Category: Politics
Asian states pledge to tackle people smuggling
NUSA DUA, March 30, 2011 (AFP) – Asian countries pledged Wednesday to take a collective approach to people smuggling and asylum seekers including a possible regional processing centre, after talks in Indonesia. Ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region signed a non-binding framework agreement to tackle smuggling networks and humanely process the large numbers of irregular […]
Maldives reject World Cup terror plot theory
March 30, 2011 (AFP) – A Maldivian man arrested with the help of Interpol and initially linked to an alleged terror plot against the ongoing cricket World Cup has been cleared, an official said Wednesday. Iqbal Mohamed, 42, was arrested on March 10 at the Male International airport after arriving from Pakistan and was later […]
Maldives releases cricket WCup terror suspect
March 27, 2011 (AFP) – Maldives police said Sunday they had released a man suspected of plotting an attack on the cricket World Cup taking place in South Asia. Maldivian national Iqbal Mohamed, 42, was arrested on March 10 as he arrived at Male International airport from Pakistan following a tip-off from the international police […]
Australia to scale down riot-hit immigration camp
SYDNEY, March 21, 2011 (AFP) – Australia said Monday it would reduce the number of asylum seekers at an overcrowded detention centre on Christmas Island but would not abandon the camp which has endured days of riots and escapes. But Bowen said whatever their frustrations, violence was unacceptable. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the government […]
Sri Lankans vote for rebuilding: president
March 19, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president said Saturday his party’s landslide victory in local elections was an endorsement of the government’s focus on rebuilding rural areas after decades of civil war. Results showed that Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance swept 205 of the 234 councils that went to the polls Thursday, the first […]
Sri Lankans vote for rural rebuilding: president
March 19, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president said Saturday his party’s landslide victory in local elections was an endorsement of the government’s focus on rebuilding rural areas after decades of civil war. The Tamil National Alliance, a party of minority Tamils, won 12 councils after fielding candidates in the island’s former war zones. The […]
Sri Lanka local polls swept by ruling party
Mar 18, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ruling United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance of president Mahinda Rajapaksa has comfortably swept local government elections winning most of the 200 plus local bodies in which results were declared. The elections was marred by at least one death following clashes between supporters of the ruling coalition and voter turnout […]
Australian PM defends boat people riot response
SYDNEY, March 16, 2011 (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday defended the police reaction to riots at the remote Christmas Island detention centre after “bean-bag bullets” and tear gas was used. The facility, which houses some 2,539 boat people, has been hit by a series of disturbances this week involving hundreds of […]
Sri Lankans to apply for Indian visas online
Mar 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankans travelling to India will be required to apply for visas online from March 25, the Indian High Commission said in a statement. “Henceforth, applicants will be required to apply online at www.indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa,” it said. Applicant will be required to download the filled-in application, sign and submit it with […]
Sri Lanka cricket surveillance nets terror bomb suspect
Mar 16, 2011 (LBO) – A Maldivian wanted for a 2007 terror bombing in Male was arrested there after his transit through Sri Lanka was detected by an INTERPOL team deployed for Cricket World Cup security support. INTERPOL said in a statement the Maldives national Iqbal Mohamed was arrested less than six hours after his […]
Fresh riot by asylum seekers on Australian island
SYDNEY, March 15, 2011 (AFP) – Australia’s remote Christmas Island detention centre was hit by a second night of riots on Tuesday, with up to 200 asylum seekers destroying closed-circuit television cameras. It followed a “significant and serious incident” on Monday when police used tear gas to quell a protest of 300 detainees. “We saw […]
Australian police use tear gas on asylum seekers
SYDNEY, March 14, 2011 (AFP) – Australian police used tear gas to quell a protest of 300 asylum seekers on remote Christmas Island on Monday, as the government warned of a tense mood within the under-pressure detention centre. More than 6,500 refugees — mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka — arrived in Australia last […]