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Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Sri Lanka. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Capital
Colombo
Head of State
President Ranil Wickremesinghe
Head of Government
President Ranil Wickremesinghe
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth (right) meets Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa (left) and his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa during a reception in central London on June 6, 2012. Photo: Reuters
Corruption in Asia

Sri Lanka’s ex-first lady arrested in charity corruption probe

Shiranthi Rajapaksa is facing allegations that her charity misused US$30,000 in donations collected for a children’s hospital.

India

‘A show of strength’: US F-35 stealth jets join Indian air drills

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Thailand

Thailand has had enough of foreign tourists behaving badly

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Protests around the world

Sri Lanka’s opposition protests against contentious judicial reforms

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa says the legislation proposed will ‘annihilate’ judicial independence.

Protesters hold placards chant slogans as they protest against the proposed 22nd Amendment to the constitution at Polduwa Junction in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
Sri Lanka’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya party supporters protest near the parliament in Colombo on Thursday against a constitutional amendment proposed by the government to extend the retirement age of judges. Photo: AFP
Sri Lanka bombings

Sri Lanka court convicts 15 over 2019 Easter bombings

Suicide bombers targeted three hotels and three churches, killing 279 people and wounding about 500. The trial has gone on for five years.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Saudi oil pipeline closure puts Asia’s economic resilience to the test

Experts say the loss will hit Asian refiners first before feeding through to inflation, currencies and economic growth across the region.

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US-China relations

China edges US, EU on AI regulation trust in middle-income countries: Pew survey

US think tank study finds middle-income countries have ‘more positive views of China’ when it comes to regulating AI effectively.

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A Pew survey found that China leads the US and the European Union in trust in AI regulation among mostly middle-income countries. Photo: Shutterstock
Crime in Hong Kong

Man arrested after HK$1 million in gems stolen from hotel guest asleep in lobby

Police say suspect allegedly took advantage of situation to search overseas businessman’s backpack and remove uncut gemstones.

Thailand

‘Not for sale’: Thais take to streets in rare protest against Israel

The protest follows months of complaints about illegal landholding, cultural disrespect and proliferation of Israeli religious houses.

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Nepal

China-Nepal floods: rescuers pull out survivors caked in mud as toll climbs

Nepal has reversed an earlier decision and says it will allow foreign teams and experts to help with rescue efforts.

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Rescuers transport an elderly woman rescued from a Devighat old age home following a flash flood in Trishuli Bazar, Nuwakot district, Nepal. Photo: EPA
Japan

Japan to expand security aid to 12 Indo-Pacific nations

Tokyo has more than doubled its security assistance programme to US$114 million in a strategic push.

Japanese coast guard members in the waters off southern Japan in November 2023. Japan has primarily supplied non-lethal equipment, including patrol boats and radar systems, under its OSA framework. Photo: Kyodo News/AP
Doing Good

‘Born to Fly’ documents Hong Kong-born Rahul Sharma’s world record run across Sri Lanka

Soon after Rahul Sharma began looking for a suitable challenge, he became the fastest man to run the length of Sri Lanka. A new documentary follows his record-breaking feat.

US-China trade war

Editorial | ‘Transshipment scam’ is not a global conspiracy but a warning to the US

The White House’s accusation that over 40 nations are involved in a shadow network that harms the US betrays a misunderstanding of how trade works.

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Thailand

How Cambodian worker exodus exposes Thailand’s fragile labour model

An estimated 780,000 Cambodian workers have left Thailand since last year’s border conflicts, affecting a wide range of industries.

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Cambodian migrant workers cross the border at Ban Laem Border checkpoint in Chanthaburi province, Thailand, in July last year to return to their home amid the deadly border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Photo: Reuters
Asia travel

Three-wheeling through Sri Lanka on a family tuk-tuk adventure

Cheap, naturally air-conditioned and undoubtedly a ‘fun-mobile’, a self-driven tuk-tuk provides the ultimate transport for travellers too young to appreciate the spiritual side of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.

David Burden’s family climbs aboard Abu the tuk-tuk. Photo: David Burden
India-Pakistan tensions

Maldives’ plea to restart South Asian bloc hits India-Pakistan brick wall

Calls for reviving Saarc are likely to fall on deaf ears as long as the two neighbours are at loggerheads, analysts say.

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Protests around the world

Opinion | South Asia’s Gen Z protests offer one lesson in common

From Sri Lanka and Nepal to Bangladesh and India, youth protests have shaken or even toppled governments, but creating lasting change has been more challenging.

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Hong Kong society

Li Ka Shing Foundation, Disney gift 24,000 domestic helpers Toy Story 5 tickets

Registration on Klook to open at 9pm on Wednesday in latest collaboration between Hong Kong tycoon’s charity foundation and The Walt Disney Company.

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Foreign domestic helpers at Hong Kong Disneyland during a sponsored visit in April this year. Photo: Eugene Lee
Crime

Sri Lanka deploys troops to contain deadly riot at overcrowded Mahara Prison

The latest unrest comes almost a month after another prison riot in the same region, in which 10 guards and 21 inmates were killed.

Sri Lanka bombings

Sri Lanka ex-police chief sentenced to death over 2019 Easter bombings

A three-judge court ruled that Pujith Jayasundara failed to stop the attacks which targeted churches and hotels, killing 279 people.

Asean

Asian scam gangs snare educated English speakers with fake job ads: UN agency

Victims from over 80 different countries are being trafficked into cross-border scams, the International Organisation for Migration says.

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People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centres, are detained in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar on February 26, 2025. Photo: AP
India

Opinion | How China and the US are sidelining India in its own neighbourhood

India is being denied the uncontested dominance it once held. The task ahead is not to restore the old hierarchy but to find a new path.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
Thailand

Thailand monastery added to Unesco heritage list, boosting tourism hopes

The Phra Mahathat monastery, the site has served as a regional Buddhist centre since its founding in the 8th century, according to Unesco.

Drones

Sri Lanka deploys military drones to fight worst dengue outbreak in almost a decade

Air force drones are tracking stagnant water on rooftops, while its troops are helping overstretched hospital staff keep track of patients.

Science

China’s AI weather warning system Mazu expanding across Global South

The system has been designed to provide ‘tailored’ services that help developing countries better prepare for extreme weather events.

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The weather warning system on display at the World AI Conference in Shanghai last week. Photo: Getty Images
Science

China’s reusable rocket feat lights up the web: is SpaceX set to lose its crown?

The space race just became a real race again, says one online commentator, after net-and-cable recovery of rocket booster sparks awe.

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A drone photo shows the capturing of the returned first stage of the Long March-10B carrier rocket on a seaborne platform via a net-capture system, near Wenchang in southern China’s Hainan province on July 10. Photo: Xinhua via AP

Video | Sri Lankan prison riot kills dozens, over 100 wounded

The clash between inmates from two drug gangs is Sri Lanka’s worst prison riot in more than five years.

Crime

Sri Lanka probes prison riot as death toll rises to 27

Rival gangs clashed inside the prison before overpowering guards, seizing their weapons and opening fire.

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