SRI LANKA: Powerful Blast in Colombo Shatters Economic Recovery

A massive bomb blast that rocked Sri Lanka's capital Wednesday morning and killed at least nine people and injured scores of others, including many tourists, is a severe setback to the country's tourist industry and economy just as it was on the road to recovery, officials said.

ASIA-LABOUR: New Deal for Migrant Workers

Sri Lanka is planning new rules governing employment contracts for migrant workers, on the lines of what already exists in the Philippines, in a move to minimise the problems faced by workers abroad.

/IPS DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN/ SRI LANKA: Child Warriors in a Lingering War

A large majority of armed members of the Tiger guerrillas are children, either forcibly recruited or coerced into joining one of the deadliest guerrilla outfits in the world.

LABOUR: Problems of Being Asian and A Migrant Worker

Participants from eight countries, supplying migrant workers to the Middle East and the rest of the world, are meeting in Sri Lanka's capital to find ways and means of protecting workers from exploitation by employers.

SRI LANKA-CHILDREN: Child Warriors in a Lingering War//REPEATING/

A large majority of armed members of the Tiger guerrillas are children, either forcibly recruited or coerced into joining one of the deadliest guerrilla outfits in the world.

SRI LANKA-CHILDREN: Child Warriors In a Lingering War

A large majority of armed members of the Tiger guerrillas are children, either forcibly recruited or coerced into joining one of the deadliest guerrilla outfits in the world.

SRI LANKA-POLITICS: Peace Initiative To Be Put to Vote

With a one-seat majority in Parliament, Sri Lanka's government is taking its peace package for the war- torn north and east to the people for approval.

SRI LANKA-HEALTH: Economic Cost of AIDS Complacency

A lack of political will rather than a shortage of funds is restricting Sri Lanka's efforts to keep the AIDS epidemic under control, according to health workers here.

SRI LANKA-CHILDREN: Taking the Lid Off Child Domestic Abuse

Premasiri, a five-year-old Sri Lankan boy, was brought by police with maggots crawling in burns on the foot, multiple fractures and multiple scars due to whipping with a cord. He was allegedly employed by a school master.

SOUTH ASIA: Talks About Promoting Tourism, But Does Very Little

South Asian countries met in Colombo this week to explore prospects of forging a common front to jointly promote the region of over one billion people as a tourist destination.

SRI LANKA: Referendum Might Be Only Way For Peace

A report released this week by an unofficial body, called the Sinhala Commission, on government proposals to solve Sri Lanka's ethnic problem is expected trigger a fresh debate on the crisis, analysts said.

SRI LANKA-POLITICS: Media Laws Relaxed

Sri Lanka has scrapped a 19-year-old "obnoxious law" which gave the right to parliamentarians to punish journalists for character defamation.

SRI LANKA: Fresh Peace Move as War Drags On

As Sri Lankan troops battle Tamil separatist rebels in a never-ending war, the government has launched a new initiative to end the 14 year conflict.