newslanka.org

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal and Dinuka Liyanawatte

COLOMBO, July 30 (Reuters) - An unidentified gang set fire to a Sri Lankan broadcaster owned by a businessman who had backed the opposition in a presidential …

Source: Reuters * Rights groups warn of growing authoritarianism

* Many donors, investors focus on short-term stability

* Any erosion of rule of law brings longer term dangers

By Peter Apps, Political Risk …

Source: IRIN Sri Lanka has declared the third week of August National Dengue Prevention Week, as dengue cases spike during the
months-long monsoon season. There have been 21,486 cases nationwide, and 158 deaths up till 20 July.

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, July 21 (Reuters) - The United States urged Sri Lanka on Wednesday to do more towards post-war reconciliation and democracy, including ensuring accountability for rights …

Source: IRIN The defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Sri Lankan army last year and an overwhelming election victory by the
United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) could provide an opportunity for reconciliation.

Source: Reuters * Parts of Indian Ocean could rise more than average -study

* Changes in wind patterns could also affect monsoons

By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia

SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters …

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) —
Demonstrations led by a Sri Lankan government minister to protest a United Nations expert panel show the government’s open hostility to investigations of …

Source: Reuters * Protest drew condemnation from U.S., Europe

* U.N. war crimes advisory panel to remain

* Minister taken away in ambulance

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, July 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan …

Source: Reuters * U.S., Europe warn Sri Lanka over protest

* UN’s Ban blasts Sri Lanka, recalls envoy

* Minister enters second day of hunger strike

* Minister’s resignation rejected by president

* (Recasts, …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, July 9 (Reuters) - The European Union and nine countries on Friday warned Sri Lanka that a protest against a U.N. war crimes panel that blocked the world body’s office could harm its …

Source: Reuters By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, July 9 (Reuters) - Protests led by a Sri Lankan minister against a U.N. war crimes panel have widened a rift with the world body, after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon …

Source: Reuters * Sri Lanka minister has led protests at U.N. office

* Ban says Colombo govt failed to stop disruption of work

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon …

Source: Reuters (Adds details, background)

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he was recalling the top U.N. official in Sri Lanka and closing a U.N. office in …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, July 8 (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan government minister launched a hunger strike on the third day of a protest outside the U.N. office on Thursday to try to force Secretary- …

Source: IRIN Internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province face a big problem - elephants which have
taken a liking to abandoned homesteads.

Source: Reuters * Haiti, Mozambique suffer most from 1980-2010

* Some rich nations such as Italy, U.S. at risk

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO, July 8 (Reuters) - Haiti and Mozambique are …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, July 7 (Reuters) - The United Nations in Sri Lanka closed on Wednesday when a hardline presidential ally led a protest outside for a second day, vowing to stay until …

Source: Reuters (Updates with UN reaction)

* Group demands end to U.N. war crimes panel

* Rally led by firebrand cabinet minister

* U.N. staff leave after police intervene

* Government orders police to back …

Source: Reuters By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, July 6 (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan cabinet minister led a march on the U.N. office in Colombo on Tuesday to protest U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s naming of a panel to …

Source: Reuters * Group demands end to U.N. war crimes panel

* Rally led by firebrand cabinet minister

* Symbolic exorcism planned to force end to panel

By Ranga Sirilal and C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, July 6 ( …

Source: IRIN Decades of fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government battered the tourism industry, but a
year after the war ended, tourists are returning in record numbers and efforts are being made to lure visitors to the worst-hit north to rebuild the economy.

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - Australia’s new prime
minister, Julia
Gillard, should lift the suspension on new asylum claims by Sri Lankans when the three-month moratorium expires on July 8, 2010, Human Rights …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) “By doing our survey, we can make sure that people go home in safety and start rebuilding their lives. It is hard work; we are living away from home and working out in the field every day in …

Source: Reuters * Colombo should ensure accountability, U.N. chief says

* Ban urges Sri Lanka to show commitment to human rights

* U.N. concerned about Sri Lankan minister’s remarks

By Katrina Manson

KINSHASA …

Source: UNHCR UNHCR starts to scale back its operations to help internally displaced people in eastern Sri Lanka and is closing its office in Batticaloa this week.

Source: Reuters * UN panel not needed, Sri Lanka says

* Sri Lanka also rejects EU demands

* EU wanted written rights reform pledges

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, June 24 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Thursday ruled …

Source: Reuters * Sri Lanka calls panel violation of sovereignty
* Panel chaired by veteran of Sri Lankan probe
* Cooperation seen as unlikely

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, June 23 (Reuters) - Sri …

Source: Reuters
* Ban named panel despite Sri Lankan gov’t objections
* Panel to consider alleged war crimes, rights abuses
* HRW hopes panel will produce “roadmap” for investigation

(Adds Human …

Source: Reuters * Ban named panel despite Sri Lankan gov’t objections

* Panel to consider alleged war crimes, rights abuses

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General on …

Source: IRIN The population of Sri Lanka’s
largest remaining camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) is dwindling at a rate of up to 2,000 people a week, with efforts being stepped up for the remaining 50,000 IDPs to return
home.

Source: Reuters * US government calls it vital weapon to fight terrorism

* Groups said they were involved in nonviolent activity

* Law challenged for violating free-speech rights

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON, …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, June 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations should by next week name a panel to advise Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on accountability for potential war crimes in Sri Lanka, the …

Source: IRIN Southeast Asian governments added to the US State Department’s human trafficking watch list must
bolster efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers, activists say.

Source: Reuters * Want investigation into West’s media on religion

* Say racism, xenophobia rife in Europe

* Part of majority group on U.N. rights council

By Robert Evans

GENEVA, June 16 (Reuters) - Muslim …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, June 16 (Reuters) - Japan on Wednesday urged the world not to dictate to Sri Lanka amid post-war reconciliation efforts and renewed calls from the West for a probe into …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, June 15 (Reuters) - Two White House officials met Sri Lanka’s president on Tuesday, part of a series of diplomatic visits this week amid renewed heat on the island …

Source: Reuters UNITED NATIONS, June 14 (Reuters) - The U.N. political chief will visit Sri Lanka this week, the United Nations said on Monday, amid a dispute between the world body and Colombo over who should …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) Reporting Period: 1-31 May 2010
- Non-technical Survey (NTS) ongoing in 3 Grama Niladhari (GN) in Puthukudiyurippu Division in Mullaitivu District, and technical survey and clearance in …

Source: Reuters (Updates with tsunami warnings cancelled, paragraphs 5-6)

By Sanjib Kumar Ray

PORT BLAIR, India, June 13 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck in the ocean near India’ …

Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - A very strong earthquake of 7.7 magnitude struck near India’s Nicobar Islands and northwest of the tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Saturday, the U.S. Geological …

Source: Reuters * Havana issued invitation last year

* Austrian lawyer known for tough talking

* Cuba says does not need investigation

(Updates with Cuban comment, recasts)

By Robert Evans

GENEVA, June 9 ( …

Source: Reuters * Havana issued invitation last year

* Austrian lawyer known for tough talking

* Cuba seen as sensitive on political prisoner issue

GENEVA, June 9 (Reuters) - Cuba has told the United Nations …

Source: IRIN Health officials are stepping up their
efforts to avert a dengue outbreak in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland Geneva (ICRC) In 2009, some 4.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) – 20% more than in 2008 – benefited from humanitarian assistance provided by
the ICRC, in association with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in 33 countries all over the world. The ICRC devoted [...]

Source: Reuters By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

COLOMBO, June 6 (Reuters) - A heart-warming tale of life in an Indian college swept a low-key Bollywood film awards ceremony in Sri Lanka on Saturday night, with several big …

Source: Reuters * Alston regrets Human Rights Council’s focus on Israel

* Says council ignored killings in Iran and Sri Lanka * Urges independent international investigation in Sri Lanka

By Stephanie Nebehay …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) When the conflict in Sri Lanka restarted in 2007, the effects were felt at Mulliyavalai Kalaimahal Vithiyalayam school in Mulliativu District - the heartland of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) Seven-year-old Ahalya, together with her and many other families, fled Sinnapandivirichchan village in April 2007. Last month, after MAG had removed 1,260 landmines and 12 items of unexploded ordnance from the area, they were able to return home.

Source: IRIN Medical officials in Sri Lanka have expressed concern over possible health risks as most of the 13,000 displaced by
flooding return home.

Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Sri Lanka on Friday to ensure a new panel investigating possible rights abuses be given powers to probe any allegations of …

Source: IRIN The recent death of a French de-miner in northern Sri Lanka highlights the ongoing threat of landmines in
preventing the safe return of tens of thousands of conflict-displaced.

Source: Reuters LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Human rights group Amnesty International released its 2009 annual report on "The State of the World’s Human Rights" on Thursday. Following are excerpts from the …

Source: Reuters * Group says 2009 landmark year for international justice

* Says governments are holding themselves above law

By Katie Nguyen

[...]

Source: IRIN The UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been protecting civilians for
decades, but protection as a response by the humanitarian community is still relatively new, not very well defined, and some experts warn of the danger of over-promising what cannot be delivered.

Source: IRIN More than 17,000 people remain displaced because of flooding this week in Sri Lanka and are staying in
disaster relief centres, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) reports.

World Vision - Asia Pacific Severe floods triggered by torrential rains have killed 24 people and affected over 524,000 in south western Sri Lanka as the island continued to experience unprecedented levels of rain for the …

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - New evidence of wartime abuses by Sri Lankan
government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the armed conflict that ended one year ago demonstrates …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) “I am going to my school now and I am going to learn so much, until I am like my mum, a teacher.”

Seven-year-old Ahalya smiles widely as she bounces between seats, excited that the bus will …

Source: IRIN Local activists have expressed doubts over the effectiveness of a truth and reconciliation commission established
by the Sri Lankan government, which will investigate events in the final years of the civil war that ended a year ago.

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) Tharmalingam Sountharrajan had little knowledge of the bomb-making factory 700 metres from the family home in the heart of his village.

Containing hundreds of mines, explosives, mortars and other …