Tag: politics

MATARA, May 18, 2014 (AFP) – President Mahinda Rajapakse led celebrations at a major victory parade Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist war, after banning commemorations for its victims.As the envoys of Western nations stayed away from the parade, a defiant Rajapakse insisted he would not bow […]

MATARA, May 4, 2014 (AFP) – At a temple in the heart of Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese south, an unusual attempt at reconciliation is underway after decades of ethnic bloodshed, even as the government warns of fresh fighting.Such mythological stories about Sri Lanka’s history are common on the island, whose Sinhalese majority can trace their roots […]

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – World press freedom has hit its lowest level in a decade, amid regression in Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine, and US efforts to curb national security reporting, a survey showed Thursday.The report by Freedom House, which has been conducting annual surveys since 1980, found that the share of the world’s […]

COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Muslim legislators on Friday asked President Mahinda Rajapakse to protect their minority community from “Buddhist extremist elements” blamed for a recent spate of hate attacks. The country is emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war which according to UN estimates claimed at least 100,000 lives between […]

Apr 29, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka issued a stamp commemorating Ho Chi Minh, a revolutionary communist leader that led the country to independence from the French who is reputed to have visited the island several times. He had also travelled to Britain the US in the early 1900s and lived and worked in those […]

Apr 26, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should improve rights of citizens while resisting an international inquiry planned into alleged war crimes by UN’s Human Rights Council and also strengthen relations with India, a political analyst said.“The international inquiry has to be resisted because it has no precedent,” Dayan Jayatillaka, former diplomat and political analyst, […]

Apr 20, 2014 (LBO) – Operating profits at Sri Lanka’s Ports Authority fell 53.4 percent to 2.4 billion rupees in 2013 with revenues also down 2.3 percent to 37.2 billion rupees, despite an increase in container volumes at Colombo, official data showed. Expenditure had increased 5.8 percent to 34.8 billion rupees. Containers handled in Colombo […]

Apr 18, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sent condolences to South Korea over a ferry disaster which has killed an unknown number of persons.In a message to his counterpart President Park Geun-hye, President conveyed profound condolence on behalf of the people and government of Sri Lanka to Korea and the affected […]

COLOMBO, April 16, 2014 (AFP) – Four macaws belonging to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse have escaped his tightly-guarded official residence in Colombo, his office said Wednesday as it appealed for help to trace the colourful long-tailed birds.Macaws — a species of parrot — are not indigenous to Sri Lanka, but several pet stores import […]

OTTAWA, April 14, 2014 (AFP) – Canada’s government announced Monday the suspension of funding to the Commonwealth over rotating chair Sri Lanka’s alleged rights abuses.While Sri Lanka remains chair of the 53-member bloc, Canada’s Can$10 million (US$9 million) annual contribution to the Commonwealth Secretariat will instead go for two years toward combatting the practice of […]

COLOMBO, April 15, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday accused Canada of undermining the Commonwealth to score political points after it announced a suspension of funding while the island nation chairs the group.Colombo has denied the accusations, but the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution in March to set up an investigation into […]