Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka refugee ship boarded by Canadian navy
VANCOUVER, August 12, 2010 (AFP) – The Canadian navy on Thursday intercepted a cargo ship carrying up to 500 Sri Lankan asylum seekers and prepared to screen them, fearing some belonged to the defeated and banned Tamil Tiger rebels. After days of tracking by Canadian and US authorities, the navy boarded the MV Sun Sea […]
‘s ex-army chief convicted by court martial
August 13, 2010 (AFP) – A court martial convicted Sri Lanka’s former army chief Sarath Fonseka Friday of dabbling in politics and stripped him of his rank and medals, a senior military source said. “The guilty verdict was read out to General Fonseka at the court martial a short while ago,” the military source told […]
Sri Lanka to lease prime land, re-settle squatters
Aug 12, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan plans to develop prime land in Colombo occupied by squatters by leasing some lands and issuing debentures to raise funds for the work, a minister said. Government spokesman Anura Yapa, who is environment minister, said a survey revealed that 66,000 low-income families were living in Colombo and […]
Ship full of Sri Lankan refugees nears Canada: reports
MONTREAL, August 11, 2010 (AFP) – A ship full of Sri Lankan refugees was less than 320 kilometers (200 miles) from Canada’s western shores and could be arriving late Thursday or Friday, local media said Wednesday. In May last year, capping a four-decade civil war, Sri Lankan government troops finally defeated the separatist Liberation Tigers […]
Sri Lankan president sacks minister over dengue row
August 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Tuesday sacked a maverick minister who had tied a state official to a tree as punishment for failing to control the spread of dengue fever in the country, an official said. Highways minister Mervyn Silva was dismissed and his ruling party membership suspended pending a disciplinary inquiry, […]
Sri Lanka war: US urged to press for international probe
WASHINGTON, August 10, 2010 (AFP) – A group of US lawmakers is urging the Obama administration to push for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes that occurred during Sri Lanka’s civil war. In a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the members of Congress called for such a probe saying […]
‘s war probe panel to start work
August 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka announced the government-appointed panel looking into the island’s civil war that ended last year would hold its first public hearings on Wednesday. The eight-member panel will hear testimony for five days in the capital Colombo and two days in Vavuniya, near the former war zone, an official statement […]
Sri Lanka advised to improve connectivity to prosperous areas
Aug 10, 2010 (LBO) – The World Bank has advised Sri Lanka to change its development approach and improve access of people to prosperous parts of the country instead of shifting economic activity to lagging regions. These measures include investment subsidies, tax rebates, local regulations, local infrastructure development and targeted investment climate reforms, such as […]
Sri Lanka central bank warns of more shocks, urges policy stability
Aug 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal warned possible economic shocks in future could take different forms and urged policymakers to stick to their policies despite pressure for change in the short term. Policy makers have to learn to balance different competing interests when administering the policies needed to restore […]
All white on the night for Australian elections
SYDNEY, August 8, 2010 (AFP) – Despite its Aboriginal roots and a large Asian population, Australia’s politics are almost exclusively white with just a handful of ethnic minority candidates in this month’s elections. Australia’s diversity — from Outback townships to Sydney’s Chinatown and growing numbers of South and Southeast Asians — is poorly reflected in […]
US, Canada monitor ship said full of Sri Lankan refugees
WASHINGTON, August 4, 2010 (AFP) – The United States and Canada said Wednesday they are monitoring a ship said to be packed with Tamil refugees bound for Canada as they flee post-war persecution in Sri Lanka. D. M. Jayaratne, Sri Lanka’s prime minister, has urged Western nations to crack down on Tamils living abroad who […]
Sri Lankan president boosted as MPs defect
August 5, 2010 (AFP) – Two opposition lawmakers in Sri Lanka defected to the ruling party on Thursday, bringing President Mahinda Rajapakse closer to altering the constitution to allow him to retain power. The two MPs, both from the minority Tamil community, joined the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Rajapakse, who oversaw the […]