MUMBAI (AFP) –
Bollywood goes to Sri Lanka later this week for its glitzy annual awards ceremony, but the decision to hold the event in the capital Colombo has sparked a backlash from minority Tamils in India.

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), which has been held overseas every year since 2000, begins on Thursday and is designed to celebrate the popular Hindi-language film industry and win new audiences abroad.

The secretary to Sri Lanka’s tourism ministry, George Michael, said the three-day festival was a “wonderful opportunity to showcase the unique and exotic aspects of Sri Lanka to the rest of the world”.

IIFA says it will help “bridge boundaries” between the neighbouring countries, helping to promote discussion on economic and political issues in the wake of Sri Lanka’s civil war that ended a year ago.

But Tamil opposition has grown ever since the venue was announced in April and some top Bollywood stars may not attend to avoid controversy.

Read the whole hot breaking news

Related Keywords :
tamils protest as bollywood goes to sri lanka,  afp,  bollywood goes to sri lanka,  tamils,  tamils protest as,  bollywood,  lanka,  bollywoods,  sri lanka,  protests,  tamil,  sri lankas,  protest,  tamils protest,  lankan,  tamils protest as bollywood goes to sri lanka afp,  goes to sri lanka, 

Related Search :
tamils protest as bollywood goes to sri lanka afp,  tamils protest as bollywood goes to sri lanka - yahoo ...,  tamils protest as bollywood goes to sri lanka - the ...,  france24 - tamils protest as bollywood goes to sri ...,  bollywood awards in sri lanka face protests - the ...,  tamils protest salman khan's sri lanka visit for iifa ...,  stars may skip bollywood awards in sri lanka,  stars may skip bollywood awards in sri lanka: government - films ...,  sri lanka: protests won't deter film awards - yahoo ...,  don’t visit sri lanka,  canadian tamils urge big b,  china's wen meets japanese emperor - yahoo! singapore ..., 

GUATEMALA CITY – Flooding and landslides from the season’s first tropical storm have killed at least 145 people and made thousands homeless in Central America, officials said Monday.

Dozens of people were missing and emergency crews struggled to reach isolated communities cut off by washed-out roads and collapsed bridges caused by Tropical Storm Agatha.

The sun emerged Monday in hardest-hit Guatemala, where officials reported 120 dead and at least 53 missing. In the department of Chimaltenango — a province west of Guatemala City — landslides buried dozens of rural Indian communities and killed at least 60 people, Gov. Erick de Leon said.

“The department has collapsed,” de Leon said. “There are a lot of dead people. The roads are blocked. The shelters are overflowing. We need water, food, clothes, blankets — but above all, money.”

In the tiny village of Parajbei, a slide smothered three homes and killed 11 people.

Read the whole hot breaking news

Related Keywords :
tropical storm agatha kills 145 in central america,  ap,  killed,  145,  central america,  tropical storm agatha kills 145 in central,  associated press,  tropical storm,  tropical storm agatha kills,  145 in central america,  tropical storm agatha,  america, 

Related Search :
tropical storm agatha kills 145 in central america ap,  tropical storm agatha kills 145 in central america ...,  tropical storm agatha kills 145 in central america - ap ...,  tropical storm agatha kills 145 in central america | ap ...,  foxnews.com - tropical storm agatha kills 131 in 3 ...,  tropical storm agatha kills 144 in central america ...,  tropical storm kills 83 in central america - yahoo! news,  tropical storm agatha kills 142 in central america, 

FRANKFURT (AFP) –
For Germany, the crisis of confidence that has slammed the eurozone is not all bad — a weak euro stimulates exports and means that its debt is easier to finance, economists say.

But a crisis is still a crisis and Germany will not necessarily come out a winner, they add.

Since the start of the Greek crisis, the DAX index of leading German stocks “has held up better than that of other European markets, thanks to the weak euro,” said Steffen Neumann of the LBBW bank.

Since January 1, the DAX has gained 0.65 percent while the pan-European Eurostoxx 50 has lost more than 11 percent.

The euro’s fall in value against other major currencies “is very good news” for companies in Germany, the world’s second biggest exporter, the economist noted.

Read the whole hot breaking news

Related Keywords :
eurozone crisis not all bad for germany,  economists,  afp,  germany,  crisis,  eurozone,  not all bad,  eurozone crisis,  bad for germany,  economics,  germanys,  not all,  eu,  not,  economist,  bad,  all,  euro zone, 

Related Search :
eurozone crisis not all bad for germany economists afp,  eurozone crisis not all bad for germany: economists ...,  eurozone crisis not all bad for germany: economists,  france24 - eurozone crisis not all bad for germany ...,  who will be the world cup sportswear champ? - yahoo ...,  wall st plunge triggers asian turmoil - yahoo! canada news,  eurozone growth slows in 'worrying' development - yahoo! canada ...,  china speaks: u.s. and europe jump - european financial crisis - salon ...,  world news australia - global gloom rattles aussie share market, 

As the Filipino and American flags were raised side by side at the annual Memorial Day celebration at Manila‘s American Cemetery, World War II veterans like Ernesto Lopez stood extra proud. At the age of 83, he could finally stop fighting.

For more than 60 years, Filipino World War II veterans have been lobbying to receive benefits promised to them by the U.S. government during the war. But it was only with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 – decades after many of them fought battles in places like Bataan and Corregidor – that Filipino veterans were formally recognized for fighting side by side with the U.S. Armed Forces, and were slated to receive financial compensation for their sacrifice. (Watch a video about WW II vets in Washington.)

When World War II started, the Philippines was a U.S. commonwealth, and Filipino soldiers became incorporated into the American military command. Some 250,000 Filipinos fought for America during the war, and over half of them died in service. After the U.S. military surrendered to Japan in the archipelago in 1942, thousands of Filipinos fought in a guerilla campaign against their occupiers until General MacArthur and his troops landed in Leyte, an island in the nation’s south, in October 1944. The two forces fought together until Japan was defeated, and the Philippines became liberated.

For Ernesto Lopez, who joined those guerilla forces when he was 14 and helped ferry food and supplies to fighters hiding in the mountains, the long-awaited American compensation was an important milestone. “We need money, but what is important to us is the recognition,” says Lopez, who has yet to receive his payment. “Although we meet Americans who acknowledge our service, it is the recognition by the American government that we have waited for.”

During the war, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that Filipinos who fought against the enemy would be given the same veterans’ benefits as American soldiers, but when President Truman signed the 1946 Rescission Act, that promise was taken away for the majority of those who fought in the war. Though Washington gave no official explanation at the time, Filipino Undersecretary of Veteran Affairs Ernesto Carolina believes the U.S. could not afford to pay so many Filipino veterans in the post-war years. “There were so many fighting that they would have had to pay at least $6 billion at that time,” says Carolina. “After the war, the U.S. needed money for reconstruction efforts.”

Read the whole hot breaking news

Related Keywords :
after 60 years,  filipino ww ii vets celebrate victory,  time.com,  60 years,  filipino world war ii veterans,  world war ii,  celebrate,  world war ii veterans,  filipino,  after,  celebrating,  2 years,  years,  celebrate victory,  celebrates,  victory,  year,  veterans, 

Related Search :
after 60 years filipino ww ii vets celebrate victory timecom,  after 60 years,  filipino ww ii vets celebrate victory ...,  civil war mystery,  annual parade,  service bring community members together,  u.s. to pay 'forgotten' filipino world war ii veterans - worldnews.com,  lump-sum payment a lump-sum insult to filipino ww2 veterans ...,  the filipino express online,  telltale signs: february 2009,  american leaders and defense of bataan,  with passion and purpose documentary photography by rick rocamora,