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Sri Lanka offers cash, devolution to end ethnic bloodshed
COLOMBO, July 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Tuesday offered 1.25 billion dollars to rebuild embattled regions and asked his advisors to come up with a power-sharing plan to end decades of ethnic bloodshed. President Mahinda Rajapakse told a 15-member multi-ethnic panel appointed by him last week to come up with a formula that […]
Blast near Tiger cemetery kills Sri Lanka soldier
July 11, 2006 (AFP) – A government soldier was killed Tuesday in a powerful bomb explosion near a Tamil Tiger war cemetery in Sri Lanka’s northern peninsula of Jaffna, officials said.The soldier, on a routine patrol, was killed as the blast ripped through the area at Kodikamam, a military official in the area said when […]
Fuelling Wars
July 11 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s energy minister wants nine billion rupees from the Treasury to settle Ceylon Petroleum Corp’s subsidy bill, as the Treasury tries to free up pricing. We will not raise prices, but we have asked the Treasury for nine billion rupees from January to date to settle CPC’s subsidy bill, or […]
Zimbabwe’s churches say they may have answer to economic woes
HARARE, July 9, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s churches are rallying to provide what they call a “comprehensive document” they believe could help lift the embattled southern African country from its political and economical muddle.The plan drawn up by the influential Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) comes in the wake of a recent call by President […]
‘s churches say they may have answer to economic woes
HARARE, July 9, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s churches are rallying to provide what they call a “comprehensive document” they believe could help lift the embattled southern African country from its political and economical muddle.The plan drawn up by the influential Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) comes in the wake of a recent call by President […]
Oil Conundrum
July 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition charged that weak economic management was the cause of galloping inflation in the country and not oil prices.“The government is hiding behind the bunker of oil price rises and driving up inflation by printing money and banks borrowings,” United National Parliamentarian and former Deputy Finance Minister […]
Quick Sand
July 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will continue to subsidise retail fuel prices in the absence of a new pricing formula, as Colombo threatened to takeover Indian Oil Corp’s local unit if they fail to resume gasoline sales, officials said Sunday. Sri Lanka is a net oil importer, with fuel shipments doubling to 1.6 […]
India’s ruling Congress battles mounting criticism over reforms
NEW DELHI, July 8, 2006 (AFP) – India’s ruling Congress party moved into damage control on Saturday after an embarrassing U-turn on privatisation sparked rumours that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quitting.“There are no differences, and will never be, between the party and the prime minister. We stand as one,” Singh’s Congress party spokeswoman Jayanti […]
‘s ruling Congress battles mounting criticism over reforms
NEW DELHI, July 8, 2006 (AFP) – India’s ruling Congress party moved into damage control on Saturday after an embarrassing U-turn on privatisation sparked rumours that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quitting.“There are no differences, and will never be, between the party and the prime minister. We stand as one,” Singh’s Congress party spokeswoman Jayanti […]
Sri Lanka police probe death of innocent man beaten up in jail
July 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police have launched an investigation into the death of a man who was allegedly beaten up in prison after being falsely accused of a school bomb hoax, officials said Saturday.The death of the 55-year-old man, Sunil Perera, has sparked widespread public outrage in the tropical island nation. Police […]