Still shaken by the attacks of April 21, the Sri Lankan authorities are on the alert. As Ramadan begins, hundreds of police have been deployed near mosques. On this island of 22 million inhabitants, mainly Buddhists, 10% are Muslims. They fear violence against them. “We will continue our fast as usual, but we are not…
It’s jubilation in the capital of Sri Lanka. Part of the population is savoring the near end of 37 years of a bloody conflict with the Tamil rebellion. The most irreducible Tigers, surrounded by the Sri Lankan army in a coastal area of barely a few km2, preferred to stop fighting. President Mahinda Rajapaksa purposely…
According to the UN , thousands of people have been killed as a result of the conflict between the government and the Tamil tigers. Conflict lost by the rebels. The report talks about war crimes and crimes against humanity. The High Commissioner of the UN Human Rights considers that an international investigation is needed.
The “ evils ” of the curia On December 22, a few days before Christmas, the Pope, in his greeting speech, severely criticized the Roman curia, drawing up a list of diseases from which it would be affected: ” spiritual alzheimer ”, ” mental fossilization ”, ‘ ‘existential schizophrenia’, ‘false narcissism,’ worldly rivalries’. A harsh…
The innovative drive of Sri Lanka telecommunications has once again been exemplified by SLT-Mobitel, the nation’s leading telecom provider, with the announcement of their ‘Fibre Elite Rewards’ winner for January. In a display of generosity and appreciation for customer loyalty, SLT-Mobitel presents a notable Rs. 1m prize to C.K. Abeynayake, the winner of the campaign,…
In Sri Lanka, inter-community violence left three dead and several dozen injured. It happened overnight from Sunday to Monday in a tourist area in the south of the island. An extremist Buddhist group, claiming to have been attacked by Muslims, launched retaliatory attacks. Several mosques were damaged. The Muslim minority accuses the authorities of having…
Civilians trapped in the conflict in Sri Lanka are at the center of the concerns of the UN Security Council. He demands their evacuation from the combat zones and asks the Tamil rebels to lay down their arms. The Sri Lankan army has launched a muscular offensive against the separatists who are cornered in an…
New record of the floods in Sri Lanka: the authorities now speak of more than 100 dead. This toll could increase further because several dozen people are still missing. The archipelago is faced with heavy monsoon rains which cause flooding and landslides. It is the western and southern regions that are most affected. Soldiers were…
The announcement of the surrender of the Tamil rebels was greeted with joy in Colombo. No human tide in the streets, but a few festive scenes that come to greet the end of a 30 years war. “The whole world was saying that we couldn’t beat this terrorism,” comments a taxi driver. We are grateful…
Sri Lanka returns to a painful past. Five years later, the Rajapaksa family regains power. After Mahinda, now ineligible, it was his brother Gotabaya who was elected on Sunday as president of this South Asian island. Nicknamed the Terminator, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 70, wins with more than 50% of the vote ahead of the former Prime…
Sri Lanka was voting on Saturday. 16 million voters choose a new president. 35 candidates are in the running. An election against a backdrop of latent tensions over the country’s Muslim minority, 10% of the population of 22 million. The attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group, which killed 269 people at Easter, in…
At least 13 prisoners have been killed in Sri Lanka’s largest prison in Colombo, the capital. To the chagrin of the police, detainees managed to take control of part of the penitentiary center and to take staff members hostage. Some prisoners were armed. The soldiers were called in as reinforcements.
The Sri Lankan army is searching mud mountains in Aranayaka for around 100 people missing after a landslide that buried two villages, killing at least 24 people.
Getting re-elected and staying in power: this is the goal that the outgoing President of Sri Lanka intends to achieve on Tuesday in the presidential elections. Mahinda Rajapakse, whose popularity exploded last year thanks to victory against the Tamil rebellion, hopes to capitalize on it. His main opponent may well thwart his plans. He is…
Floods in Sri Lanka have left at least eight people dead, according to authorities, who have deployed relief efforts to try to help victims in six districts. They also fear landslides. Some 38,000 people have been affected by these floods. The month of May marks the onset of the monsoon in southern Sri Lanka.
Nearly 15 million voters were called to the polls in Sri Lanka to say which of the two main candidates will win the supreme seat. Among them, the head of state, whose term will only end in two years and who has taken the liberty of bringing forward the date of the election. With the…