Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
Sri Lanka’s police force said Friday it had sacked an officer who entertained protesters with an impromptu piano performance after they stormed the island nation’s presidential compound last year. Constable R. M. D. Dayaratne was deployed to help protect the colonial-era residence on the day it was taken over by protesters who forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. Instead, he sat at a grand piano in the compound and played a song to […]
By Amal JAYASINGHE Agence France-Presse HORANA, Sri Lanka, June 27, 2023 (AFP) — Heart-wrenching images of revered elephants and cattle eating plastic in Sri Lanka have prompted politicians to toughen pollution laws, but skeptical conservationists warn past bans were repeatedly ignored. After an estimated 20 elephant deaths and countless other wild animals perishing due to single-use plastics in the past decade, officials say a law banning many such items is expected to come into force […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) – Sri Lanka ordered civil servants on Wednesday not to express opinions on social media after some officials claimed schoolchildren were fainting from a lack of food due to the country’s dire economic crisis. In a fresh order to 1.5 million state employees, the Ministry of Public Administration and Management said a long-established ban on speaking to reporters now extends to social media posts. “Expressing opinions on social media by a […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka issued an urgent appeal on Monday to tackle rapidly spreading malnutrition among children as its economic crisis leaves nine out of 10 people dependent on state handouts. The Ministry for Women and Child Affairs said they were seeking private donations to feed possibly several hundred thousand children wasting due to insufficient food. The bankrupt state, grappling with Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence, was unable to […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in Thursday as president of the crisis-hit South Asian nation, as officials said he was looking to form a unity government to manage the turmoil. The 73-year-old veteran politician, who was overwhelmingly elected as head of state in a parliamentary vote Wednesday, took his oath of office before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, his office said. Live coverage of the swearing-in at […]
by Sean Gleeson Agence France-Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Activist Premakumar Gunaratnam says he was marked for death by Sri Lanka’s security boss a decade ago. The architect of his abduction went on to become president, but now the dissident has played a key role in the leader’s downfall. Now 56, Gunaratnam was snatched by armed gunmen from his home near Colombo, bundled into a white van, and driven away to a secret location […]
(Eagle News) – The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has raised Alert Level 2 or a “restriction phase” on Sri Lanka due to the security situation in that country. In an advisory, the DFA said that “there will be no new deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Sri Lanka, and only those with existing employment contracts are allowed to return to the country.” Citing reports from the Embassy, the DFA said that there […]
by Sean GLEESON and Mahesh PERERA Agence France-Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Out of gas and stuck in line for days, a group of motorists kick off their shoes and settle on a sidewalk in Sri Lanka’s capital for a round of cards. Emergency curfews, tear gas plumes and the sudden departure and resignation of the president have all failed to budge the long vehicle queues snaking out of Colombo’s empty petrol stations. Chronic […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Crisis-hit Sri Lanka declared an indefinite nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, the prime minister’s office said. “Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” Dinouk Colombage, spokesman for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, told AFP. Police said they were also imposing an indefinite curfew across the Western Province, which […]
by Amal JAYASINGHE Agence France-Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s embattled president flew out of his country to the Maldives early Wednesday, in a likely prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests against his island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens […]
by Amal JAYASINGHE Agence France Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Millions of rupees in cash left behind by Sri Lanka’s president when he fled his official residence was handed over to a court Monday after being turned in by protestors, police said as a succession battle got under way. Protesters discovered 17.85 million rupees (about $50,000) in crisp new banknotes but turned it over to police following Saturday’s storming of the Presidential palace. […]
by Amal Jayasinghe with Faisal Kamal in Galle Agence France Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan protesters refused to budge from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence on Sunday after storming his home, forcing him to flee with the navy and to announce his resignation. The dramatic events on Saturday were the culmination of months of protests by people enraged by the South Asian island nation’s unprecedented economic crisis and the Rajapaksa clan’s incompetence […]
