Sri Lanka on Saturday sealed a billion-dollar deal to let a Chinese state firm take over a loss-making port in a move that has been opposed by unions and worries the island’s neighbours. The long-delayed sale $1.1 billion sale of a 70 percent stake in Hambantota port, which straddles the world’s busiest east-west shipping route, … Read more
Sri Lanka has signed a $1.1bn (£837m) deal with China for the control and development of the southern deep-sea port of Hambantota. The deal had been delayed by several months over concerns that the port could be used by the Chinese military. The government has given assurances that China will run only commercial operations from … Read more
Sri Lanka will proceed with the billion-dollar sale of a deep sea port to China despite protests in an effort to slash its foreign debt, the prime minister said Friday. Hambantota port straddles the world’s busiest east-west shipping route and several countries, including neighbouring India, had raised concerns China could use it for its own … Read more
Sri Lanka’s government Tuesday approved the sale to China of a majority stake in a loss-making but strategically-sited deep sea port for more than a billion dollars, the ports minister said. The cabinet gave final approval to sell a 70 percent stake in Hambantota port for $1.12 billion to state-owned China Merchants Port Holdings, minister … Read more
Former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga on Friday demanded an investigation into the country’s 2011 World Cup final defeat by India amid allegations of match fixing. Ranatunga, 53, in a video posted on his Facebook page, said he was shocked by Sri Lanka’s six-wicket defeat in the final at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. “I … Read more
Sri Lanka announced Thursday a long-awaited investigation into the massacre of 27 prisoners that became a symbol of the rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the war-era regime. Inspector-General of Police Pujith Jayasundara ordered the investigation into the 2012 bloodshed, when security forces allegedly gunned down inmates in cold blood. Trouble erupted inside the maximum security … Read more
Sri Lanka’s prime minister Wednesday promised tougher legislation to deal with hate crimes after an upsurge in attacks on the minority Muslim community. Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed not to allow a repeat of 2014 anti-Muslim riots in which four people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed. “The police as well as all other relevant authorities … Read more
Sri Lanka’s prime minister Wednesday promised tougher legislation to deal with hate crimes after an upsurge in attacks on the minority Muslim community. Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed not to allow a repeat of 2014 anti-Muslim riots in which four people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed. “The police as well as all other relevant authorities … Read more
International aid arrived into Sri Lanka on Wednesday as the death toll from the island’s worst floods and landslides in well over a decade climbed to 202. Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to assist more than 600,000 people driven from their homes following Friday’s monsoon deluge. “We … Read more
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena announced his first cabinet reshuffle Monday, switching his finance and foreign ministers as he resists mounting pressure from a breakaway faction in his own party. Sirisena swapped the portfolios held by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in a shake up aimed at quelling dissent within the … Read more
Sri Lanka’s President announced Saturday new investigations into alleged secret detention centres as part of a drive to find tens of thousands of people still missing after the country’s decades-long war. Maithripala Sirisena said he would establish a mechanism to search locations where there are reports that people may still be incarcerated after the war, … Read more
Sri Lanka said Friday it will demolish an estimated 10,000 illegally built homes and offices in Colombo, a day after a seven-storey wedding hall collapsed, killing one and wounding 23. Urban Development Minister Champika Ranawaka said the casualties could have been much higher if the hall had been hosting a wedding at the time of … Read more
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Sri Lanka on Thursday on a charm offensive as New Delhi seeks to reassert its influence on the island amid signs of a Chinese comeback. Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in January 2015 promising to loosen ties with China after a decade of hefty funding … Read more
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister on Friday accused the previous administration of using its embassies abroad as “safe houses” for murderers accused of perpetrating human rights abuses during the civil war. Mangala Samaraweera told parliament a deputy ambassador posted to Brazil and two staffers sent to Germany were among those suspected of murders and war crimes … Read more
Sri Lanka said Wednesday it would allow rich individuals and temples to adopt baby elephants, overturning a ban put in place to protect the animals. Elephants are revered as holy in mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka, where the high-maintenance beasts have become a status symbol for the wealthy elite. But they are also kept by temples … Read more
Sri Lanka on Wednesday ended the grim search for survivors five days after a huge garbage mountain collapsed onto a slum, killing 32 people and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Another 11 people were injured when the 300-foot (90-metre) dump partially collapsed on Friday as Sri Lankans celebrated their traditional new year. “We … Read more
Sri Lanka has moved over 400 families to temporary shelters after tonnes of rotting garbage collapsed onto a slum on Friday, killing 26 people. Some 145 homes were destroyed when the 300-foot (90-metre) rubbish mountain came crashing down and police say many more buildings were damaged and could collapse at any time. Hundreds of soldiers … Read more
Hopes of finding anyone alive under a collapsed mountain of garbage in Sri Lanka’s capital faded Sunday as the death toll reached 21, police said. Hundreds of soldiers were digging through the rubbish and the wreckage of some 145 homes that were destroyed when a side of the 300-foot (90-metre) high dump crashed on Friday. … Read more
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said Wednesday he would not protect anyone guilty of murder during the civil war, flagging arrests for a spate of high-profile crimes allegedly perpetrated by security forces. Sirisena, who has been criticised for failing to establish credible investigations into war-era abuses, said he would not stand by murderers but would … Read more
The brother of Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapakse denied Tuesday involvement in war-era death squads, blaming the then army chief for an alleged secretive campaign of extrajudicial murders. Gotabhaya Rajapakse has been accused of giving orders to a shadowy military outfit allegedly involved in murdering journalists and political dissidents during Sri Lanka’s long-running civil … Read more