Category: Other
UN says two staff members arrested in Sri Lanka
June 20, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations said on Sunday that two of its employees working among tens of thousands of war-displaced civilians had been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities.The two men, both ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils, were reported missing eight days ago and were subsequently discovered to have been taken into custody by […]
India asks US, China to restart stalled Doha round
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2009 (AFP) – India on Thursday called on the United States, China and other powers to return to talks immediately to frame a world trade accord instead of waiting for recovery from the global economic crisis.“We live in times when the people are anxious.This economic challenge cannot be resolved by waiting and […]
Michelin to invest 1.0 billion euros in India: report
NEW DELHI, June 18, 2009 (AFP) – French tyre giant Michelin, which has announced plans to shed nearly 1,100 jobs in France, may invest more than one billion euros (1.39 billion dollars) over 10 years in a factory in India, an Indian newspaper reported Thursday.The group declined to confirm the amount but recalled that it […]
Sri Lankan tea production falters in May
June 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production in May dropped 22.7 percent to 25.54 million kilos from a year ago owing to the effects of drought, a Tea Board official said. Tea production in the year to May was down 26.9 percent to 105.5 million kilos but a recovery is expected in the […]
Doomed mammoths hung on for several millennia: study
PARIS, June 17, 2009 (AFP) – Woolly mammoths survived in Britain until 14,000 years ago, around 6,000 years longer than previously thought, according to a study released Thursday.The study should settle a raging debate over the extinction of mammoths in Europe, unleashed when fossils from an adult male and four youngsters were found in the […]
Pakistan arrests Sri Lanka cricket attack suspect: police
LAHORE, June 17, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistani police said Wednesday they had arrested one of seven men from a shadowy Taliban-linked group accused of plotting the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.Six policemen and two civilians were killed and seven Sri Lankan squad members were injured when militants launched a gun […]
India enters deflation as economy slows
NEW DELHI, June 18, 2009 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation rate slipped into negative territory, official data showed Thursday, with the country’s slowing economy cutting into demand.Inflation stood at minus 1.61 percent for the week ended June 6, down from 0.13 percent the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index, India’s most watched cost-of-living […]
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June 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top rights panel said Thursday it has concluded investigations into the murder of 17 local employees of a French charity and six other high profile cases from the island’s civil war.The head of the probe, however, refused to say who had been found responsible for the 2006 massacre […]
Business leaders out to put India on US map
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2009 (AFP) – US and Indian business leaders meet Wednesday in a bid to put a new focus on the South Asian power, whose warming US ties have ironically kept it off the new administration’s first priorities.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to deliver an address charting out the administration’s path […]
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MUMBAI, June 16, 2009 (AFP) – A Bollywood director said Tuesday he wants to make a film based on alleged racist attacks on Indian students in Australia, despite an unofficial boycott of the country by his movie colleagues. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan rejected an honorary degree from Brisbane University, telling the authorities that it would be […]
Major Tamil Tiger arms cache found in Sri Lanka: govt
June 14, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have unearthed the largest haul of weapons and ammunition discovered since the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels last month, the government said on Sunday. Military officials said the discoveries made over the weekend formed the largest haul since the government’s recent victory over the Tiger rebels ended […]
British court jails Tamil leader for helping Tigers
LONDON, June 12, 2009 (AFP) – A British Tamil leader convicted of supplying bomb-making equipment to Tamil Tiger rebels was jailed for two years by a court in London Friday, but the judge described him as a “thoroughly decent man.” “He is not merely a man of good character, he has done a great deal […]