Sri Lanka moves to avoid criticism over rights abuses

Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Friday it was ready to accept foreign scrutiny of its human rights record in a bid to head off formal United Nations criticism over a spate of killings and disappearances.At the same time the war-torn island’s government, locked in a decades-old war with Tamil Tiger separatists, also […]

Sri Lanka says Tiger flotilla suffers severe losses

Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military Thursday said it caused “severe losses” in a combined sea and air attack against suspected Tamil Tiger boats off the island’s northeastern waters, but gave no details of casualties.More than 5,400 people have been killed in fighting in the past 21 months following the breakdown of a […]

More Lube

Sept 14, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka has given approval for three more companies to sell lubricants in the island, raising to nine the number of companies in the market which is dominated by the US brand Caltex. Sri Lanka’s annual lube market is around 45,000 kilolitres. The new companies to enter the fray […]

Sri Lanka statistician propounds new theory; takes on central bankers

Sept 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top statisticians put forward a new theory on exchange rates and took on the central bank governor and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke in a bid to explain rising inflation with long discredited failed ideas. . Hidden Theory Questioned by journalists about the falling Sri Lanka rupee, especially at […]

Sri Lanka dollar bond transparency queried

Sept 13, 2007 (LBO) – An international anti-corruption body has raised questions over a controversial sovereign bond issue by Sri Lanka as well as the role of the country’s central bank in it and has called for more transparency in the deal.Transparency International, releasing a discussion paper on the issue, also slammed the main opposition […]

Indonesia issues another tsunami alert

JAKARTA, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) – Indonesia on Thursday issued a third tsunami warning in the past 24 hours, as a strong aftershock of a 7.7 magnitude rattled Sumatra island, the meteorology office said.The quake hit at 6:49 am (2349 GMT Wednesday), about 140 kilometres (87 miles) southwest of the town of Jambi, in the […]

‘s winter Sri Lanka tour could begin early

COLOMBO, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) – The first of England’s two winter tours to Sri Lanka will start earlier than planned if they fail to reach the World Twenty20 semi-finals, a senior Sri Lanka Cricket official said Thursday.“They have asked if we have any objections to their coming early. We have said no objections,” the […]

Sri Lankan police want pet dogs to fight terror

Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police on Thursday launched an appeal for the public to donate their pet dogs to help the fight terrorism and crime on the war-torn island.“Make your pet a hero… to curb terrorism and make our motherland Sri Lanka a country with a new facelift,” the police department said […]

Sri Lanka jets bomb Tiger territory

Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Thursday it had bombed the rebel-held north of the island and caused “heavy damage” to Tamil Tiger targets, but rebels said the attack only sparked panic among civilians.More than 5,400 people have been killed in the fighting in the past 21 months following the breakdown of […]

Sri Lanka gets USAF help to mop up rotten teeth in newly captured areas

Sept 13, 2007 (LBO) – A team of U.S. Air Force medics has helped treat patients in territory recently captured from Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka’s east, the United States embassy in Colombo Thursday. “A nine-person team of USAF medics recently completed a medical/dental humanitarian assistance mission that benefited civilians living in the recently-liberated eastern […]

Sri Lanka calls for Red Cross escorts for food ships to Jaffna

Sept 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process has urged the international Red Cross to resume escorting vessels taking supplies and passengers to the northern Jaffna peninsula by sea. It said in a statement that it was keen to reduce restrictions on movement between the north and south and to […]

Sri Lanka issues tsunami alert; no warning

Sept 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has issued a tsunami alert following an aftershock of a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale in Indonesia at 05.19 am local time and asked people to await further instructions. Following are the message definitions used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States […]

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