Category: Other
Sri Lanka dairy farmers get US lift
Jan 20, 2010 (LBO) – Dairy farmers in eastern Sri Lanka will get technical help to improve milk production and also be linked to agri-business firms, in a program supported by the United States. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a deal with Manmunai West Livestock Breeders Cooperative Society to increase the […]
Giant, leaping Asian carp threaten US Great Lakes
CHICAGO, January 20, 2010 (AFP) – Huge Asian carp, which act like “aquatic vacuum cleaners” and leap into the air when spooked by motorboats, may have invaded the US Great Lakes despite a massive effort to block them, officials said Tuesday. Researchers analyzing water samples have discovered fragments of Asian carp DNA in Lake Michigan, […]
Sri Lanka farmers to learn to live with wild elephants
Jan 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rural farmers living close to forested areas with wild elephants will be taught to manage human animal conflicts through a new model dairy pilot project, its promoters said. Exetel, an Australian IT firm that runs a call centre in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society […]
Disaster Relief
LEOGANE, January 16, 2010 (AFP) – A first shipment of UN food aid arrived on Saturday in the ruined Haitian town of Leogane, where street after street of homes and businesses was torn apart by this week’s devastating earthquake. Just 17 kilometres (10 miles) west of the capital Port-au-Prince, Leogane was close to the epicentre […]
Scenes of horror, devastation in Port-au-Prince
PORT-AU-PRINCE, January 13, 2010 (AFP) – In just one terrifying minute the earth convulsed Tuesday in Haiti, flattening buildings and casually tossing chunks of twisted metal and concrete into the air. Thousands fled sobbing in terror and panic onto the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince, seeking to escape the fury of the 7.0 earthquake. But […]
‘s Bharti acquires control of Bangladesh telecom firm
MUMBAI, January 12, 2010 (AFP) – India’s biggest mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced it will acquire a 70 percent stake in Bangladesh-based Warid Telecom, signalling the company’s strong global ambitions. The move into Bangladesh by Bharti comes after its plan to ally with South Africa’s MTN to create an emerging market telecom […]
Bailed Out
COLOMBO, January 11, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s court of appeal on Monday freed on bail a Tamil editor whose 20-year prison sentence last year for supporting “terrorism” drew international criticism, a court official said. Official figures show nine journalists have been killed and another 27 assaulted in the past three years in Sri Lanka […]
Europe freeze strands travellers, cuts power
BERLIN, January 10, 2010 (AFP) – The Arctic freeze gripping Europe left hundreds of people stuck in vehicles in deep snow or stranded at airports with scores of flights cancelled and power cuts to thousands of homes on Sunday. The treacherous conditions cut off villages in northern Germany and on the Baltic islands, and disrupted […]
Higher Education
Jan 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan university education despite being available only to the brightest students ranks well below its peers in Asia although academics vow to improve syllabi and facilities to climb the rankings. Academics said the universities have to pay to get the rankings done by various independent organizations. The best known […]
Free
January 9, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Saturday released more than 700 former Tamil Tiger fighters from military custody following a rehabilitation program, an official said. The Tamil Tigers, who fought for a separate homeland from 1972, were defeated by Sri Lankan troops in mid-May when the military killed the top guerrilla leader Velupillai […]
Violated
Jan 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s former chief justice Sarath Silva, a controversial figure who locked horns with the executive in the last stages of his term says the island’s constitution has been hit by a “litany of violations.” In an interview with Namini Wijedasa of Labmimanews newspaper he speaks on the 17th amendment […]
Pressure Point
January 8, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was under new pressure Friday to submit to a war crimes investigation after the United Nations authenticated a video allegedly showing prisoners being executed by troops last year. The government in Colombo has faced repeated calls for a probe from Western countries and rights groups ever since it […]