Tag: news

VATICAN CITY, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented the “grim sound of arms” in the world’s conflict zones, from Sudan to Sri Lanka and especially the volatile Middle East, in his Christmas message.“On this day of peace, my thoughts turn especially to those places where the grim sound of arms […]

Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement said it was “appalled” by an attempt to define journalists as people who hold a card issued by the Sri Lanka government, after an international rights body named Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous place for media workers in the world. “The Free Media […]

Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – Torrential rains have driven more than 175,000 people from their homes in Sri Lanka, authorities said on Monday.Heavy monsoon rains over the weekend made some roads impassable while nearly 2,300 houses had been damaged, the national disaster management centre said. Worst hit was the eastern district of Batticaloa where close […]

Dec 22, 2007 (AFP) – Government forces captured a key defence line of Tamil Tiger guerrillas in northern Sri Lanka Saturday in fighting that killed six rebels and one soldier, the defence ministry said.Norwegian-brokered 2002 truce began to unravel in December 2005. Security forces smashed five bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) […]

Dec 21, 2007 (AFP) – Clashes across frontlines in northern Sri Lanka have left at least 12 Tamil Tiger rebels dead, the defence ministry said Friday.Artillery duels took place on the Jaffna peninsula, and in Weli Oya, Vavuniya and Mannar, the military said, placing their own losses at two soldiers injured and one missing during […]

Dec 20, 2007 (LBO) – One of the best ways to combat poverty and inequality in Sri Lanka is to complete the all party process and the government has been given that opportunity with the passing of the budget, the United States envoy in Colombo said. Completing All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) will also lay […]

Dec 19, 2007 (AFP) – A trackside blast hit a passenger train in northeastern Sri Lanka Tuesday, but there were no casualties, police said.The incident occurred at Kantalai in the port district of Trincomalee, a police official in the area said by telephone. “There was some sort of an explosion by the side of the […]

Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Monday summoned the head of UNICEF operations here and expressed Colombo’s “concern” over his visit to rebel-held territory in the island’s north, the foreign ministry said.The government insists it is working on a political package aimed at addressing the demands of ethnic Tamils, but at the same time […]

NEW YORK, Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – Sixty-four journalists were killed on assignment in 2007, making it the deadliest year for reporters since 1994, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report published Tuesday. One of the most widely reported media deaths of 2007 was that of Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai, filmed […]

COLOMBO, Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – The International Red Cross Monday said one of its workers had been abducted and murdered by unidentified gunmen in Sri Lanka’s tense government-controlled northern Jaffna peninsula.Sooriyakanthy Thavarajah, 40, a volunteer with the Jaffna branch of the Sri Lankan Red Cross, was taken from his home on Friday and his […]

Dec 16, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will meet with Indian and Russian delegations this week on possible arms purchases including air defence weaponry as clashes with Tamil Tiger rebels escalate, press reports here said Sunday. Defence officials from India and Russia will hold separate talks with Sri Lankan authorities on improving systems used against […]