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Sri Lankan student in coma after Australia acid attack
SYDNEY, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan student in Sydney had acid thrown in his face and was in an induced coma after a home invasion early Monday sparked by the conflict in his troubled homeland, police said.Police appealed for calm among the Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Australia’s largest city following the […]
‘s triumphant Congress prepares for government
NEW DELHI, May 17, 2009 (AFP) – India’s Congress Party began the task of forming a government Sunday after steering its ruling alliance to a second term in office with a resounding win over its Hindu nationalist rivals.Senior alliance leaders met to formulate strategy and to choose which parties it might approach about securing a […]
Sri Lanka troops move in to finish off Tamil Tigers: spokesman
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops were Sunday moving in on the final patch of jungle still held by Tamil Tigers and were set to capture “every inch of land” from the rebels, a military spokesman said.Government forces were pressing on with the blistering offensive despite the Tamil Tigers announcing they would “silence […]
‘s Tamil Tigers admit defeat
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers have given up their fight against a Sri Lankan government offensive and “have decided to silence our guns,” a statement carried by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said Sunday.“This battle has reached its bitter end,” said the admission of defeat from the rebels’ chief of international relations, Selvarasa […]
Sri Lanka troops kill 70 escaping Tigers: army
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Sunday killed at least 70 Tamil Tiger rebels trying to escape across a shallow lagoon using boats, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.The guerrillas tried to break out of the pocket of land where they have been holed up in the northeast of the island, Nanayakkara […]
Sri Lankan military says all trapped civilians rescued
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have rescued all civilians held by Tamil Tiger rebels, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said on Sunday.“More than 50,000 people have come out of that area in the past three days and with that we have rescued all the civilians held as a human shield by the […]
Defeated Tigers will not be allowed to regroup: Sri Lanka
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief vowed Sunday the Tamil Tigers would not be allowed to regroup and pledged that the rebels, once seen as one of the world’s deadliest guerrilla outfits, would soon be forgotten.The government said a massive offensive against the separatist Tigers was all but complete, with the entire […]
‘s fate a mystery as rebels routed
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Scouring a tiny beach and lagoon peninsula in Sri Lanka’s northeast are thousands of government troops, examining the faces of the dead, hunting for hidden bunkers under the jungle floor.They are looking for any sign of the leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who built up what […]
Congress set to return to power in India
NEW DELHI, May 16, 2009 (AFP) – India’s ruling Congress-led alliance was set to return to power after taking a clear and commanding lead Saturday in vote counting from the country’s marathon general elections.Congress spokeswoman Ambika Soni said party leaders and their allies would meet later in the day to discuss how they would go […]
‘s Bharti Airtel sees 100-million mobile subscribers
NEW DELHI, May 15, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone company Bharti Airtel announced Friday it had crossed the 100-million subscriber mark and expected to double that number within the next three years. The New Delhi-based company announced a 26 percent jump in net profit for last year to 84.69 billion rupees (1.68 billion […]
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May 16, 2009 (AFP) – The president of Sri Lanka declared Saturday that the island’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been “defeated militarily” after decades of bitter ethnic bloodshed.Defence officials said the massive offensive against the rebel army was all but complete, with the entire island under government control for the first time in years […]
”: state radio
May 16, 2009 (AFP) – The president of Sri Lanka declared Saturday that the island’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been “crushed,” state radio reported.President Mahinda Rajapakse, speaking to a G11 group of developing nations summit in Jordan, said he would return home on Sunday as “a leader of a nation that crushed terrorism,” the […]