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UN Demands Truce in Sri Lanka, Says Civilian Deaths an Outrage
bloomberg,
feb 10.
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations called for a cease-fire in Sri Lanka, saying it is outraged by the deaths of civilians caught in the military’s drive to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
“We are outraged by the unnecessary loss of hundreds of lives and the continued suffering of innocent people inside the LTTE-controlled areas,” Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said yesterday. “We are calling on both the government and the LTTE to halt indiscriminate fighting” near civilians.
At least 16 people were killed when shells hit a hospital in the north two days ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday. An evacuation of the hospital is planned for today, it said.
Sri Lanka’s military has driven the Tamil Tigers from their main bases and into an area of less than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles) in the northeastern district of Mullaitivu. The government accuses the LTTE of bringing artillery into safe zones declared for civilians while Tamils say the army is carrying out indiscriminate shelling of the civilian population.
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Published: Tue Feb 10 22:07:56 EST 2009
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Sri Lanka Lowers Rates for Second Time in Two Months
bloomberg,
feb 10.
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s central bank lowered its overnight lending rate for the second time in two months to support the island’s economic growth amid a global recession.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka cut the penal interest rate to 16.5 percent from 17 percent, according to a statement posted on the bank’s Web site today. The repurchase rate was also reduced by a quarter point to 10.25 percent, the statement said.
The Colombo-based bank may cut rates further after Governor Nivard Cabraal said this week that a slowdown in inflation allows for “less tight” monetary policy. Sri Lanka’s inflation has halved since October as oil and other commodity prices plunged due to the global economic slump.
“The retreating inflation will enable monetary authorities to gradually reduce the penal rate,” said Danushka Samarasinghe, research manager at Asia Securities Co. in Colombo. “Sri Lankan interest rates have shown signs of weakening.”
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Published: Tue Feb 10 22:31:17 EST 2009
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For Some Sri Lankans, Dissonance in M.I.A.’s Music
nyt,
feb 10.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — To many Americans, Maya Arulpragasam, known as M.I.A., is the very pregnant rapper who gyrated across the stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.
Yet in Sri Lanka, where she spent her childhood years, M.I.A. remains virtually unknown. And some who do know her work say she is an apologist for the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels fighting in the country’s long-running civil war.
M.I.A. — who has been nominated for an Oscar for the song she co-wrote for the hit film “Slumdog Millionaire” — has branded herself through music videos and interviews as the voice of the country’s Tamil minority. In the video for her song “Bird Flu,” for instance, children dance in front of what looks like the rebels’ logo: a roaring tiger.
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Published: Tue Feb 10 22:55:33 EST 2009
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