newslanka.org

Source: UNHCR The UN refugee agency launches a new push to reduce the number of stateless people in the world.

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, March 10 (Reuters) - China has agreed to lend $290 million to Sri Lanka for a new airport and to revive the country’s railway network, the island nation’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday …

Source: IRIN Rice producing Asian countries had to contend with poor rains in 2009, and now another season of low rainfall has been forecast for some of them, which
has prompted concern whether the price of the grain could go up later in 2010.

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, March 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s president has told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a proposed U.N. panel to look into possible human rights abuses in the country’s civil war was …

Source: Reuters By Edith Honan

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to ask a panel of experts to advise the world body on "accountability issues" relating to …

Source: Reuters * Sri Lankan investigation, Iran visit urged

* Pillay calls on Egypt to stop killing migrants

* To discuss Italy’s treatment of Roma, migrants next week

(Adds Sri Lanka reaction)

By Jonathan …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, March 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will initiate tax and investment reforms in its next budget following a parliamentary election in April, a government official said on Thursday …

Source: Reuters * Small empty fuel tanker seized on Monday in Gulf of Aden

* Saudi operators receive $20 million ransom demand

* Deputy speaker urges release of British sailor couple

(Adds U.N. envoy, appeal …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, March 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa will reconvene the island nation’s dissolved parliament on March 9 to extend an emergency law by another month ahead of …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez and Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, March 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka holds parliamentary elections on April 8 amid economic worries, not least the IMF’s decision to delay the third tranche of a $2 …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Opposition parties in Sri Lanka which backed former army commander General Sarath Fonseka in presidential polls last month have decided …

Source: IRIN The use of hazardous pesticides in Asian countries has exposed communities across the region to unacceptably high
health risks, according to a study conducted by the international Pesticide Action Network

Oxfam GB - UK
Exploring the daily dilemmas faced by aid workers delivering effective aid
to large numbers of people in a way that is safe and respects their dignity.

Source: IRIN Thousands of children have returned to school in northern Sri Lanka, where efforts are under
way to restore the area’s battered education infrastructure. The Government of Sri Lanka aims to have all children from the five districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu
back in school by the end of April.

Source: Reuters * Justices wonder whether law violated free speech

* US govt. calls it vital weapon to fight terrorism

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Tuesday said it was prepared to face a European Union withdrawal of its preferential trade benefits that helped to boost the island nation’s …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is prepared to face a European Union withdrawal of its preferential trade benefits that helped to boost the island nation’s garment export to …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, now in military custody, has filed a petition against what he alleges is vote rigging …

Source: Reuters BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday it planned to withdraw preferential trade benefits to Sri Lanka because of concerns about the south Asian island’s human rights record …

Source: IRIN Sri Lankan government officials aim to resettle more than 100,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) by
April after missing a self-imposed deadline to move everyone out of camps in the country’s north by end-January.

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters demanding the release of defeated presidential candidate Sanath Fonseka clashed with Sri Lankan police on Sunday in a fourth day …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Sri Lankan lawyers staged a silent march in the capital on Friday in a third day of street protests aimed at …

Source: Reuters (Adds protest by govt supporters in para 4)

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Sri Lankan lawyers staged a silent march in the capital on Friday in a third day of street …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) PROGRAMME OVERVIEW:

At the start of the year MAG’s activities were based in Batticaloa District in the East of Sri Lanka.

However, with the Government forces defeating the LTTE in May 2009, MAG …

Source: Reuters Feb 11 (Reuters) - A Taiwanese tuna boat hijacked last year near the Seychelles was freed by Somali pirates on Thursday, a Kenya-based organisation that monitors shipping in Somali waters said.

The …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s police used batons to disperse hundreds of supporters of losing presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka on Thursday, a Reuters witness said, in a second day of …

Source: Reuters (Adds Sri Lankan government statement, paragraphs 8-10, 14)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discussed the arrest of a defeated Sri Lankan opposition candidate with …

Source: Reuters UNITED NATIONS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon raised the arrest of a defeated Sri Lankan opposition candidate with its president and expressed concern about events in the Asian …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan police used tear gas to disperse government supporters and thousands of opposition protesters demonstrating against the …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s newly-re-elected President Mahinda Rajpaksa has dissolved parliament and called elections on April 8, hoping to …

Caritas Internationalis Catholic and Anglican bishops in Sri Lanka have criticized recent presidential elections as beyond the boundaries of democratic rule
and failing to address the concerns of the Tamil minority.

Source: Reuters Feb 9 (Reuters) - Somali pirates said they received a $3.1 million ransom on Tuesday and had freed a Panama-flagged ship, the MV Al Khaliq, which they hijacked in October.

Here is a list of ships …

Source: Reuters * Election set for April 8

* Poll follows arrest of leading opposition figure

(Adds poll date)

By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s president has …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Legislative elections will be held in Sri Lanka on April 8 after the president dissolved parliament, a senior government official said.

"The elections will be held on …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s newly re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolved parliament with effect from Wednesday and called legislative elections, a senior government official said …

Source: Reuters (For a related story click on [ID:nSGE6180CF])

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s former army chief General Sarath Fonseka is in army custody, facing a court-martial on …

Source: Reuters (For the main story, click on [ID:nSGE618086]

COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday was in the custody of the army he led to …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s military arrested defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka on Monday on charges he conspired against the president before he quit the army to …

Source: Reuters * Fonseka lost to president by president by 18 point margin

* Arrest caps rapid fall from grace for former army hero

(Adds details, byline)

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sri …

Source: Reuters SRI LANKA SAYS ARRESTS EX-ARMY COMMANDER FONSEKA FOR ‘MILITARY OFFENCES …

Source: Reuters By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa left on Saturday for Moscow, where he will sign a $300 million loan to buy military equipment from Russia, despite …

Source: Reuters By Andrew Caballero-Reynolds

KANDY, Sri Lanka, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s newly re-elected president vowed on Thursday to regain the progress lost in a quarter-century war with the Tamil Tigers …

Source: Reuters Feb 4 (Reuters) - Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden have hijacked the MV Rim, a Libyan-owned cargo ship thought to be carrying 17 seafarers from Romania and Libya, a European Union anti-piracy force …

Source: Reuters (Updates with opposition rally)

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s elections commissioner on Wednesday rejected opposition allegations of counting fraud in last week’s …

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez and Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a landslide re-election on Jan. 26, putting him firmly in charge of the Indian Ocean island …

Source: Reuters * Rajapaksa to remain in power until 2016

* Army officers allied to rival candidate purged

* Coup accusations against Rajapaksa rival grow (Adds details, byline)

By Ranga Sirilal and C. Bryson …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s supreme court on Tuesday ruled President Mahinda Rajapaksa can begin his newly-won six-year term in November, giving him an extra year in power after he called …

Source: Reuters Feb 2 (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released the cargo ship MV Filitsa after a ransom was delivered and the crew are safe, a regional maritime official and pirate sources said.

The 23,709 dwt …

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) After almost three years living in camps, 123 families have been able to return to their homes in Sri Lanka’s Rice Bowl region and given a real opportunity to begin rebuilding their lives after years …

Source: IRIN As the results of Sri Lanka’s first post-war presidential election poured in, the mood at Menik Farm, in the main
government-run camp for the ethnic Tamil internally displaced (IDPs), in the northern town of Vavuniya, was sober.

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - The Sri Lankan government should end
its indefinite arbitrary detention of more than 11,000 people held in so-called rehabilitation centers and release those not being prosecuted, Human …

Source: Reuters * Fonseka vows protests against "stolen" election

* Accuses govt of removing his personal security

* Police seal offices of pro-opposition newspaper

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Jan …

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - The Sri Lankan government should
immediately end its post-election harassment of media outlets and ensure protection of journalists from attack, Human Rights Watch said today.
…

Source: Reuters * Police commandos seen outside beaten candidate’s office

* Former army commander was once aligned with president

* Editor of pro-opposition paper said to have been arrested

(Adds observer …

Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan police raided the office of losing presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka on Friday, an aide said, two days after troops had surrounded him inside a hotel …

Source: IRIN Poor funding support for recovery efforts after Cyclone Nargis has left hundreds of thousands in Myanmar vulnerable, many
without durable shelters to withstand further disasters, the UN says.

Source: Reuters Jan 28 (Reuters) - Somali gunmen hijacked a Cambodian cargo ship, the MV Layla-S, off Berbera after it unloaded at the port in the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland, a regional maritime …

Source: Reuters * MV Layla-S seized off Berbera port

* Crew from several countries on board

(Adds details, background)

NAIROBI, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Somali gunmen hijacked a Cambodian cargo ship, the MV Layla-S …

Source: Reuters , (For more Sri Lanka election coverage see [ID:nSRILANKA])

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Jan 28 (Reuters) — Re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa will dissolve parliament shortly …

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and key international actors should take steps to bring accountability for Sri Lanka’s grave human rights violations
so that the thousands of …