COLOMBO 18 May 2012: A court granted bail for Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief yesterday, a move seen as a step toward a full pardon for the man credited with ending the country’s long civil war but who later was jailed after challenging the president in elections.
Sri Lanka’s High Court set Sarath Fonseka’s bail at $8,000 […]

President Barack Obama’s unplanned, sudden endorsement of gay marriage may pose potential political challenges for him in the upcoming months, but at least one news organization is proclaiming the married father of two the nation’s “first gay president.”
Newsweek on Sunday released the cover of their next issue, which features Obama with a rainbow halo and […]

MONTREAL – The Sri Lankan military is thought to be involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen of Tamil origin, according to
journalists in Sri Lanka.
The founding editor of a nationalist Tamil news organization told QMI Agency Sunday that his journalists on the ground in northern Sri Lanka reported that the Montreal man was murdered […]

Betty White says she usually keeps her political views private but in this presidential election strongly favors one candidate.
As she prepares to visit the Smithsonian Institution and National Zoo next week, White told The Associated Press she “very, very much favors” President Barack Obama in the election.
The 90-year-old actress said Friday she is very bi-partisan […]

Documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, along with Jamal Osman’s reporting from Somalia, won the awards for the channel
Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, which at the time was described by presenter Jon Snow as “one of the most important” stories he had ever reported, collected two prizes at the One World Media Awards last […]

As the Internet and mobile communications become more integrated into reporters’ work, the digital threats to journalists’ work and safety have increased as well. While many press reports have documented Internet surveillance and censorship–and the efforts to combat them–mobile communications are the new frontline for journalist security.
With five billion active subscriptions, mobile phones are the […]

The Sri Lankan government yesterday (May 1) slammed a British human rights report
which listed the island among countries of concern over human rights issues.
Deputy External Affairs Minister Neomal Perera said that Britain had no right to accuse Sri Lanka of not doing enough to address accountability of the war just three years after the conflict […]

The mobile telephone users in Sri Lanka have increased rapidly over the year 2011 with more than 105 telephone connections for 100
people, authorities said yesterday.
According to a central bank annual report, telephone connections have increased 5.4% and the connections increased to 21.9mn by the end of 2011, a spokesperson from the central bank said.
“There is […]

Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen will head to Sri Lanka today (May 2, 2012) for a three-day visit, to strengthen cooperation among the two nations on the issue of people smuggling.
But Human Rights Watch is calling on the Minister to question the Sri Lankan government over its treatment of rejected asylum seekers during his trip […]

A report from a UN mine removal expert says unexploded cluster munitions have been found in northern Sri Lanka, appearing to confirm, for the first time, that the weapons were used in that country’s long civil war.
The revelation is likely to increase calls for an international investigation into possible war crimes stemming from the bloody […]