Sri Lanka has refused to cooperate with a United Nations investigation into alleged war crimes during the final phase of the country's civil war, saying it will not subject itself to the jurisdiction of the top rights body.
President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will transform Sri Lanka's political landscape after Thursday's electoral triumph, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran Colombo watcher.
Police and troops stepped up security on Sunday ahead of next week's traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Political analysts said Sirisena's move to install Rajapaksa as the prime minister could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 19th amendment to the Constitution would not allow the sacking of Wickremesinghe as the premier without a majority.
The LTTE on Monday bombed the Katunayake military airbase, about 35 kilometres north of Colombo, using two light aircraft, killing three airmen and injuring 16.
Basheer surrendered on Tuesday night before the Q branch, which is dealing with the cases related to LTTE in the state.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday expressed satisfaction over External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit.
There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE in this regard.
Air Force spokesman, Group Captain Ajantha Silva confirmed that the air force had bombed some targets in the LTTE-held areas in the Eastern province, but refused to divulge what they were.
The Delhi High Court imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the Janata Party president.
The claim came a day after the Tiger rebels blew up an army bus in Colombo, killing one soldier, and overran a naval base where they claimed 35 sailors died.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has said he does not want joint patrolling with India to check smuggling of arms to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Security sources believe that the killings may be linked to the island's Tamil separatist conflict.
Balasingham passed away at his home in south London on Thursday from bile duct cancer.
The pitched battles follow two days of air raids by government troops triggered by the killing of 64 bus passengers in a suspected rebel landmine attack on Thursday in Anuradhapura.
Seven persons had been arrested in connection with the blasts.
A recent inquiry report by the Geneva-headquartered Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has cast serious aspersions on the claims of the Sri Lankan government over alleged war crimes duirng the conflict with the LTTE. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The LTTE said that the island's new president Mahindra Rajapakse had failed to grasp the fundamentals and basic concepts behind the decades-long war waged by the LTTE.\n\n
Both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Modi have learnt from their past mistakes. Modi has understood that Rajapaksa is a 'forever politician' that India has to live with, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Earlier in the day, Chandrika Kumaratunga had sacked three senior ministers.
Chandrika Kumaratunga did not say what action her government would take if the Tigers did not respond to her two-week deadline.
Authorities also released photographs of six suspects, including three women, wanted for their involvement in the attacks and sought information regarding them from the public.
Defence Secretary Fernando said Subathran was gunned down by sniper fire in Jaffna.
'We have nothing to gain by helping any other country to become a threat to India,' former Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is on the comeback trail, tells Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Polls opened at 7 am local time and would close at 5 pm with some 12,845 polling stations being set up throughout the country for 15.9 million voters, who will choose a successor to President Maithripala Sirisina.
Following the elimination of LTTE, Pakistan-based terror groups are leaving no stone unturned to take advantage of the vacuum, and slowly recruiting youth for terror activities from South India. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Set in the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Santosh Sivan's Inam brings to light the plight of the thousands of hapless Lankan Tamils, who were caught in the crossfire between the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) and the Sri Lankan government.
The current Indo-Pak crisis over Kashmir is a godsend for the US. With tensions running high, Pakistan is in no position to militarily help the Taliban. Once this realisation dawns on the Taliban, they are likely to be more amenable to a compromise on American terms, says Colonel Anil Athale (retired).
The National Tawheed Jamath is suspected of plotting the deadly Easter blasts.
Mahinda Rajapaksa recovered from his 2015 electoral losses, went to the people and campaigned about the injustice done to him. Without attempting to be subtle, he underscored his image of the Sinhala Buddhist warrior a la Dutugemunu, the king of Sri Lanka (164 BC to 140 BC) who led the military campaign against the invading warlord Elara.
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
As political rivals clamour to retain their pan-Tamil credentials, the BJP may use the 'nationalist' card to even the odds in its favour, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Cricket teams have previously abandoned tours amid outbreaks of violence.
'Today, if the international community is seeking space, if not place, here, then the message is not unclear in any which way. 'It does not reflect well on the nation's standing in the international arena, where human rights issues go a long way in building bilateral relations and benefiting from international cooperation, more than any aspect of politics and diplomacy,' N Sathiya Moorthy.
The recent episode in which a supposedly Pakistani boat destroyed itself at sea, apparently by setting itself on fire, has aroused a great deal of comment in the media. There have been some positive words for the Coast Guard which responded to the developing situation, such as it was, but also doubts about what had actually transpired.
