Share Blogs

US Tamils are disappointed in Obama’s human rights record, but they (Tamils for Obama) cited President Obama sending Samantha Power and David Pressman, two of the administration’s senior foreign policy advisors, to Colombo to confer with Sri Lankans. The US Tamils see these as positive signs that the Obama administration is likely to pay closer attention to Sri Lankan affairs during his next two years in office. The Bush administration, the Tamils say, was never on their side and so they don’t expect the Republicans to be friendly or helpful to them in the future, which they think is another reason to vote for the Democrats. “US Tamils should vote for the Democrats this year,” a spokesman for Tamils for Obama said. “We have reasons to hope that the Obama administration will take actions that will help Tamils in Sri Lanka if they still have a cooperative Congress. We have no expectation that the Republicans will help us, so we hope they don’t get control of Congress. The spokesman ...

A national drug policy similar to the prof. Senaka Bibile's policy to be implimented from 2011 HELTH MINISTER, MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA said today..

The brutal murder of a 60 year old woman at wellawawaya was reported this afternoon. Police said that the suspect had attacked the woman, killing her and injuring two other women. Two injured women had been admitted to the wellawaya hospital and later transferred to the Monaragala base hospital since their condition was critical....

While Canadians aren’t thrilled to see boatloads of people — including both economic migrants and genuine refugees — turning up here seeking asylum, as 492 Tamils from Sri Lanka did this summer, does Ottawa need to slap them in jail for a year, deny them permanent residency and cut their health coverage to tell the world that we won’t be played for patsies? That’s the question Parliament must ask as it studies Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s tough new crackdown on human smuggling. The Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act that Public Safety Minister Vic Toews unveiled Thursday warrants critical study before it is rushed into law. In effect, the bill would create a less worthy category of refugee — people whom Canada’s public safety minister deems to have arrived in a “human smuggling event.” They would pay a heavy price for it. The vast majority of refugee claimants arrive in Canada by air or by land. The few who arrive by sea, as did the Sun Sea mi...

A sudden fire has broken out at the Norochchole Thermal Power Plant in Kalpitiya today morning. According to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman, Vidya Amarapala the fire has irrupted due to the clogging up of a chimney that emits waste from the combustion of coal. Mr. Amarapala added that there are no human casualties from the fire. While almost 90% of the fire has been extinguished, additionally Sri Lanka Air force and Navy personnel have also been deployed in order to assist with the task, Ada Derana correspondent stated.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris rejected “colonial” criticism Tuesday of a government-appointed civil war probe, after foreign rights groups snubbed an invitation to attend. New York-based Human Rights Watch, London-based Amnesty International and Brussels-based International Crisis Group last week accused the panel of a cover-up and refused an offer from Colombo to appear before it. Peiris said in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading think-tank based in London, that the rights groups had displayed a “most unattractive attitude.” “It smacks of an attitude that is almost colonial, patronising and condescending, the assumption being that other people must step in because Sri Lankans are unable to chart a course for their own future,” he said. Peiris, who is in London for talks with the British government, said the LLRC was based on similar reconciliation commissions in countries such as South Africa. He urged rights groups and ...

The state of emergency was passed for another month with 118 voting for and 19 against. The four United National Party (UNP) members who were present in parliament abstained from voting.