Latest Sri Lanka News
R. Sampanthan, face of the Tamil minority's campaign for autonomy after Sri Lanka's civil war, dies
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rajavarothiyam Sampanthan, an ethnic Tamil leader and lawmaker who became the face of the minority group's campaign for autonomy in Sri Lanka after the end of a brutal quarter-century civil war, has died. He was 91. A lawyer by profession, Sampanthan...
Sri Lanka reaches deal on debt restructuring with bilateral creditors including China and France
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced a debt restructuring deal with countries including India, France, Japan and China in a televised address to the nation Wednesday. The agreement marks a key step in the country’s economic recovery after defaulting...
US cricket team advances to second round in Twenty20 World Cup debut at Pakistan's expense
LAUDERHILL, Fla. (AP) — The United States cricket team made more history by reaching the second round in its Twenty20 World Cup debut after its last group game against Ireland was washed out on Friday. Rain meant the match at Broward County Stadium was abandoned without a ball...
Naomi Klein and V. V. Ganeshananthan win Women's Prize literary awards
LONDON (AP) — Author-activist Naomi Klein won the inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction on Thursday with “Doppelganger,” a personal account of her plunge into the world of online misinformation. Its sister award, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, went to U.S. writer V. V....
Baltimore shipping channel fully reopens after bridge collapse
BALTIMORE (AP) — The main shipping channel into Baltimore’s port has fully reopened to its original depth and width following the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which blocked most maritime traffic into the harbor. Officials announced the full reopening in a...
Sri Lanka closes schools as the death toll from floods and mudslides rises to 16
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka closed schools on Monday as the death toll due to floods and mudslides triggered by heavy rains in many parts of the island nation, rose to 16 people, officials said. The education ministry announced that the reopening of schools would depend on...
15 years on, the Tamil survivors of Sri Lanka's brutal civil war live in fear — and disempowerment
MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) — At the site of a bloody battlefield that marked the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Singaram Soosaimuthu fishes every day with his son, casting nets and reeling them in. It is a skill he has known for much of his life — and one that he had to relearn...
Colombo and Moscow discuss the issue of Sri Lankans fighting alongside Russians in Ukraine
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka and Russia are starting talks Thursday to resolve the issue of Sri Lankans fighting alongside Russians in the war against Ukraine, after at least 16 people were reported missing in action. Junior Foreign Minister Tharaka Balasuriya said that the...
Dead or alive? Parents of children gone in Sri Lanka's civil war have spent 15 years seeking answers
MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) — For 15 years, Rasalingam Thilakawathi has been trying to find out what happened to her daughter at the end of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war. Or if she might still be alive. The last evidence she has is a photo from a newspaper that shows her daughter,...
Iran's Raisi says Israel must be brought to justice for 'usurpation' of Palestinian territories
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel must be brought to justice for “usurpation and oppression” of the Palestinian territories, if not there won't be a guarantee that others would not do the same in other lands. Raisi was delivering a statement...