Category: Other

COLOMBO, February 25, 2014 (AFP) – Forensic experts have found more bodies in an unmarked mass grave in Sri Lanka’s northern former war zone, taking the total number to 80, an official said Tuesday.Judicial medical officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne said excavations resumed on Monday after a short break at the grave site discovered by construction workers […]

Feb 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition has charged that a multi-billion dollar sea reclamation deal has been given to a Chinese company blacklisted by the World Bank for corruption, threatening to cancel the deal if they come to power.Opposition legislator Harsha de Silva alleged that China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) which had […]

Feb 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Tobacco Company, a unit of British American Tobacco said it will sell packs without graphic labels until a court decision in May, despite parliament passing health ministry regulations this week.CTC said the court of appeal is expected to issue its judgment on May 12, and the Supreme […]

NEW DELHI, February 19, 2014 (AFP) – The chief minister of an Indian state Wednesday ordered the release of all seven people jailed for plotting the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, meaning they could walk free in three days.J. Jayalalithaa, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, announced the decision one day after the country’s […]

COLOMBO, February 19, 2014 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan delegation headed to South Africa Wednesday to study the work of a post-apartheid truth commission as pressure mounts on Colombo to address allegations of war crimes against ethnic Tamils.Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was leading a five-member team which would see what lessons it could […]

SYDNEY, February 17, 2014 (AFP) – One person was killed and 77 injured during a second night of rioting at an Australian immigration detention centre on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, officials said on Tuesday.“I am advised that all staff have been accounted for, our service providers are in control of the centre and there […]

NEW DELHI, February 18, 2014 (AFP) – India’s Supreme Court commuted the death sentences Tuesday for three killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, citing delays in the case 23 years after he was assassinated by a Tamil suicide bomber.The top court headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam handed the three life in prison on […]

COLOMBO, February 16, 2014 (AFP) – The United Nations’ human rights chief has recommended an international investigation into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final stages of its Tamil separatist conflict, a report said Sunday.The local Sunday Times newspaper in Sri Lanka said Navi Pillay has asked the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) […]

COLOMBO, February 12, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s police arrested 75 would-be asylum seekers on Wednesday, including nine women and six children, who were trying to leave for New Zealand illegally by boat, police said.The group was arrested in the southern coastal town of Moragolla, the first large-scale arrest of nationals in months after Australia, […]