expecting a marginal drop in volumes this year as intensified fighting in the northeast dries up sales. Caltex says sales to the conflict zones accounts for around 10-12 percent of total volumes, and was growing steadily until hostilities erupted in July. Prior to […]