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Media group gives bleak status report on press freedom day
PARIS, May 3 (AFP) – Governments and organisations around the world Wednesday made gestures of support for journalists on World Press Freedom Day, but at least one reporter was killed and dozens of leaders came under fierce criticism for infringing on free expression.The global media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF – Reporters Without Borders) in […]
New effort under way to prevent graft in tsunami aid
BANGKOK, May 4 (AFP) – A top official for the UN’s tsunami recovery effort was meeting Thursday in Bangkok to launch a new drive to improve accountability for the 13 billion dollars donated to five countries hit by the deadly waves.“There was a great appreciation that accountability to donors, the affected populations, and to the […]
Eight killed in fresh Sri Lanka violence
May 4 (AFP) – Two policemen and six others were killed Thursday in separate clashes in northern Sri Lanka where a fragmentation mine also exploded but caused no casualties, officials said.Six men travelling in two three-wheeler taxis were shot dead by security forces when they tried to attack a military sentry point at Nelliyadi in […]
Going Upstream
May 2 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is setting up an upstream oil company as the country gets ready to auction several off-shore oil exploration blocks, Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said. An upstream petroleum company engages in exploration and production of oil. At present Sri Lanka imports crude oil and the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum […]
Flying Easy
May 3 (LBO) — A new ticketing system for Sri Lanka that cuts the paper trail between airlines and travel agents took off Wednesday, with Emirates issuing the first tickets. Instead of individual ticket formats issued by airlines, travel agents are given a stock of Standard Traffic Documents (STD) to issue tickets for all airlines […]
Checking Numbers
May 3 (LBO) – A Chinese construction firm selected to design and build the Colombo-Katunayake expressway submitted their financial proposal last week after a two-month delay. A government appointed technical evaluation committee is now going through the proposal and hopes to have their report out as early as next week, secretary to the Highways Ministry, […]
Malaysia warns jail for text-messaging behind the wheel
KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (AFP) – Malaysian motorists who read or send SMS text messages while behind the wheel face going to jail, authorities warned in a report Wednesday, saying texting is more dangerous than talking on the phone. Malaysia’s Road Transport Department last year nabbed 600 motorists for using text messaging services and is […]
Sri Lanka vows punishment for killers of press workers
May 3 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse marked international press freedom day Wednesday vowing to punish killers of two newspaper workers at a pro-rebel Tamil daily.Gunmen stormed the offices of the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Colombo, Tuesday night, killing a manager and another employee, journalists […]
Bullet-riddled bodies found in northern Sri Lanka
May 3 (AFP) – The bullet-riddled bodies of three men were found at a village in northern Sri Lanka Wednesday as tensions mount in the region, police said. The victims were dumped at Chettikulam in the Vavuniya district where government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels clashed in recent weeks. “We don’t know who these people […]
Gunmen storm Sri Lanka news office killing two
May 03(AFP) – Gunmen stormed a Tamil newspaper office in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna peninsula killing two people and further raising the toll in the bloodiest month since a 2002 truce took effect, officials said Wednesday.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the island’s drawn out Tamil separatist conflict in the past three decades. -Ian […]