Daily News Channel
Tamil Tiger rebels have been pinned down by Sri Lankan government troops in a small section of the country’s north, the Ministry of Defense claimed Tuesday. “Security forces have now cornered the remaining [rebels], including its most wanted terror chiefs,” the ministry’s Web site reported, saying the rebels are confined to less than 2 square miles (4.5 sq
Fiat Group, fresh from an agreement to buy a piece of troubled automaker Chrysler, has plans to purchase GM Europe and spin-off the recombined carmakers into a new company. If successful, the new company would become one of the largest car manufacturers in the world behind Toyota. The combined company would generate about $100 billion a year with sales of between 6 and 7 million cars a year.
Thousands of civilians remain trapped and at risk in a small area of the conflict zone along the northeastern Sri Lankan coast, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday. The civilians include women, children, and elderly, and many are wounded and sick, the ICRC said in a statement.
Sri Lankan officials rejected a proposed cease-fire from the Tamil Tiger rebels Sunday, warning instead that government troops intended to continue a new offensive until the group surrenders, a senior government official said. “The government is firm that (the rebels) lay down their arms and surrender. We do not recognize this so-called offer,” said Lakshman Hulugalle, director of Sri Lanka’s Media Center for National Security.
Pop quiz: Which European country has the most liberal drug laws? Although its capital is notorious among stoners and college kids for marijuana haze–filled “coffee shops,” Holland has never actually legalized cannabis — the Dutch simply don’t enforce their laws against the shops. The correct answer is Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine
Are Europe and the U.S.
Spain’s jobless rate rose sharply, to 17.36 percent in the first quarter, with more than 4 million people out of work, the government said Friday. Nearly half of the 4 million lost their jobs in the past year, the National Statistics Institute said. It’s the first time that Spain’s jobless total has exceeded 4 million, economist Carlos Maravall told CNN.
Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka faced another possible onslaught from government forces, as a mid-day deadline for them to surrender passed on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports from northern Sri Lanka where recent fighting has been taking place.
Government officials from South Korea will visit North Korea on Tuesday to hold the first talks in a year, state media said.
A suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA and two alleged accomplices were arrested Saturday in a city near the southern coast of France, a CNN partner station reported, citing police sources. The key suspect arrested in the joint French-Spanish operation in Perpignan was identified as Jurdan Martitegui Lizaso, CNN+ said