• Turkey wishes to 'learn from Sri Lanka'

    Turkey's first ever ambassador to Sri Lanka has stated that his country will have a lot to learn from Colombo on how to combat "terrorism", stating that Sri Lanka is "far ahead" of Turkey on the issue.

    With the opening of the Turkish Embassy in Sri Lanka this month, ambassador Iskender Okyay stated in an interview,

  • GSP+ withdrawal has hit Sri Lanka factories - Daily Mirror

    A number of factories in Sri Lanka have closed down after the withdrawal of the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) mechanism, which made export to EU members cheaper for Sri Lanka.

    The Organising Secretary of the Inter Company Employees Union B.I. Abdeen told the Daily Mirror that 2000 jobs of direct employment had been lost due to the closure of two factories on January 2, 2013 alone.

  • Sri Lankan General barred from US military training

    The United States has refused an application for military training of Sri Lankan Army General, prompting the country's Defence Secretary to slam the decision as "wrong".

    Major-General Sudantha Ranasinghe was refused entry into the US for military training, with speculation that it may be on grounds that Ranasinghe is suspected of overseeing human rights violations.

  • Army probes into TNPF members' wherabouts

    The Sri Lankan Army appeared at the house of TNPF member Selvarajah Kajendran's house in Jaffna and proceeded to enquire about his wherabouts earlier this week.

    Publishing from his personal Twitter account on the 24th of January, Kajendran said,

  • Gota says no civilians went missing

    The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has claimed that no civilians at all went missing during the final phase of the armed conflict and that ICRC records tallied with those of the army, reported the Daily Mirror.

  • Bilingual anthem is against constitution - JHU
    Buddhist monks within the government's coalition party - the JHU, said that the inclusion of Tamil verses in the national anthem would violate the country's constitution.

    Speaking to the media, the JHU Deputy General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila said that the national anthem should only be sung in Sinhala during national ceremonies as Sinhala is the native language of Sri Lanka.
  • Army advises govt to make its own rules of war
    In its report on implementations of the LLRC, the Army's Board of Officers has advised the government to the create its own rules when dealing with 'internal war situations'.

    In its report, the Board of Officers said:

    “The Board observes that at present, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) principles, applicable to internal war situations have not adequately addressed various complex issues and the existing rules are seemingly applied to state actors only. Further, there are no specific guidelines with regard to the role of international humanitarian agencies in internal war situations. Hence, the Board recommends to formulate new domestic rules, covering internal war situations.”

    “With regard to the presence of Military bases in the North and East, the Board observes that the Government has an absolute right to maintain its armed forces anywhere in the Island, according to the country’s strategic and security needs."

  • Education in the South needed to shape the future of Sri Lanka

    Speaking at a function at St Mary’s College in the southern district of Kalutara, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapksa said his government will take measures to uplift the schools in the southern rural areas to eliminate the disparity in education between the Colombo and the rural areas around it.

  • MR pledges talks with India over fishermen

    The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pledged to hold talks with the Indian government in order to resolve the fishermen arrests and the crossing of territorial waters.

    Addressing the General Fisheries Federation (GFF), Rajapaksa said:

  • TGTE appoints Dr Sittampalam and Robert Evans as Senators
    The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam announced the appointment of Dr Arjuna Sittampalam and Robert Evans, as two further Senators to its Upper House, earlier this week.
  • No Fire Zone - The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka'
    A trailer for a new documentary entitled "No Fire Zone - The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" has been released earlier this week.

    Plans for the documentary were revealed in October 2012 by director of "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" Callum Macrae.
  • Independence day celebrations in Trincomalee

    The preparations for Sri Lanka's 65th independence day ceremony in Trincomalee are in full swing and all arrangements are in place.

  • SL extends detention without charge to 48hrs

    Legislation that allows the police to detain suspects without charge for upto 48 hours without a warrant was passed on Tuesday.

    The previous limit was 24 hours.

    Presenting the bill in parliament, the Environment Minister Anura Priyasharshana said:

  • US 'disturbed' by attacks on civil society

    The US Embassy in Colombo has released a statement, expressing concern over a "series of threats and attacks against legal defenders, civil society organizations and activists".

  • UK still undecided on CHOGM
    The British government has stated that it is “too early” to decide on whether or not they will be attending this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka this year.

    The statement was made in response to a Foreign Affairs Committee report, entitled “The role and future of the Commonwealth”, which called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to boycott the event.
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