Tag Archives: sri lanka

Rival lawmakers exchanged blows in Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Thursday as disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse claimed the speaker had no authority to remove him from office by voice vote. The fighting in the chamber came a day after it passed a no-confidence vote against Rajapakse’s government. When Parliament re-convened, …

Sri Lanka’s parliament passed a no-confidence motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday, presenting a standoff with the opposition and throwing the country deeper into turmoil. Deputies from Rajapakse’s party rejected the voice vote as illegal, saying it wasn’t scheduled and that the pro-China former strongman would …

Tens of thousands of supporters of sacked prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe blocked roads in Sri Lanka’s capital on Tuesday, stepping up a showdown with the country’s newly appointed leader – a former strongman accused of grave rights abuses. Wickremesinghe left his official residence for the first time since Friday to …

COLOMBO, Oct 27, (RTRS): Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday suspended parliament till Nov 16, a day after removing Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and replacing him with former leader Mahinda Rajapakse in a surprise move that signals escalating political tensions in the South Asian nation. “The president has …

Hosts beat tourists by three wickets PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka, Aug 9, (AFP): Suranga Lakmal took three key wickets in a tense encounter Wednesday cut short by rain to guide Sri Lanka to their first one-day win over South Africa in 12 matches. Dasun Shanaka hit 65 while Thisara Perera and …

COLOMBO, June 6, (Agencies): A television network owned by the family of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was suspended by the island’s telecom regulator Tuesday, worsening a power struggle in the fractious ruling coalition. The closure of Telshan Network comes days after the station criticised President Maithripala Sirisena, who …

Colombo, March 29, 2018 (AFP) -Sri Lankan police Thursday arrested a top prison official over a massacre of 27 inmates that became an icon of grave rights abuses under former president Mahinda Rajapakse. Prisons Commissioner Emil Lamahewage was arrested in connection with the November 2012 bloodbath at the Welikada high …

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government has lifted a weeklong ban on social media that was imposed because of concerns that it was being used to fan anti-Muslim violence in the country’s central region. President Maithripala Sirisena said Thursday he ordered an immediate lifting of a ban on …

Colombo, March 11, 2018 (AFP) -Vandals attacked a Muslim-owned restaurant in Sri Lanka on Sunday in an alleged “hate crime”, police said, as tensions remain high across the island following a week of violent riots. The restaurant in Anamaduwa — 130 kilometres (81 miles) north of the capital Colombo — …

Colombo, March 10, 2018 (AFP) -An investigation into anti-Muslim riots that spread in central Sri Lanka prompting the authorities to declare a nationwide state of emergency was announced Saturday by President Maithripala Sirisena. A panel of three retired judges will probe the breakdown in law and order in the picturesque …