Category:
Old Hands
SINGAPORE, Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Workers are relying on 19th century technology to fix a very 21st century problem — disruption of the Internet traffic that tech-savvy Asia relies on. Crewmen on boats south of Taiwan are dragging the seabed with grappling hooks at the end of long ropes to recover fibre optic cables […]
Flash floods kill 14 in Sri Lanka
Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – At least 14 people were killed and another 61,000 made homeless in south and central Sri Lanka Friday in flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rains, relief officials said. The National Disaster Management Centre said two people were buried alive in a mudslide at Walapane while another was killed in […]
‘s top diplomat
Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday appointed a former United Nations official as the country’s top official to lead the ministry of foreign affairs. Palitha Kohona, 58, currently the head of the government’s office coordinating with peace broker Norway, was appointed Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with […]
Sri Lanka activates mass detention centre amid arrests
Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has reactivated a mass detention centre to hold people rounded up during recent arrests of suspects allegedly linked to terrorism, police said Friday. A first batch of 60 people detained at police stations in Colombo will be sent Friday to the centre in Boossa, around 100 kilometres (60 […]
Commandos take eight Tiger bases in Sri Lanka
Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan commandos have taken at least eight bases used by Tamil Tiger guerrillas to launch attacks in the country’s east following an operation lasting several days, military officials said Friday. The elite Special Task Force commandos took the eighth base in the district of Ampara early Friday after a […]
‘s human rights: report
NEW DELHI, Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – War-torn Sri Lanka and politically unstable Bangladesh suffered worsening human rights violations in 2006 while other parts of the subcontinent saw scant progress, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.In its annual report, the New York-based watchdog said Bangladesh’s “already poor human rights record worsened, as security forces continued to […]
Sri Lanka counts on US$1.5 bn aid from foreign donors this year
January 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka hopes to secure over a billion dollars in aid pledges when foreign donors meet later this month to discuss the island’s economic health, and attempts to resolve the ethnic conflict, a senior official said Friday. The Indian Ocean Island secured 1.1 billion dollars in foreign aid last year, […]
Sri Lanka to use local messaging system for government debt deals
January 11, 2007 (LBO) – Primary dealers have welcomed a Central Bank decision to use a locally developed messaging system to transact small deals in the government debt market which will cut costs and make it cheaper to service small clients.Primary dealers would be allowed to use local messaging through the wide area network connecting […]
Sri Lanka tourism slumps in Dec, authorities pin hopes on India and Middle East
Jan 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s leisure industry closed 2006 a neck ahead of the previous year, but the troubled island saw a sharp downturn December, as internal strife intensified and travel advisories kept visitors away. Sri Lanka lured 559,603 visitors last year, a slim 1.9 percent jump over 2005, but fell far short […]
”s latest draw card for foreign travellers
January 11, 2007 (LBO) – Scouting treetops for purple-faced leaf monkeys or on the trail of the shy loris at nightfall, Sri Lanka’s rich primate life could become a draw card for foreign travellers with a taste for the wild. The tiny island off the tip of India is home to at least five species […]
Oil prices slide under 53 dollars
LONDON, Jan 11, 2007 (AFP) – World oil prices sank below 53 dollars per barrel on Thursday to mid-2005 low points on healthy US energy stockpiles and warm weather in the northern hemisphere. The latest sharp falls have sparked speculation that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries could soon hold an emergency production meeting. London’s […]
Brainstorming
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Jan 10, 2007 (AFP) – Porn makers at the world’s largest sex trade show in Las Vegas on Wednesday were taking a page from Internet superstars such as YouTube by tapping into the power of social networking. Fresh young start-ups at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo weren’t just saucy women in scanty […]