Category: Other
Tragedy
COLOMBO, February 2, 2014 (AFP) – Former Agence France-Presse journalist Mel Gunasekera was stabbed to death on Sunday after a break-in at her family’s home in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, police said.The body of Gunasekera, who had been working for the international ratings agency Fitch, was discovered by her parents at their house in […]
Arrest
Feb 02, 2014 (LBO) – A suspect had been arrested over the murder of Mel Gunasekera, a senior financial journalist in Sri Lanka who was current working at Fitch, an international ratings agency.Before joining Fitch Ratings, Gunasekera was at the French News Agency AFP. She was the founder editor of Lanka Business Online and was […]
Tata Nano, other Indian small cars fail crash tests: safety body
NEW DELHI, January 31, 2014 (AFP) – The Tata Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car, and a host of other top-selling small models from India have failed their first independent crash tests, a global safety group said Friday. The five entry-level vehicles — including the country’s best-selling small car the Suzuki-Maruti Alto 800, as […]
Incident
Jan 29, 2014 (LBO) – Harsha de Silva, an opposition legislator and economist said a person who had accused him of assault had withdrawn a complaint made to the police. The person had alleged that de Silva had hit him on the head after an exchange of words when clearing a bare land near his […]
Lawlessness
COLOMBO, January 28, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Buddhist hierarchy and other religious leaders accused police Tuesday of failing to prosecute those behind a recent wave of attacks on Christians and Muslims.A multi-religious group led by Buddhist monks said the country had failed to grasp the threat posed by hate speech and attacks because local […]
IMF rep, UN staff among 14 killed in Kabul restaurant attack
KABUL, January 18, 2014 (AFP) – Taliban suicide attackers killed at least 14 people, including the IMF representative in Afghanistan and three UN staff, in a terrifying gun and bomb attack on a Kabul restaurant popular with foreigners.One attacker blew himself up outside the Taverna du Liban in the upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood Friday […]
‘s Sonia Gandhi stalls son Rahul PM candidacy push
NEW DELHI, January 17, 2014 (AFP) – India’s ruling party was putting on a united front Friday at a mass rally after its leader Sonia Gandhi stalled a push to name her son Rahul as prime ministerial candidate at looming elections.Thousands of Congress party members have gathered in the capital New Delhi for a conclave […]
Modern cigarettes more dangerous than ever: US health report
WASHINGTON, January 17, 2014 (AFP) – Smoking cigarettes can cause even more health problems than lung cancer, including blindness, diabetes, erectile dysfunction and liver cancer, said a major US government report on Friday.The latest Surgeon General’s findings on the health consequences of smoking were to be formally announced at the White House, in a ceremony […]
Double Trouble
BOBIGNY, January 14, 2014 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan man wanted on an international arrest warrant for terrorism, was discovered in France by accident, after he walked into a police station to complain about poor working conditions.Jeyanthan Tharmalingam, 35, went last Thursday to give a statement in a case about illegal employment in which he […]
US Call
COLOMBO, January 12, 2014 (AFP) – The United States called Sunday for Sri Lanka to investigate rights abuses by security forces after a top envoy completed a fact-finding mission to the island, the US embassy in Colombo said.US State Department war crimes investigator Stephen Rapp “listened to eyewitness accounts about serious human rights abuses” during […]
Scapgoat
WASHINGTON, January 9, 2014 (AFP) – An American jailed for nine months in the United Arab Emirates for making a spoof YouTube video mocking Dubai teenagers returned home Thursday, comparing the experience to being in a “cage.” Being back on American soil “feels great,” Shezanne Cassim, 29, told an impromptu press conference just a few […]
Sri Lankan found dead on Maldives resort
MALÉ, December 30, 2013 (AFP) – A dead body has washed up at an exclusive island resort in the Maldives where English football star David Beckham is taking a hideaway Christmas holiday with his family, police said Monday.Investigations were underway to establish the cause of death of the man, whose body was found floating near […]