By BBC Sandeshaya Prsidient Mahinda Rajapaksha has engaged in constructive bilateral talks with a number of heads of state now in New York, says Presidential media co-ordinator Vijayananda herath. President Rajapaksa is in New York to attend the United Nations...

By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo People in northern Sri Lanka have told a war inquiry that family members who served with the Tamil Tigers disappeared after surrendering. They said their loved ones went missing at the end of the...

“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.” — Voltaire Where do we go from here? The paranoia increases by the day. First came the reported disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda (missing since January 24 this year), then the statement made recently by reinstated Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva who reportedly stated at a ...

While the forthcoming hearings by Sri Lanka's Lesson and Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) at the former LTTE stronghold Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu are to be held in public, BBC has been "blocked from covering the public hearing," BBC said Friday. "A senior defence ministry official

The BBC has been blocked from covering public hearings about Sri Lanka's civil war in former rebel-held territory.

The BBC has been blocked from covering public hearings about Sri Lanka’s civil war in former rebel-held territory.

Sri Lanka's defence ministry blocks the BBC from reporting on public hearings in former rebel-held territory.

An explosion in Sri Lanka has killed at least 60 people, most of them policemen, officials say. A military spokesman said vehicles carrying explosives accidentally blew up at a police station near the eastern city of Batticaloa. The explosives were...

Sri Lanka is in the top among the World Giving Index. It is the 8th country in the world which has registered a high level of contentment. This is revealed in a survey conducted by the UK’s Charities Aid Foundation. The survey took place in 153 countries. It covered 95 percent of the world’s population. ...

Sri Lanka is still denying civilian deaths by Peter Bouckaert Director of Emergencies Division, Human Rights Watch During the Vietnam conflict, the US military developed some creative ways to increase the numbers of Viet Cong insurgents it claimed to have...

A leading Sri Lankan cricketer has been investigated by the anti-corruption unit of the ICC, BBC understands.

A leading Sri Lanka cricketer has been investigated by the anti-corruption unit of the world cricket governing body, BBC Sport has learned.

A Sri Lankan cricketer was investigated by police after arousing suspicion during the World Twenty20 tournament in England, BBC learns.

BBC World Service In 1989 Appapillai Amirthalingam was assassinated at his home in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. He was a politician - the most prominent democratically-elected leader of the Tamil community....

Sri Lankan housemaids say hundreds of them in Saudi Arabia had been harassed by embassy officials.

By a special correspondent Exclusive to BBC Sinhala service The alert and watchful eyes of weary soldiers scanned every vehicle passing through the checkpoints. Broken, torn buildings tower over the tiny UNHCR tents on the gardens and court yards. Hanging...

The eminent panel is obsequious to the gray haired gentleman that takes the stand. He sits with his back to the crowd, thick with reporters from the BBC, Reuters, and India. The man is Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the first star witness and the first with any real power. It is palpable

by Tisaranee Gunasekara “A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill….” - George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-four) Some months ago, Defence Secretary and Presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapakse threatened to send the former Army Commander, Gen. Sarath Fonseka, to the gallows. When BBC’s Stephen Sackur asked about the possibility of Gen. Fonseka testifying about...

Report To Congress on Measures Taken by the Government of Sri Lanka and International Bodies To Investigate Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka, and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Such Efforts Office of War Crimes Issues Report August 11,...

by Prof. Michael Roberts The citizens of Thamileelam who struggled out of the inferno of war in the north-east corner of the northern Vanni during the months of January-May 2009 journeyed on foot or boat. During the first few months...

The Oslo Police have arrested three Sri Lankan Tamil men thought to be from rival factions supporting the LTTE, after a clash in a Hindu religious festival, the BBC reported.

Since Madagascar underwent a violent change of government in 2009, the island nation's economy has collapsed and illegal logging has boomed as people seek any means of earning a living. BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents reveals how Madagascar's forests have been plundered since the political crisis began.

The history books will forever remember Muttiah Muralitharan as one of the greatest ever, if not the greatest, bowler to have played the game. But former assistant coach Paul Farbrace shared another side of Murali that others may not know of.

by Tisaranee Gunasekara One should take great care not to bow down or become enslaved to an object unworthy and base, lest we become sharers of the baseness and unworthiness of the same — Giodano Bruno (The Heroic Enthusiasts) Last week the villagers of Ragamwela in Ampara, engaged in a protest demonstration, accusing the police of occupying their lands. Ragamwela is strategically locat...

The Legend Of Chinaman By Indi Samarajiva Chinaman is the great Sri Lankan novel, about a hundred pages too long and a year late. Like any great Sri Lankan, it has shown up as the party’s nearly ended — drunk, disheveled, yet full of humour and charm, belying a deeper sadness. Chinaman is the story ...

By Dr.A.R.M.Imtiyaz [Abstract: Symbols are emotional and they play significant role in all aspect of human communities, including electoral politics. Symbols are deadly in nature because they can provoke deadly violence and war crimes. In Sri Lanka, Sinhala politician and...

By Athiyan Silva Further evidence has emerged in recent weeks of the continuing political disintegration of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was militarily crushed in May 2009 by the Sri Lankan military. Several reports indicate that...

(Lanka-e-News 25.July.2010 -1.10PM) The BBC Sinhala service including ‘Sandesaya’ and other miniature services and groups world wide are to be closed down in September 2010, it has been decided,...

World media reporting on the record achieved by Murali has hailed him for re-inventing the sport. International media published various reports on Muralitharan who became the first bowler in the history of test cricket to achieve the milestone of 800 wickets. BBC said that Murali re-invented

It is entirely possible that Muthiah Muralitharan will play the second Test against India, although he has announced his retirement after the first. If he claims just seven wickets in the Galle match he would tally 799. An impressive enough figure, but if the temptation to become the first bowler to claim 800 Test wickets ...