https://www.scmp.com/rss/524050/feed Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the current President of Sri Lanka, leading the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Maria Siow Maria Siow Two days before the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran, Washington asked Sri Lanka to let two armed warplanes use an airport on its southern coast. Colombo said no, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently revealed – a decision analysts said reflected the Indian Ocean island nation’s desire to avoid being drawn into a foreign conflict from which it had “nothing to gain”. The request, made on February 26, reportedly sought to relocate two aircraft from a US base in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347854/sri-lankas-refusal-host-us-warplanes-iran-war-risks-trade-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347854/sri-lankas-refusal-host-us-warplanes-iran-war-risks-trade-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:00:12 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Just as Sri Lanka thought it had bought some time with a one-month visa for the Iranian sailors it rescued, another of Iran’s warships appeared offshore, deepening Colombo’s struggle to stay out of a war that keeps washing up on its doorstep. The vessel was detected nine nautical miles (17km) off the coast on Tuesday, a week after a US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena and damaged the IRIS Bushehr off the southern port of Galle on March 4. Sri Lanka now hosts hundreds of Iranian naval... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346174/irans-stranded-sailors-wait-out-war-sri-lanka-amid-us-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346174/irans-stranded-sailors-wait-out-war-sri-lanka-amid-us-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:33:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Sri Lanka began transferring more than 200 sailors from an Iranian vessel to shore on Friday after the ship sought help while anchored outside the country’s waters, as tensions mounted in the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a US submarine. Sri Lanka navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said the sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were being brought first to the port of Colombo and the ship will later be moved to an eastern port on the island. “The disembarkation is in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345734/sri-lanka-takes-control-iranian-ship-brings-crew-shore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345734/sri-lanka-takes-control-iranian-ship-brings-crew-shore?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:35:44 +0000 Lucy Quaggin,Mark Magnier,Xinmei Shen Lucy Quaggin,Mark Magnier,Xinmei Shen US President Donald Trump called on Iran’s armed forces on Thursday to surrender or face the consequences and urged the nation’s diplomats to request asylum at their postings around the world. “I’m once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military and the police, to lay down their arms,” Trump said. “So you’ll be perfectly safe with total immunity, or you’ll face absolutely guaranteed death, and I don’t want to see that.” Speaking at the White House at a sports... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345628/trump-says-he-must-be-involved-picking-irans-new-leader-khameneis-son-unacceptable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345628/trump-says-he-must-be-involved-picking-irans-new-leader-khameneis-son-unacceptable?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:14:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Sri Lanka’s parliament abolished pensions for all legislators and their widows on Tuesday, in line with a government pledge to prune the perks of politicians. “When people see the quality of debate and what members say in this House, they don’t think MPs deserve a pension,” Justice Minister Harsana Nanayakkara told parliament as it voted to stop pensions with immediate effect. The leftist government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake repealed the 49-year-old Parliamentary Pensions Act just... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343842/sri-lanka-ends-parliamentary-pensions-prune-perks-politicians?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343842/sri-lanka-ends-parliamentary-pensions-prune-perks-politicians?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:16:53 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pakistan’s government on Monday directed the country’s cricket team to play India in the T20 World Cup on February 15 in Colombo, ending a week-long stand-off. The decision came after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and was briefed on negotiations between Pakistan’s cricket board, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and other stakeholders. “In view of the outcomes achieved in multilateral discussions, as well as the request of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3343013/pakistan-play-india-colombo-t20-world-cup-after-boycott-called?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3343013/pakistan-play-india-colombo-t20-world-cup-after-boycott-called?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 05:18:41 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday, with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone as the death toll rose to 627. A chain of tropical storms and monsoonal rains has battered Southeast and South Asia, setting off landslides, flooding vast tracts and cutting off communities, from the rainforests of Sumatra to Sri Lanka’s highland plantations. At least 1,812 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3335503/618-dead-sri-lanka-landslides-rains-batter-south-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3335503/618-dead-sri-lanka-landslides-rains-batter-south-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Dec 2025 09:05:59 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji More than 1,400 people have been killed across South and Southeast Asia in a week of catastrophic floods, exposing how rising global temperatures are amplifying extreme weather, even as international negotiations to phase out fossil fuels stall. Successive storms, cyclones and relentless rains have triggered catastrophic flash floods and landslides in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, overwhelming local authorities already operating at the limits of their capacity. While... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3335052/asias-floods-kill-over-1000-lay-bare-human-cost-climate-inaction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3335052/asias-floods-kill-over-1000-lay-bare-human-cost-climate-inaction?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:31:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The toll in deadly flooding and landslides across parts of Asia climbed past 1,000 on Monday as hardest-hit Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel to help survivors. Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week. Much of the region is currently in its monsoon season, but climate change is producing more extreme rain events and turbocharging... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334722/military-deployed-sri-lanka-indonesia-floods-kill-nearly-1000-across-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3334722/military-deployed-sri-lanka-indonesia-floods-kill-nearly-1000-across-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 04:58:08 +0000 Zhao Ziwen Zhao Ziwen China is closely monitoring social unrest in Nepal, a strategic partner and key point in Beijing’s global infrastructure and investment initiative, following the resignation of prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli. Observers warned that Beijing should be prepared for further instability in the region, citing weak governance and potential external influence in political transitions. The unrest was initially triggered by a social media ban last week, and soon grew into a wider anti-corruption movement... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325088/beijing-weighs-risks-social-unrest-rocks-strategic-partner-nepal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325088/beijing-weighs-risks-social-unrest-rocks-strategic-partner-nepal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:44:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Sri Lanka’s jailed former president was rushed to intensive care at a state hospital on Saturday, a day after being charged with misusing government funds for foreign travel. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was remanded in custody on Friday night, was severely dehydrated and required close monitoring, the deputy director general of Colombo National Hospital said. “He has to be closely observed and treated for acute dehydration to prevent serious complications,” Rukshan Bellana said. “He was a severe... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3322939/sri-lankas-ex-president-ranil-wickremesinghe-rushed-intensive-care-after-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3322939/sri-lankas-ex-president-ranil-wickremesinghe-rushed-intensive-care-after-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 14:16:41 +0000 Reuters,Agence France-Presse Reuters,Agence France-Presse Former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday in connection with allegations of misuse of state funds, local television channel Ada Derana reported. Wickremesinghe, 76, was taken into custody after arriving at the CID office in the capital, Colombo, to record a statement in an investigation into his visit to London to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony, the report said. Wickremesinghe claims that his wife’s travel... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3322854/sri-lankan-ex-president-ranil-wickremesinghe-arrested-over-misuse-state-funds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3322854/sri-lankan-ex-president-ranil-wickremesinghe-arrested-over-misuse-state-funds?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:57:16 +0000 Reuters Reuters Distress is in store for Sri Lanka’s garment sector if the island nation is unable to clinch a tariff lower than the 30 per cent figure US President Donald Trump has clamped on imports from Colombo, a top industry body has warned. The United States takes about 40 per cent of the country’s apparel exports, helping to pull in US$1.9 billion last year and making the industry Sri Lanka’s third largest earner of foreign exchange, employing 300,000 people, most of them women. “If this is the end... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3317676/trumps-30-tariff-threatens-tear-apart-sri-lankas-garment-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3317676/trumps-30-tariff-threatens-tear-apart-sri-lankas-garment-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:18:05 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji India has signalled its growing maritime and shipbuilding ambitions in the Indo-Pacific with the country’s biggest warship builder, state-run Mazagon Dock, set to acquire a controlling stake in Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders said last week it would buy a 51 per cent stake in Colombo Dockyard for US$52.96 million. The deal is expected to be completed within the next six months. In a statement on social media on Friday, Mazagon Docks highlighted that the agreement would... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3316792/india-eyes-strategic-foothold-indo-pacific-stake-colombo-dockyard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3316792/india-eyes-strategic-foothold-indo-pacific-stake-colombo-dockyard?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:30:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The United Nations human rights chief has urged Sri Lanka to ensure accountability for crimes committed during its protracted ethnic war. Volker Turk told a panel discussion in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, on Tuesday that the country must address the question of impunity during the Tamil separatist war, which was brought to a bloody conclusion in 2009. The UN has estimated that 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by government forces in the final months of its battle to defeat the Tamil Tiger... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3315743/un-rebukes-sri-lanka-not-punishing-war-criminals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3315743/un-rebukes-sri-lanka-not-punishing-war-criminals?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jun 2025 05:00:10 +0000