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/ 25 October 2006
Holidaymakers on the beaches around Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle seemed unconcerned about the recent Tamil Tiger suicide attack here, but industry professionals are shaking their heads. One day after five Tiger rebel boats tried to shoot their way into a key naval base in Galle, carefree foreigners frolicked in resort swimming pools or sunbathed on the area’s pristine white sands.
Armed only with shovels and plastic buckets, a few dozen volunteers struggled on Thursday to scrape oil-stained sand off a Beirut beach as environmental groups began the monumental task of cleaning up tonnes of oil spilt across Lebanon’s coast. ”This is the biggest environmental disaster in the Mediterranean basin, we can say that very easily,” said environmental group Green Line.
Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo was thrown into panic on Friday after sonic booms caused by jet fighters were mistaken for bomb blasts off the coast, the military and police said. Defence Ministry spokesperson Prasad Samarasinghe said Israeli-built Kfir jets were on a training mission and may have broken the sound barrier causing people on the ground to hear loud blasts.
As tomb raiders plunder Iron Age treasures — beads, gold ornaments and even the bones from burial mounds — archaeologists warn that Cambodia’s rich pre-Angkorian heritage will be completely lost within three years. Hundreds, if not more, of the 4 000 or so documented sites across the country have already been torn apart.