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

India-Pakistan tensions

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

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Protests around the world

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

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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.

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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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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.

A municipal worker fumigates a market area in Colombo on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
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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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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A relative of a victim killed in clashes between inmates of two drug gangs, grieves in front of the Negombo prison on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Crime

Sri Lanka prison riot kills 26, wounds more than 100

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

Prisoners board a bus to be transferred to another prison following clashes between two groups of inmates at Negombo prison in the coastal town of Negombo, Sri Lanka on Monday. Photo: Reuters
Japan

Japan’s detention system under scrutiny after ruling on abuse of restraints

A court order to compensate the family of a detainee shows reforms to immigration centres are urgently needed, observers say.

Crime

Sri Lanka arrests son of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa for corruption

Yoshitha Rajapaksa is accused of tapping state funds for overseas training during his career as a naval officer.

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India

Could India’s Cockroach Janta Party spark South Asia’s next youth uprising?

Analysts say the satirical party reflects real discontent but remains far from matching the movements that toppled neighbouring governments.

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A participant wearing a cockroach mask takes part in a nationwide protest campaign launched by Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, in Pune, India, on Thursday. Photo: AP

Sri Lanka nursing home fire kills 12

51 people were rescued from the facility and the home’s director has been arrested.

Crime

Sri Lanka’s top monk suspended over alleged child sex abuse

Police arrested the 71-year-old on May 9 over allegations that he had sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in 2022.

US-China relations

US agency goes back to the future to take on China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The US International Development Finance Corp mixes national security and foreign investment in its supply chain quest.

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The US International Development Finance Corp, an agency set up to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has invested US$553 million to revamp the Lobito Atlantic Railway. Photo: AFP
China-India relations

What India’s ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ near Malacca means for its China ties

Uncertainty over Strait of Hormuz amid US-Iran conflict has New Delhi moving on US$10 billion plan to transform Great Nicobar Island.

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A passenger vessel approaches the jetty at Campbell Bay on Great Nicobar Island, India's southernmost territory, located less than 150km from the Strait of Malacca's western entrance. Photo: AFP
Cambodia

The great scam migration: fraudsters fleeing Cambodia find a new hub

Criminal gangs are setting up in rented spaces ranging from luxury villas to office complexes, thanks to cheap visas and fast internet.

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Climate change

‘Godzilla El Nino’: Southeast Asia warned of punishing climate whiplash

Experts warn the heat could increase the risk of localised flooding, put pressure on drainage systems and threaten agricultural production.

Crime

Sri Lankan Buddhist monk arrested over alleged sex abuse of girl, 11

Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, is the most senior monk in the country to be accused of such a crime. The child’s mother has also been arrested.

Senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Pallegama Hemarathana. File photo: AFP
Airbus

Ex-SriLankan Airlines head in US$16 million Airbus corruption case found dead

Kapila Chandrasena was arrested in March on charges of conspiring to accept a US$16 million bribe for the purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft.

A SriLankan Airlines plane takes off from Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake on September 13, 2022. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

‘I started crying’: Indonesian captain’s wife in agony over pirate attack

Captain Ashari Samadikun had sent a chilling warning to his wife before his fuel tanker was hijacked by pirates last month.

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Asean

Opinion | Asia must unite to avert an Iran war food crisis

The energy and fertiliser shocks come amid crucial planting windows for Asia’s farmers, exposing the region’s dire dependencies.

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