Tributes have been paid to a "committed" Red Cross worker who died after being attacked on Christmas Day while on holiday, the Press Association reported Khuram Shaikh, 32, from Manchester, a physiotherapist working for the International Red Cross in the Middle East, was killed in the tourist resort of Tangalle, about 100 miles south of the capital Colombo.   Unmarried Mr Shaikh was t...

A British man killed on holiday in Sri Lanka has been described as a “committed” Red Cross worker. Khuram Shaikh, 32, from Manchester, was a physiotherapist working for the International Red Cross in Gaza. He died early on December 25 after an attack on him and a colleague in the tourist resort of Tangalle. Four people have ...

What to expect on 16 DecemberThe organisers behind the exciting and highly anticipated weekend set to take Colombo by storm, are ready to share their inside plans with the public. After many months of logistics and operational planning, the 16 and 17 of December is looking to promise an event unlike any event Sri Lanka ...

(Srilankamirror) - Convicted Sri Lankan-born hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam has arrived at a US federal prison to begin serving the longest-ever sentence for insider trading. Rajaratnam, who was sentenced to 11 years in jail, reported to a facility in Massachusetts, BBC Sandeshaya reports

Srilankamirror - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it is currently discussing with the international cricket players union to look for a solution to the non-payment of Sri Lanka player salaries. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has told the BBC Sinhala service in October that the players

Will the LLRC report re-write history? Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission will issue its report soon (hopefully to the public). It is not necessary to mention leaks; it is enough to simply look at the initial statement of purpose. “To inquire and report on the following matters that may have taken place during ...

Colombo is beefing up security ahead of the delivery of the verdict in the controversial white flag case against former army commander General Sarath Fonseka. While there are reports that a key witness against Fonseka has fled the country in fear on a Cathay Pacific Flight bound for Hong Kong, police have also moved in a ...

(Srilankamirror) - The convicted insider trader, Sri Lankan born Raj Rajaratnam, has been handed a record fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil case. A judge ordered the former founder of Galleon Group, a hedge fund, to pay 92.8 million dollars in penalties, BBC reports

The inaugural Colombo Night Races and the second Electric Peacock Festival will take place this December, taking entertainment in Colombo to another level. The organisers of both events promise the country a weekend like never before, packed with fast cars and stellar music acts. The two events will take place on 16 and 17 of ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving from the USA and the debt-plagued countries of the Eurozone, to ...

Races are scheduled to kick off from 7.00p.m on 17 December By Kshanika Argent For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history (with the exception of a brief period in the 60’s) Colombo will witness night races at the inaugural Colombo Night Races which coincides with the second Electric Peacock Festival, scheduled for this December. ...

Sri Lankan represents global team of entrepreneursAspirations Edu-cation’s General Manager Deepamala Abeysekera became the only Sri Lankan to represent a group of 30 entrepreneurs in the world from, USA, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa, to read for her postgraduate studies in entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge. Cambridge has acquired an international reputation as an ...

Noel Bruno Dawsan, a Sri Lankan, has been recognized as the world's best tour guide by the British travel magazine Wanderlust. The winner says he is delighted and will help disadvantaged people into further education with his bursary. A Tamil of Indian origin, he comes from a family of impoverished tea pickers in a remote Sri Lankan town. Mr. Dawsan was hailed by the judges as a ...

British media reports that the Sri Lanka Development Fund, set up by Britain’s Defence Secretary Liam Fox has not achieved any results other than to pay for his trips to the island. The defence secretary has told the House of Commons that he had worked with people in business, banking and politics in Sri Lanka since 2009 to set up the Trust to help with reconstruction of the country aft...

The Canadian prime minister has called upon heads of state to consider Sri Lanka’s human rights record before attending the Commonwealth leaders’ summit (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo. Answering a question by a journalist in Toronto, PM Stephen Harper said he has expressed his reservations on Sri Lanka hosting the 2013 summit. “I intend ...

Dr. Craig Turner, EDGE Conservation Biologist from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Sri Lankan zoologist, Saman Gamage called on the British High Commissioner John Rankin recently to brief him about the work being done to protect the red slender loris. Until recently, the Horton Plains slender loris was believed possibly extinct. In 2009, ...

According to latest report of Global Peace Index (GPI), Sri Lanka ranked 126 while Norway ranked in ninth place. Here we are talking about the riots that took place in UK recently and the same GPI ranked the UK in 26th place (100 places ahead of Sri Lanka). A series of incidents erupted in England ...

An effort made to harm the reputation of Sri Lanka using the Channel 4 documentary has failed. Sri Lanka was cleared of the allegations at a meeting held to raise awareness amongst all member countries of the UN regarding the Channel 4 documentary. The conspirators were made speechless by the answers offered by Sri Lanka. ...

History proves the efforts made by Channel Four to get popularized by crafting controversial as well as programmes provoking the people. The report telecast by Channel Four villifying the Sri Lankan Government and the Security Forces is the talk of the day among various communities. Media institutions as well as many critics point out that ...

Several trade unions have complained to the United Nations seeking an intervention against the restrictions imposed by the government on trade union activities. Trade unions from the apparel and health sectors have in a complaint to the International Labour Organization (ILO) said the fundamental rights of the workers have been violated by the government by ...

Increasing the profile of Ealam Tamils who have received international recognition, BBC has listed recently appointed as Deputy Prime Minister holding Finance, Manpower and Monetary Authority portfolios, in the Government of Singapore, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, as one of the top nine leading

The Gay Movement In Sri Lanka By Sherman Anthony De Rose I am from a family of seven from the countryside of Kotahena. When I was young, it was a very crowded area where low class people, who earned only for their daily needs, lived. The area had very strong Catholic families, Colombo Chetties and ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The illusion of destiny extracts a remarkably heavy price”. — Amartya Sen (Identity and Violence) The mysterious leaking in Colombo of the Darusman (UN) Report was accompanied by a carefully choreographed outbreak of patriotic-hysteria. The President, in...

Extracts from report on Sri Lanka by advisory panel appointed by Ban Ki moon 2. Violations in the IDP Camps (a) Arbitrary detention of IDPs in closed camps 154. Civilians emerging from the conflicts zone were initially housed in a...

The BBC Sinhala Service, in asking for comments on the 2010 US Report on Human Rights in Sri  Lanka, gave me little notice, and suggested I could just glance through the synopsis with which the report began. As it happened, I was able to look through some of the rest, which was good, because I ...

Cricket may be, as the sociologist Ashis Nandy wrote in 1983, “an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English,” but India took a long time to take control of it. by Huw Richards For Sachin Tendulkar, it was “the proudest...

By BBC News Hundreds of people have protested against Western-led air strikes in Libya outside the United Nations headquarters in Sri Lanka. Protesters chanted slogans against the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - pic DailyMirror.lk...

by Tisaranee Gunasekara "When heads of state do not pay attention to the needs of their nation, the people take over”. Turkish Presiden Abdullah Gul (During the February 2011 visit to Iran) “As he launched a series of murderous attacks...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “But these were monstrous times. So, naturally Jennie turned monstrous”. Klaus Mann (The Turning Point) Neither President Mahinda Rajapaksa nor his administration can be faulted for the calamitous weather conditions afflicting Sri Lanka. Global warming is a global phenomenon, an environmental malaise to which the entire world (and each one of its people) has cont...

The Galle Literary festival is a haven of civilised values in a country that is no stranger to strife by Robert McCrum Associate editor, The Observer, UK [Click for more pictures] Ever since the Hay festival set up shop overseas...