Category: Politics
Deflation worries stalk India economy as growth slows
NEW DELHI, March 11, 2009 (AFP) – It was less than a year ago that Indians watched inflation shoot to dizzying 13-year highs but now they are worried about deflation as growth slackens in Asia’s third-largest economy. Deflation — in which falling prices prompt consumers to delay buying, deepening a downturn — has become a […]
Sri Lanka Tigers accused of misusing UN food aid
March 11, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations on Wednesday accused the Tamil Tigers of siphoning off food meant for severely malnourished children in Sri Lanka’s embattled north.The defence ministry says troops are on the verge of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who have been fighting for a separate homeland since 1972. […]
Ten killed in Sri Lanka blast: policee
March 10, 2009 (AFP)- At least 10 people were killed Tuesday and another 25, including two ministers, were wounded in a suicide bomb attack in southern Sri Lanka, a local police official said. Telecommunications minister Mahinda Wijesekara and Cultural Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena were wounded, the official said.He said Wijesekera was in intensive care at […]
Fifteen dead, minister hurt in Sri Lanka suicide attack
March 10, 2009 (AFP) – At least 15 people were killed Tuesday and another 60, including a government minister, were wounded in a suicide bombing in southern Sri Lanka blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said. The attacker targeted politicians attending a function at a mosque in the town of Akuressa, and came as the […]
Sri Lanka govt vows to crush Tigers after suicide bombing
March 10, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government on Tuesday vowed to finish off the Tamil Tiger guerrilla rebels who were blamed for a suicide bomb that killed 15 people and badly injured a senior politician. There has been no reaction from the guerrillas, who have launched scores of similar suicide bombings in the past.Tuesday’s […]
Sri Lanka Tigers hit food ship; 150 dead in weekend fighting: military
March 9, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan military said Monday its troops have killed at least 150 Tamil Tigers in a weekend of fierce fighting inside the rebels’ shrinking fiefdom in the northeast of the island. Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the Tigers, boxed into an area of less than 50 square kilometres (19 […]
Sri Lanka fighting kills over 100 Tigers: govt
March 8, 2009 (AFP) – More than 100 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in two days of fighting in Sri Lanka as they tried to break a military stranglehold, the defence ministry said Sunday.They died when the army beat back a series of counter-attacks by the Tiger rebels against advancing government forces in the […]
Media rights group presses Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2009 (AFP) – A rights group on Friday urged Sri Lanka to thoroughly investigate recent attacks against the media, saying it was disappointed with the government’s stance.Board members of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met in Washington on Thursday with the Sri Lankan ambassador, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, to lodge their […]
Sri Lanka fighting kills 32 Tigers: ministry
March 7, 2009 (AFP) – At least 32 Tamil Tigers were killed in heavy fighting in Sri Lanka’s embattled northeast, where government troops have cornered the rebels, the defence ministry said Saturday. “The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) end game is reaching its final phase,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that dozens […]
” govts: Canada
OTTAWA, March 5, 2009 (AFP) – The 37-year conflict raging in Sri Lanka was borne out of “repressive” governments in Colombo, Canadian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said Thursday.“I am sure all Canadians share the government’s revulsion at the continuing humanitarian catastrophe in Sri Lanka, a civil conflict born of a succession of repressive […]
Red Cross worker killed in Sri Lanka war zone
March 5, 2009 (AFP) – A local Red Cross employee was killed in Sri Lanka’s war zone, where troops have cornered Tamil Tiger rebels, an official said on Thursday. “One of our male workers was killed on Wednesday afternoon by shrapnel,” of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said. Wijeratne […]
Sri Lanka offers new safe exit for trapped civilians
March 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Thursday offered a new safe passage for thousands of civilians trapped in the island’s war zone as fresh fighting erupted, leaving at least 33 rebels dead, the defence ministry said.A pitched battle raged in the village of Chalai on Thursday, a day after a local Red Cross employee […]