Author: lbostgadmin
” returns home penniless
TYRE, Lebanon, July 30, 2006 (AFP) – Vasanthi Darmadasa was sweeping her employers’ garden when her life changed.An Israeli bomb came thundering out of the sky, destroying the house and killing everyone there — except her.“I was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. I didn’t feel anything in my legs and I did not […]
Sri Lanka steps up attacks amid fears for threadbare truce
July 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday intensified artillery and mortar bomb attacks against Tamil Tigers and captured an area where the guerrillas had blocked an irrigation canal, a minister said. Backed by artillery and four days of air strikes, security forces moved to the Maavilaru water reservoir, Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. […]
‘s Infosys story
BANGALORE, India, July 30, 2006 (AFP) – Twenty-five years ago, with an investment of just 250 dollars, a tiny software company took shape in a one-bedroom apartment in the western India city of Pune.Today Infosys Technologies has revenues of 2.1 billion dollars and employs 58,000 people in more than two dozen countries, ranking as India’s […]
Pressure on Sri Lanka truce intensifies as monitors quit
July 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s threadbare truce came under further pressure Saturday following decisions by Finland and Denmark to remove their monitors as Tamil rebels and government troops braced for a showdown. Finland was the first to announce the withdrawal of their nationals from the Swedish-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in line […]
More Sri Lankans arrive home from Lebanon
July 29, 2006 (AFP) – A second batch of Sri Lankan migrant workers returned home Saturday from Lebanon in line with an evacuation plan backed by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), officials said.The group of 335 workers were flown on a chartered Sri Lankan Airlines plane from Damascus, IOM spokeswoman Ranjitha Balasubramanyam said. More […]
Sri Lanka war planes step up bombing, toll eight
July 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed Tamil Tiger positions for a fourth straight day Saturday, killing at least eight more rebels, the guerrillas said, as their threadbare truce came under more strain.The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said Israeli-built Kfir jets bombed and destroyed a conference center of the guerrillas deep inside rebel-held […]
Football provides therapy for drug addicts in cricket-crazy India
NEW DELHI, July 29, 2006 (AFP) – A frail-looking man named Diosiam jogs on to a football field in an upmarket New Delhi suburb, followed by a band of keen-looking players — all of them ex-drug addicts or living with HIV/AIDS.They warm up on the slushy field as a small crowd gathers to see them […]
Tired of the beach? Latvians offer abuse, insults as a tourist lure
LIEPAJA, Latvia, July 29, 2006 (AFP) – Some countries will do anything to attract tourists. In Latvia, they have pristine beaches, architectural pearls, verdant countryside and excellent cuisine, but why bother when you can have abuse and insults — even get shot — in a former KGB prison? On a hot July day, about 20 […]
Local Brands
July 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sales of locally assembled computers rose 20 percent to 11,202 units for the three months to March, though established brands continued to increase their presence in Sri Lanka, an industry report said Saturday. Locally assembled brands such as Panora and Kobian dominate the desktop market, with the latter launching a […]
Sri Lanka to hold aid parley in Dec; asks donors to fund mega projects
July 28, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is asking donors to concentrate on helping to build mega infrastructure projects, when the annual aid parley meets in December, treasury secretary P B Jayasundara said. The government wants lenders to channel more money to build roads instead of issuing warning signals about a faltering peace process and […]
Sri Lanka air raids kill six rebels, Tamil Tigers say
July 28, 2006 (AFP) – At least six rebels died and eight people were wounded when Sri Lankan warplanes attacked a Tamil Tiger camp, a rebel leader said Friday as both sides traded artillery fire. Three civilians were among the injured during the air raids over Trincomalee district on Thursday, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]
Finland to pull out Sri Lanka observers
HELSINKI, July 28, 2006 (AFP) – Finland said Friday it would recall its ceasefire monitors from Sri Lanka, sparking fears of increased violence between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels on the wartorn island.The Finnish foreign ministry announced it would withdraw its 10 observers on security grounds before a September 1 deadline set […]