Author: lbostgadmin
Press freedom in Sri Lanka, world, in decline: watchdog
NEW YORK, May 1, 2007 (AFP) – Press freedom around the world deteriorated last year due to coups, attempts to stifle political opposition and regulate use of the Internet, a leading watchdog said in a report Tuesday.The survey gave 74 countries out of the 195 included the “free” rating and 63 the “not free” label. […]
Killings mar Sri Lanka religious holiday
May 2, 2007 (AFP) – Two Tamil civilians and 13 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in northern Sri Lanka as the country marked the holiest Buddhist anniversary, military officials said on Wednesday. Unidentified gunmen short dead the two civilians on Tuesday night, the start of the Wesak festival marking the birth, enlightenment and death of […]
Reconnecting
May 2, 2007 (AFP) – Dubai’s Emirates Airlines said on Wednesday it would resume day-time services to Sri Lanka which were suspended following Tamil rebel air raids near the island’s only international airport.Sri Lanka lost to Australia in Saturday’s final in Barbados.“Following a review of the situation in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, Emirates will […]
” of downed plane
April 30, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels said Monday that they hit a military war plane on a bombing mission over their territory with anti-aircraft fire.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they attacked the Israeli-built Kfir jet Monday as it flew over the rebel-held Kilinochchi district, but that the aircraft […]
Latest Sri Lanka journalist killing condemned by RSF
May 01, 2007 (LBO) – The murder of a reporter working for a Tamil newspaper in Sri Lanka has been condemned by the international media rights organization, Reporters without Borders. Selvarajah Rajivarnam, a reporter working for the Uthayan newspaper, was gunned down on his bicycle near the newspapers office in the northern Jaffna peninsular. He […]
Flying Tigers hold Sri Lanka in a thrall
May 1, 2007 (AFP) – The new capability of the Tamil Tigers to carry out airborne attacks has not only made them a rarity among the world’s guerrilla outfits but has also badly shaken an entire country. Sri Lanka’s defence ministry has acknowledged that the Tigers may be operating at least five light aircraft, used […]
Two suspected Tamil Tigers arrested in Australia
MELBOURNE, May 1, 2007 (AFP) – Two suspected members of Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebel group were Tuesday arrested in Australia and charged with funnelling money to a terrorist organisation, police said.The Tamil Tigers have waged a 35-year battle for independence that has claimed more than 60,000 lives in Sri Lanka. The men, 32 […]
Large Loan
May 01, 2007 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon said it had completed Sri Lanka’s largest international syndicated loan when it raised 210 million dollars in a 3-year facility arranged by HSBC. “The success of this loan syndication epitomises the resourcefulness of the global giant HSBC in being able to draw on their international expertise and […]
Aviation Hub
May 01, 2007 (LBO) – A trimming of services to Sri Lanka by major international carriers is undermining Colombo’s aspirations to be a regional aviation hub, in addition to hitting the island’s tourist industry. Sri Lanka now has to buy expensive defensive equipment at a cost that is totally disproportionate to the size of the […]
Third Dimension
May 01, 2007 (LBO) – Chamath Champika Jayalath was watching the Sri Lanka-Australia Cricket World Cup final shortly after 1.00 am Sunday when suddenly power supply went off. Waiting for power to come back, Jayalath was startled by the sound of explosions and heavy gunfire. Rushing out, he saw tracer bullets streaming into the night […]
Sri Lanka inflation falls despite rising oil prices in April as money printing tapers off
April 30, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation fell for the third month in a row in April after the Central Bank stopped printing money to finance the budget deficit and tightened monetary policy from December 2006. Consumer price increases in the past twelve months measured by the Colombo Consumer Price index fell to 16.3 […]
Sri Lanka security high for early May Day rallies
April 30, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police stepped up security in the capital Monday as political parties prepared to stage May Day rallies a day ahead of the rest of the world, officials said. Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels launched a suicide bomb attack in 1993 during a ruling party May Day rally and assassinated […]