Tag: news
US to increase non-immigrant visa fees
May 24, 2010 (LBO) – Application fees for US non-immigrant visas will increase on June 4, 2010, the US embassy in Colombo said in a statement. Application fees for the business (B1), tourist (B2), student (F), and exchange visitor (J) visas, those most often applied for by travelers, will have a “modest increase” to 140 […]
Rights group offers new evidence of Sri Lanka war crimes
May 21, 2010 (AFP) – A global human rights monitor said Friday it had fresh evidence of possible war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final phase of the government’s war against Tamil Tiger rebels. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had examined over 200 photos taken on the front lines […]
Inmates on hunger strike in Japan immigration centre
TOKYO, May 20, 2010 (AFP) – Scores of foreigners in a Japanese immigration detention centre have been on hunger strike for more than a week, demanding to be released and protesting the mysterious death of an African deportee. Some 70 detainees — many of them Sri Lankans and Pakistanis — have refused food since May […]
Sri Lanka failed to build on war victory: former general
May 20, 2010 (AFP) – The detained Sri Lankan general who led soldiers to victory over Tamil Tiger rebels one year ago accused the government Thursday of failing to convert his success into a new era of peace. Sarath Fonseka, a key architect of the strategy that finally defeated the Tigers after decades of bloody […]
Oil Sales
May 20, 2010 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, the Sri Lanka unit of Indian Oil Corporation said it lost 422 million rupees in the year to March 2010 down from 1,237 million a year earlier and had boosted bunkering sales to 15 percent of its total revenues. Lubricant sales had risen to 5. 6 million litres […]
Sri Lanka slammed over civilian deaths, one year after war end
May 17, 2010 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government killed thousands of its civilians by shelling “no-fire zones” in the last months of the country’s decades-long civil war that ended a year ago, an independent group said Monday. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group urged the United Nations and Sri Lanka’s aid donors to press for […]
Fiery World
NEW ORLEANS, May 16, 2010 (AFP) – US officials have told BP to clarify what costs it will pay for cleanup of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, with crews employing new tactics Saturday to stem the leak as globs of oil wash ashore in new sites. The latest effort by British Petroleum to […]
Offshore Opportunity
May 14, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas group and Colombo Dockyard have teamed up with Singapore’s Toll Offshore Petroleum Services to bid for Cairn India’s contract for offshore oil field support services, officials said. “Hemas Holdings, Colombo Dockyard and Toll Offshore Petroleum Services have jointly placed a bid for the offshore supply base for […]
‘s ex-army chief in court on new charge
May 12, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka was for the first time hauled before a civilian court Wednesday and accused of inciting violence. Fonseka, who is in military custody and faces separate court martial charges of dabbling in politics while in uniform and corrupt procurements, was brought […]
Sri Lanka calls on West to crack down on Tiger funding
May 7, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Friday urged Western nations to crack down on Tamils using their soil to revive the Tamil Tiger separatist movement that was crushed last year. Premier D. M. Jayaratne said some of the 1.5 million ethnic Tamils living abroad were planning to form a movement to […]
Last Laugh
May 07, 2010 (LBO) – Laugfs Group, the sole rival of the Sri Lankan unit of Royal Dutch Shell, is keen to buy the multinational’s operations in the island, Laugfs chairman W K H Wegapitiya said. Shell Gas Lanka is the dominant supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Sri Lanka with Laugfs having a […]
Sri Lanka ex-army chief vows to expose war crimes
May 6, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief Thursday vowed to “expose” any war crimes committed during the end of the country’s civil war last year and said he would go “out of his way” to assist with a probe. General Sarath Fonseka, who fell out with President Mahinda Rajapakse and quit after successfully […]