Category:
Emergency heart surgery for Sri Lanka rebel spokesman
July 12, 2006 (AFP) – A Tamil Tiger rebel spokesman suffered a heart attack and was being rushed to a hospital in the Sri Lankan capital Wednesday for urgent treatment, a government minister told AFP.Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, was being brought to Colombo from the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi to undergo […]
Sri Lanka seeks unity to fight terrorism after Mumbai attacks
COLOMBO, July 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse urged the international community Wednesday to unite and fight terrorism following a series of bomb blasts in neighbouring India that killed more than 180 people. “Yesterday’s bomb attacks in India draw attention to the need for cooperation among all countries on the need to […]
Sri Lanka boosts Colombo security with 1,000 troops
COLOMBO, July 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Wednesday announced it is forming a special unit of 1,000 men to bolster already tight security arrangements in the main city of Colombo amid fears of Tamil Tiger suicide bombings. Defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said the army had begun enlisting 1,000 soldiers for the special Colombo […]
Asian civilians increasingly at risk from bombings: analysts
SINGAPORE, July 12, 2006 (AFP) – From Bali to Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Mumbai, Asian civilians are increasingly at risk of dying in bombings by militants, analysts said Wednesday. “Actually there has been a very significant shift in the terrorist strategy,” said Kusnanto Anggoro, researcher at Jakarta’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies.“They are […]
Winning Words
July 11 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s Editors Guild will honour print journalists Tuesday evening at its annual awards ceremony for journalistic excellence in 2005. Krishni Ifham Virakesari D B Dhanapala Best Journalist of the Year Tamil Sonali Samarasingha The Sunday Leader Mervyn de Silva Journalist of the Year Special Awards for the best students of […]
IMF proposes emergency liquidity cushion
SINGAPORE, July 11, 2006 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is proposing an emergency liquidity cushion to help Asian and other emerging economies deal with any financial crises. Takatoshi Kato, the IMF’s deputy managing director, told a seminar in Singapore on Monday that despite the buoyant global economy, precautions must be taken against future […]
Choices: Kiri or kekiri?
July 11, 2006 (LBO) – Do infrastructure reforms increase disparities between the wealthy areas around Colombo and the rest of the country? Do they yield kiri for Colombo and kekiri for others? The Central Bank’s Consumer Finance Survey which gives us a snapshot of the household distribution of infrastructure services at the provincial level in […]
Sri Lanka offers cash, devolution to end ethnic bloodshed
COLOMBO, July 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Tuesday offered 1.25 billion dollars to rebuild embattled regions and asked his advisors to come up with a power-sharing plan to end decades of ethnic bloodshed. President Mahinda Rajapakse told a 15-member multi-ethnic panel appointed by him last week to come up with a formula that […]
Blast near Tiger cemetery kills Sri Lanka soldier
July 11, 2006 (AFP) – A government soldier was killed Tuesday in a powerful bomb explosion near a Tamil Tiger war cemetery in Sri Lanka’s northern peninsula of Jaffna, officials said.The soldier, on a routine patrol, was killed as the blast ripped through the area at Kodikamam, a military official in the area said when […]
Fuelling Wars
July 11 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s energy minister wants nine billion rupees from the Treasury to settle Ceylon Petroleum Corp’s subsidy bill, as the Treasury tries to free up pricing. We will not raise prices, but we have asked the Treasury for nine billion rupees from January to date to settle CPC’s subsidy bill, or […]
Zimbabwe’s churches say they may have answer to economic woes
HARARE, July 9, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s churches are rallying to provide what they call a “comprehensive document” they believe could help lift the embattled southern African country from its political and economical muddle.The plan drawn up by the influential Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) comes in the wake of a recent call by President […]
‘s churches say they may have answer to economic woes
HARARE, July 9, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s churches are rallying to provide what they call a “comprehensive document” they believe could help lift the embattled southern African country from its political and economical muddle.The plan drawn up by the influential Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) comes in the wake of a recent call by President […]