Sri Lanka's opposition Tuesday called for nationwide protests over the "barbaric and extra-judicial" arrest of the country's former army chief, accusing President Mahinda Rajapaksa of undermining the country's democratic institutions.
A former Sri Lankan general who ran against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January has been arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the country's government, authorities announced Monday night.
Sri Lanka has held its first presidential election since government forces put down a 26-year insurgency by Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will seek a fresh mandate in the upcoming elections in the South Asian nation, but he is facing a tough challenge from his one-time confidante and former Army commander, retired General Sarath Fonseka.
The Sri Lankan government said Saturday it will lift restrictions on thousands of war-displaced ethnic Tamils still residing in squalid internment camps.
A U.N. special representative wants an "independent investigation into the authenticity of a video" purportedly showing Sri Lankan troops killing two "naked and helpless men," as other corpses lay nearby.
Two journalism groups have announced plans to honor a Sri Lankan reporter who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for articles that criticized the military.
Naked, bound and blindfolded, a crudely shot video shows a man being pushed to the ground by men wearing what appear to be military, camouflage fatigues.
Flash floods have inundated refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka, endangering more than 16,000 Tamil refugees who only months ago survived cross-fire in the country's two-decade civil war, the United Nations says.
The Sri Lankan government should immediately release more than 280,000 displaced Tamil civilians living in detention camps, a leading human rights group said Wednesday.
Sri Lanka's opposition Tuesday called for nationwide protests over the "barbaric and extra-judicial" arrest of the country's former army chief, accusing President Mahinda Rajapaksa of undermining the country's democratic institutions.
A former Sri Lankan general who ran against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January has been arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the country's government, authorities announced Monday night.
Sri Lanka has held its first presidential election since government forces put down a 26-year insurgency by Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will seek a fresh mandate in the upcoming elections in the South Asian nation, but he is facing a tough challenge from his one-time confidante and former Army commander, retired General Sarath Fonseka.
The Sri Lankan government said Saturday it will lift restrictions on thousands of war-displaced ethnic Tamils still residing in squalid internment camps.
A U.N. special representative wants an "independent investigation into the authenticity of a video" purportedly showing Sri Lankan troops killing two "naked and helpless men," as other corpses lay nearby.
Two journalism groups have announced plans to honor a Sri Lankan reporter who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for articles that criticized the military.
Naked, bound and blindfolded, a crudely shot video shows a man being pushed to the ground by men wearing what appear to be military, camouflage fatigues.
Flash floods have inundated refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka, endangering more than 16,000 Tamil refugees who only months ago survived cross-fire in the country's two-decade civil war, the United Nations says.
The Sri Lankan government should immediately release more than 280,000 displaced Tamil civilians living in detention camps, a leading human rights group said Wednesday.
More than 20,000 civilians were killed in the final months of Sri Lanka's civil war -- nearly three times previous estimates, The Times newspaper in Britain reported Friday.
Sri Lanka's police chief on Tuesday urged "people who have links to terrorist activities" to surrender at the nearest police station or army camp.
Shell-shocked and scarred both inside and out, they huddle in tents, water and medicine in short supply -- hundreds of thousands of people, civilian victims of Sri Lanka's recently-ended civil war.
The deafening roar of drums and horns rose as thousands of people took to the streets in Sri Lanka Friday for a victory parade marking the end of the decades-long civil war.
After visiting a displacement camp in Sri Lanka on Saturday and flying over the site of the last battle in the country's recently ended civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the sites "appalling."
Sri Lanka has rejected criticism that it is not doing enough to provide for the estimated 250,000 refugees following the end of its war with the Tamil Tigers.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flashing a broad smile, declared victory Tuesday in the country's 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Humanitarian aid agencies scrambled Monday to offer help to the tens of thousands of people in need after Tamil separatists declared an end to their quarter-century struggle in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's government said Monday its forces had killed Tamil rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran as he attempted to flee, according to the country's state-run news agency.
The Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka said Sunday they have "decided to silence our guns" as government forces closed in on their last stronghold.
Sri Lanka's prime minister warned Saturday that his country "stands on the brink," as its soldiers cornered Tamil Tiger fighters in an assault that is trapping more than 50,000 civilians on a small plot of coastal land.
A Red Cross worker was killed Wednesday during shelling in the conflict zone in Sri Lanka, the third aid worker killed in six weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross says.
Sri Lanka's quarter-century-long civil war is in its final phase, the government suggested Friday, as its troops pounded Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's north.
The U.N. Security Council and U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for both sides in Sri Lanka's civil war to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid into the conflict zone, where tens of thousands are trapped.
A British news team that had been detained by Sri Lankan authorities -- after producing a report about the alleged abuse of Tamils -- has left the country.
Sri Lankan authorities on Saturday detained a British news team that produced a report about allegations of abuse and ill-treatment of Tamil refugees.
Tamil Tiger rebels have been pinned down by Sri Lankan government troops in a small section of the country's north, the Ministry of Defense claimed Tuesday.
The Sri Lankan army overran two Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the country's north on Tuesday, the military reported on its Web site.
Sri Lanka ordered an end to combat operations against Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's north, the president's office said Monday. But the rebels accused the military of continuing to bomb civilians.
Two senior Indian officials met with the Sri Lankan president Friday in Colombo to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn island nation.
The Sri Lankan president has ordered military troops to restrict their offensive against Tamil rebels while the nation celebrates the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Several hundred Sri Lankan Tamil protesters shouted slogans at the British Parliament for a second day Tuesday, urging it to act to end the "genocide" against their people in Sri Lanka.
A suicide bomber killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 50 others Tuesday when he targeted a procession heading to a mosque in southern Sri Lanka, the country's official news agency said.
India made a renewed plea Tuesday for the safe evacuation of civilians caught in Sri Lanka's war zone in fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels.
India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka's war zone.
Sri Lanka's military accused Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday of killing 17 civilians and wounding 69 others who were fleeing rebel-held territory.
At least 17 people were killed and 45 others wounded Monday when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a camp where civilians had sought refuge from the fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka, the defense ministry said.
The Sri Lankan government said Sunday that more than 10,000 civilians have fled fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka over the past week, a "sudden increase" in people displaced by the violence.
The Sri Lankan military claimed it has struck a decisive blow against Tamil rebels in the taking of a rebel naval base at Chalai.
Sri Lanka's president declared Wednesday that the country's Tamil insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, saying their demise has helped unite the island nation on the 61st anniversary of its independence.
Journalists in Sri Lanka have come under a growing number of attacks and intimidation, with some fleeing the country or losing their lives, media analysts and rights groups say.
A hospital caught in the middle of fierce fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka has been closed down after being shelled for a ninth time in four days.
Three people were killed and 10 wounded when a hospital treating victims of Sri Lanka's civil war was shelled for a fourth time in two days, the International Committee of the Red Cross told CNN Tuesday.
A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka with 250,000 unprotected civilians trapped in the crossfire between government troops and rebel forces, the Red Cross says.
Sri Lankan soldiers have seized a key rebel stronghold after launching a surprise attack early Sunday morning, the head of Sri Lanka's army announced.
The Tamil Tigers have been invited by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to lay down their arms after government forces retook the city of Kilinochchi Friday, once the center of power for the rebel group.
The Sri Lankan army captured a key junction in territory previously held by Tamil Tiger rebels, according to a statement on the Sri Lankan military's Web site.
Five members of the Sri Lanka's Civil Defense Force (CDF) were killed in a suicide blast in Sri Lanka at a church outside the capital of Colombo Sunday morning, police said.
Polyandry is a form of polygamy where a woman is married to two or more husbands at the same time.
A Sri Lankan government minister narrowly escaped injury Thursday when a suicide bomber in a car detonated explosives, police said.
Sri Lanka's military said Tuesday it shot down a plane used by the Tamil Tiger rebels, a small victory for the government in the country's ongoing civil war.
At least 11 Sri Lankan soldiers and nine Tamil Tiger rebels died in fighting in Sri Lanka's northern region, a military spokesman said Saturday.
At least 50 people were detained during a house-to-house search following two bus bombings in Sri Lanka which killed at least 22 people Friday, police said.
At least 22 people were killed Friday in two bus bombings in Sri Lanka.
A suicide bomber killed 16 people -- 12 of them police officers -- outside a police station in northern Sri Lanka Monday morning, authorities told CNN.
Seventeen commuters were injured Wednesday when Tamil Tiger rebels tried to blow up a crowded passenger train bringing workers to the capital of Sri Lanka, police said.
A bomb ripped through part of a packed passenger train during evening rush hour Monday, killing eight people and wounding 70 others near the Sri Lankan capital
A bomb exploded on a crowded commuter train in a southern suburb of Sri Lanka's capital Monday, killing nine people and wounding at least 72 others, police said.
A bomb hidden on the overhead rack of a bus in a Colombo suburb exploded Friday evening, killing 24 civilians and wounding 40 others, Sri Lankan authorities said
More than 100 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and another 400 wounded Wednesday when troops attempted to advance toward a stronghold of the Tamil Tigers rebel organization, highly placed army sources told CNN.
Sri Lanka's air force intensified bombing raids on rebel positions Monday after a suicide attack killed a cabinet minister and 14 others, military officials said.
A senior cabinet minister and at least 13 other people, including police and government officials, were killed when a suicide bomber exploded at the start of a marathon race just outside of the capital city Colombo Sunday, Sri Lankan police said.
Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90
A bomb on a highway median strip in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo killed one person and wounded another three early Monday, police said.
A series of explosions tore through Sri Lanka Monday as the country celebrated its independence day.
Rebels in Sri Lanka have killed nine civilians, the government said Friday.
At least 26 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded Wednesday in a pair of attacks in southern Sri Lanka, authorities said.
Three people including a soldier were killed in northern Sri Lanka on Monday when roadside bombs struck a truck carrying explosives, police said.
Hours after a roadside bomb killed a Sri Lankan minister, another explosion ripped through the capital Tuesday evening, injuring two bystanders.
Tamil Tiger rebels launched a deadly land and air attack on a Sri Lankan air base early Monday in the northern part of the country, triggering explosions and damaging aircraft, military sources said.
Dilhan Fernando gathers a fistful of earth and surveys his family's sprawling estate. "What's grown on that field," he says, pointing to lush cultivation on a distant misty hill, "will differ dramatically from what's grown over here." He lets the dirt sift through his fingers, as if for emphasis. "And they will both be superb drinking."
The U.S., Italian and German ambassadors to Sri Lanka received minor injuries when a helicopter they were traveling in came under fire on Tuesday, officials said.
Sri Lanka government forces battled Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday after the rebels attacked a naval base in the southern port city of Galle, naval sources said.
More than 90 Sri Lankan sailors were killed Monday afternoon when an explosives-laden truck rammed into their convoy, Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told CNN.
The Sri Lankan army said 28 soldiers were killed and 119 were wounded while battling the Tamil Tiger rebels in Jaffna, located in the northern tip of the country, late Saturday evening, Sri Lanka police inspector Percy Perera said.
The Red Cross will send ferries to battle-torn northern Sri Lanka this week to evacuate people as well as deliver aid, a source at the ministry of disaster management and human rights has said.
Tamil rebels struck the main military base at Palaly in northern Jaffna Friday, marking the first time rebels have targeted military headquarters during the four-and-a-half-year cease-fire between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tigers.
Sri Lanka has accused Tamil Tiger rebels of being behind the deaths of 15 aid workers and a number of civilians in Mutur near the northeastern port city of Trincomalee.
Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer is to meet Tamil Tiger rebel leaders Saturday, a day after deadly clashes with government troops in Sri Lanka's northeast created a new stream of refugees.
A roadside bomb planted by Tamil Tiger rebels killed 18 army soldiers and wounded two others Monday in northeastern Sri Lanka, military sources said.
New fighting on both land and sea was reported Saturday in Sri Lanka, raising new worries that the South Asian island nation may be heading toward civil war.
The Sri Lankan air force has launched fresh aerial attacks against Tamil Tiger positions following a deadly landmine attack that killed 64 people on a crowded bus.
An explosion has hit a passenger bus in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 58 civilians, including 12 children, in the worst single act of violence since a 2002 ceasefire was signed.
A gun battle between the Sri Lanka navy and Tamil Tiger rebels is feared to have left 18 officers and sailors dead, military officials said Thursday afternoon.
Sri Lanka's navy destroyed what a military spokesman called a rebel suicide boat off the island nation's western coast Friday.
A bomb attack at a navy checkpoint in Sri Lanka killed four people on Monday, military forces told CNN.
At least five Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded Monday when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated an improvised explosive device, military officials said.
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels have exploded a Claymore anti-personnel mine in northern Sri Lanka, killing four soldiers, wounding 12 and threatening peace talks, military officials said.
Sri Lanka's president has dismissed allegations of corruption following the December tsunami that claimed more than 30,000 lives and displaced nearly a million others in the South Asian nation.
A fiery train-bus accident in Sri Lanka has killed at least 37 people and injured scores of others, according to police, rescue workers and hospital staff.
Sri Lanka's president says she had no second thoughts asking U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reconsider a planned trip to rebel-held territories in her country.
A grenade attack has killed three people and wounded 34 others in eastern Sri Lanka, where tsunami relief efforts are underway.
The tsunami ended so many human lives, the environmental impact has taken second place.
The children gather at a temple in Batapola, Sri Lanka -- laughing, playing and trying to forget.
We received thousands of e-mails in the days after December's tsunamis from people seeking news of friends and relatives in areas affected by the disaster.
Aid is filtering through to parts of Sri Lanka, but thousands of people are still desperate for food and medical supplies, as many areas have not been reached by relief workers, CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.
Tsunami survivors are struggling to cope in northern Sri Lanka, already ravaged by two decades of civil war.
Delivering aid to Sri Lanka's tsunami-struck disaster areas is being hampered by poor transport, aid officials have told CNN.
People here seem bewildered by the enormity of what has happened to their country.
The United States has pledged an initial offering of about $15 million for relief efforts in southern Asia, devastated by massive tsunamis spit up from the ocean floor by the strongest earthquake in the world since 1964.
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