Category: Other
Sri Lanka elephants migrate from Canada to US
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2014 (AFP) – Three female Asian elephants took up residence at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington on Friday after a 2,500-mile (4,000-kilometer) road trip from western Canada.Now in quarantine for 30 days as they adapt to their new surroundings, the immigrant pachyderms can be seen on the National Zoo’s “elephant cam” […]
Legal Battle
May 22 (AFP) A British tourist thrown out of Sri Lanka for sporting a Buddha tattoo is suing local authorities for $78,000 over her ordeal, which allegedly included sexual harassment, her lawyer said Thursday. Naomi Coleman filed the action in the Supreme Court in Colombo on Wednesday seeking 10 million rupees ($78,000) in compensation from […]
Teenager test case in Maldives death penalty revival
MALÉ, May 22, 2014 (AFP) – A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder over a fatal stabbing in the Maldives, becoming the first minor to be accused of a capital offence since the death penalty was reintroduced, officials said.The unnamed teenager is accused of stabbing a 21-year-old man to death in December in a […]
Corrupt Watchdogs
KATHMANDU, May 21, 2014 (AFP) – South Asia’s corruption-fighting agencies lack the power and independence to properly investigate politicians and officials for graft entrenched in the region, a watchdog said Wednesday.A report released by Berlin-based Transparency International said many agencies need their government’s consent to investigate suspected graft cases, while others face massive political interference […]
” resignation offers
NEW DELHI, May 19, 2014 (AFP) – India’s Sonia and Rahul Gandhi offered to resign Monday after leading the once-dominant Congress party to its worst-ever election defeat last week, only for colleagues to insist the dynasty stay in place.Congress won just 44 seats in the parliamentary election for 543 seats as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya […]
‘s Modi quick on Twitter diplomacy, no mention of US
NEW DELHI, May 19, 2014 (AFP) – India’s prime minister-elect Narendra Modi has taken to Twitter to thank fellow leaders in Japan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Australia for their support, but one man still waiting for a reply is US Secretary of State John Kerry.While Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper has had two mentions […]
‘s new right-wing govt
NEW DELHI, May 18, 2014 (AFP) – Prime minister-elect Narendra Modi summoned senior figures from his Hindu nationalist party on Sunday for talks on forming a new government that is set to steer India sharply to the right. Top BJP leaders were also meeting in Delhi with the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu […]
Accounting Row
May 19, 2014 (LBO) – A legislator has renewed a call to publish audited accounts of Sri Lanka’s Employees Provident Fund and table them in the parliament amid concerns over the purchase of some fundamentally weak shares at high prices during a stock market bubble.Sri Lanka’s EPF, which represents pension contributions of private sector employees […]
‘s Modi prays by Ganges on symbolic victory lap
VARANASI , May 17, 2014 (AFP) – Indian prime minister-elect Narendra Modi offered prayers by the river Ganges Saturday in a religious ceremony beamed live on television that underlined his Hindu nationalist roots a day after his stunning electoral triumph. The 63-year-old leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept through the capital earlier Saturday, […]
” dinosaur found in Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, May 17, 2014 (AFP) – Paleontologists in Argentina’s remote Patagonia region have discovered fossils of what may be the largest dinosaur ever, amid a vast cache of fossils that could shed light on prehistoric life.Finding so many individual dinosaurs at one site could confirm the hypothesis that these herbivores lived in herds, as […]
India PM-elect Modi to make triumphant Delhi entrance
NEW DELHI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – India’s prime minister-elect Narendra Modi was to make a triumphant entrance to New Delhi Saturday after leading his Hindu nationalist party to an historic landslide victory in the world’s largest election. The former tea-boy, whose humble background is a world away from that of the prevailing Delhi elite, […]
‘s Modi: abrasive Hindu nationalist set to be PM
NEW DELHI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – To admirers he is a Thatcherite reformer set to jolt India from the economic doldrums, while his opponents liken him to Putin or even Hitler. Indian election frontrunner Narendra Modi divides opinion like few other politicians. The rise of one of India’s most polarising public figures even split […]