Left-leaning politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won Sri Lanka's presidential election after a historic second round of counting.
No candidate won more than 50% of the total votes in the first round, where Dissanayake got 42.31% while his (...)
For the first time in Sri Lanka's history, the presidential election has entered a second round of counting after no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote.
This unprecedented situation arises as the election commission begins to tally voters' (...)
Polling in Sri Lanka's presidential election concluded on Saturday, with voters participating from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time at 13,421 stations across the island nation. The final results are expected to be announced on Sunday.
Over 17 (...)
Exuberant young men splashing around in a pool with one theatrically soaping himself as a crowd cheered. Sri Lankans dancing in an opulent hallway as the iconic papare bands played festive tunes with trumpets and drums.
These scenes beamed across (...)
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, one of Sri Lanka's most prominent politicians and a veteran campaigner for the country's Tamil minority has died at the age of 91.
Sampanthan, a lawyer and one of the country's longest-serving MPs, died in the capital (...)
Seven people have been killed and 21 injured after a race car plowed into spectators at a motor event in Sri Lanka.
The crash occurred at the Fox Hill Supercross race on Sunday in Diyatalawa, an army base town.
Among the dead were four race (...)
An organizer of a "white party" in Sri Lanka has apologized after the event sparked a backlash online.
The event's advertisement specified a white dress code, but also had a line saying "Face control: White" — which was largely interpreted to mean (...)
Sri Lanka's draconian law to regulate online content has come into force, in a move rights groups say is aimed at stifling freedom of speech.
The Online Safety Act gives a government commission broad powers to assess and remove "prohibited" (...)
Sri Lanka's lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday regulating internet use among its citizens, in a move that has sparked fears among rights groups of a free speech crackdown.
The Online Safety Bill, which passed with 108-62 votes, aims to "make (...)
The Maldives has suspended three deputy ministers who made derogatory comments about India and its PM Narendra Modi.
The officials had responded to a social media post from Modi, calling him a "clown", "terrorist" and a "puppet of Israel".
A foreign (...)
Sri Lanka's top court has ruled that ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda were among 13 former leaders responsible for the country's worst-ever financial crisis.
Their "actions, omissions and conduct" sparked the crisis, the (...)
Sri Lanka on Saturday invited Japan to resume investment in projects including power, roads and ports as the Japanese foreign minister wrapped up the first high-level visit to the crisis-hit country in nearly four years.
Sri Lanka Foreign Minister (...)
Sri Lanka began a five-day bank holiday from Thursday to allow the crisis-hit nation to restructure $42bn (£33.2bn) in domestic debt.
The country is facing its worst economic crisis since it won independence from the British in 1948.
There are fears (...)
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance - represented by the religious attaché at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's embassy in New Delhi, India - delivered the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's gift of (...)
Sri Lanka has secured a $2.9 billion (£2.3 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it faces its worst economic crisis since independence.
The deal has been nearly a year in the making and a lifeline for the country that has (...)
A senior Sri Lankan official has blamed poor quality crude oil imports for the shutdown of a power plant, leading to extended blackouts.
Utilities regulator chief Janaka Ratnayake said the oil burnt in the furnaces had too much sulfur in it.
But the (...)
Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to the island nation early on Saturday from Singapore amid tight security arrangements.
Rajapaksa, who had fled the country in July following massive protests demanding his removal, returned on (...)
The queue of women grows steadily outside a government clinic in Kuppiyawatta, in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. In just over half an hour the number swells to around 200. Pregnant women, some with children in hand, are waiting their turn to (...)
Staple foods have become unaffordable, warned UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia George Laryea-Adjei on Friday, who pointed out that severe malnutrition in crisis-wracked Sri Lanka was already among the highest in the region.
The alert from the (...)
Sri Lanka is in the midst of the worst socio-economic crisis in its history, and the once robust health-care system is nearing collapse, with patients at risk from power shortages, a lack of medicines, and equipment shortages.
When Ruchika found out (...)
A Chinese research ship has docked in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port despite Indian concerns.
The Yuan Wang 5 was given permission to dock on the condition it would not carry out research while in Sri Lankan waters, said port officials.
India had (...)
The UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, is leading efforts to protect women and girls' rights to give birth safely and live without gender-based violence, according to a statement issued on Monday.
"UNFPA is committed to meeting the (...)
Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to return to the country from Singapore, a Sri Lankan lawmaker says.
Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena told reporters on Tuesday that Rajapaksa was not in hiding but the date of his (...)
Security forces in Sri Lanka raided the main anti-government protest camp in the capital early on Friday, arresting protesters and dismantling tents.
Hundreds of troops and police commandos moved on the protesters outside the presidential offices in (...)
Sri Lanka's Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as president, amid hopes that he will pull the country out of its economic suffering.
The 73-year-old took his oath at the tightly-guarded parliament complex on Thursday.
Wickremesinghe - the former (...)
