Tag: Sri Lanka
Britain to cut number of student visas issued
LONDON, February 7, 2010 (AFP) – Britain is to cut the number of visas it hands out to foreign students in a bid to stop people breaking the rules by working illegally, officials said Saturday. The change, which comes after Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered a review of the system at the end of last […]
Sri Lanka historic fort to be conserved with Dutch aid
Feb 06, 2010 (LBO) – A Dutch fortress in Sri Lanka built to withstand solid shot artillery in colonial times but which was damaged by Tamil Tiger guns in a modern insurgency is to be conserved with aid from The Netherlands. Originally built by Portuguese colonial rulers in 1619, the fort was rebuilt and expanded […]
Sri Lanka under fire for emergency rule
February 6, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka faced criticism Saturday for extending a state of emergency giving sweeping powers to security forces to detain suspects ahead of parliamentary elections due by April. A private poll-monitoring body, the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, said continuation of emergency rule could undermine the vote slated to […]
Sri Lanka should address fiscal excesses, inflation: S&P
Feb 05, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ‘apparent lack of urgency’ to stop rising inflation and post election spending may put pressure on a deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund, Standard & Poor’s, a rating agency has said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, re-elected with a stronger mandate, had a “unique opportunity” to “implement comprehensive fiscal […]
Sri Lanka leader calls for unity after poll win
February 4, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday issued an independence day call for unity and reconciliation after his victory in a bitterly fought election. Rajapakse in an address to the nation said the island’s freedom day assumed great significance as it was the first since the defeat of separatist Tamil […]
Sri Lanka presidential election results clean, campaign dirty: polls chief
Feb 03, 2010 (LBO) – Results of Sri Lanka’s recently concluded presidential poll was clean, contrary to complaints of malpractices, but election campaigning was unfair, the head of the elections department said. “The campaign period – I’m not satisfied; the election results – I stand by it, elections commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake told reporters at a […]
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February 2, 2010 (AFP) – Rights monitor Amnesty International urged Sri Lanka on Tuesday to end what it described as a post-presidential election “clampdown” on the media, political opponents and human rights activists. Pressure on government critics has been mounting since President Mahinda Rajapakse was re-elected on January 26, defeating his former army chief Sarath […]
‘s fortunes slump on bubble fears, China tightening
SAO PAULO, January 31, 2010 (AFP) – Fears of a speculative asset bubble and moves by China to rein in an overheating economy have taken their toll on Brazil, eroding equity prices and the national currency, the real. The strongest warning for Latin America’s biggest economy, still seen as one of the most attractive of […]
ECB directors must tackle mounting eurozone tensions: analysts
FRANKFURT, (AFP) – European Central Bank policymakers will confront mounting eurozone financial tensions at a meeting Thursday in the face of a brewing crisis brought on by Greece’s spectacular public deficit and debt. That the ECB’s main interest rate will stay unchanged at a record low of one percent is considered a done deal for […]
”: IMF chief
DAVOS, January 30, 2010 (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Saturday that state debt will become the world’s biggest economic problem and some countries will need seven years to fix their finances. “The fiscal sustainability problem is going to be one of the biggest, maybe the biggest problem for the coming … several years,” […]
Sri Lanka president revokes expulsion of Swiss reporter
January 31, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday revoked an expulsion order against a Swiss reporter who covered the island’s fiercely fought election. A government spokesman said that “wrong information” had led to the immigration authorities ordering Karin Wenger, of Swiss Public Radio, to leave the country. The department of information […]
Sri Lanka president to take oaths Feb 04: report
Jan 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s re-elected president Mahinda Rajapaksa will take oaths for his second term in Kandy when the country celebrates independence from British rule on February 04, a media report said. The Sunday Times newspaper quoting foreign employment minister Keheliya Rambukwella said president Rajapaksa has spoken of his decision at a […]