Venezuela TV station seizure sends chilling message of totalitarian rule

CARACAS, May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Despite protests by democracy activists, Venezuela’s oldest television network went off the air at midnight Sunday, victim of a fresh push by President Hugo Chavez to tighten his grip over the nation’s media. RCTV screens went black after the station broadcast previously-recorded images of its teary-eyed employees singing the […]

Fresh Sri Lanka violence kills nine

May 27, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a road side bomb in eastern Sri Lanka Sunday, killing three civilians as six more people were killed in separate clashes, police said.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blast blew up a truck, killing the three people at Thirukkovil, a police official […]

Sri Lanka conflict to continue in the months ahead: analysts

May 27, 2007 (AFP) – A new wave of air and naval combat is likely in Sri Lanka as government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels step up battles that have killed more than 5,000 people since peace talks collapsed, analysts say. British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott said: “The only solution to this massive disruption of […]

Sri Lanka-Abu Dhabi cricket tour row hots up

May 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan cricket’s governing body hit back at the national team’s chief selector Sunday, after his dismissal of last week’s one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi as “absolutely ridiculous.” An official at Sri Lanka Cricket said they had sent two letters to Asantha de Mel, the chairman of selectors, […]

WTO proposes lower tariffs on agricultural products from poor nations

GENEVA, May 26, 2007 (AFP) – The World Trade Organisation on Saturday proposed sharply lowering tariffs on some agricultural products from poorer countries in exchange for them reducing trade protection measures. The WTO’s chief agriculture negotiator, Crawford Falconer, said the new proposal could allow for progress in the stalled Doha round of negotiations aimed at […]

Law Club

May 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been re-elected to the United National Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for a six year period, the foreign ministry said Sunday. The next meeting of the UNCITRAL will be held in Vienna, Austria from June 25 to July 12. Other countries elected to represent the Asian […]

Japan under pressure over Sri Lanka aid

TOKYO, May 26, 2007 (AFP) – An international human rights group is lobbying Sri Lanka’s top donor Japan to exert greater pressure on the island nation to address spiralling violence. But Tokyo said it has no plans for now to slash aid and follow the lead of Sri Lanka’s former colonial ruler Britain and Germany, […]

” players for cash

May 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s senior cricket officials on Friday clashed over this week’s one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, with the chief selector dismissing it as “absolutely ridiculous. ” Asantha De Mel said the series was too soon after the World Cup, criticising Sri Lanka Cricket which organised the lucrative one-day […]

Extradition Quest

May 26, 2007 (LBO) – The Philippine government has asked for arrested operators of the Questnet referral schemes in which tens of thousands of poor Asians and Africans have lost money, to be formally extradited, reports said. Earlier in May, the public face of the Quest International (QI) group, Vijayeswaran Vijayaratnam, director Joseph Luis Tomacruz […]

” victims

May 25, 2007 (LBO) – The World Bank Friday agreed to give Sri Lanka a soft loan of 32 million dollars to help tens of thousands Muslim victims of Tamil Tiger ‘ethnic cleansing’. The money will be used to provide housing, drinking water and sanitation to 20,600 displaced families, most of whom were driven out […]

Slipping In

May 25, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of the Indian Oil Corporation is planning to boost its 13 percent share in the island’s lube business after getting the government nod to enter the licensed industry, the company said Friday. The company said the secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Petroleum and Petroleum Resources […]

Penney takes temporary charge of Sri Lanka

May 24, 2007 (AFP) – Outgoing Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody’s sidekick is taking charge of the national team until a formal appointment is made, a senior Sri Lanka Cricket source said Thursday.Trevor Penney, who played for English county side Warwickshire for 17 seasons, joined Moody in late 2005 as fielding coach.He was England’s fielding […]

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