COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's Parliament has weathered no-confidence motions, a sovereign default, and, on one notorious day in 2018, chairs and chili powder flung across the chamber floor. This week, the latest parliamentary battle was over who should sit next to whom. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, has formally petitioned the Speaker to move the seat of Archchuna Ramanathan, the independent lawmaker immediately to his left, after accusing him of repeated abuse and

COLOMBO — Independent Jaffna District lawmaker Archchuna Ramanathan wore a black armband in Parliament on Wednesday in protest over the deadly violence at Negombo Prison, joining members of the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya in demanding that the government accept responsibility for the deaths. Opposition lawmakers, including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, entered the parliamentary chamber wearing black armbands during Wednesday's sitting. Several other legislators also attended dressed

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Families of Sri Lankan Tamils who vanished during decades of political violence said they would convene an international conference in Jaffna on Aug. 30, renewing their demand for international accountability and rejecting the government's efforts to address the issue through domestic mechanisms. The gathering will mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Organized by associations of relatives from the Northern and Eastern Provinces, it is expect

COLOMBO — The minister responsible for Sri Lanka’s mining sector conceded in Parliament that mineral-extraction projects had gone ahead without any environmental assessment, that companies had profited by trading and transferring their licenses, and that the country had no plan to add value to the raw minerals it exports — admissions a Tamil opposition leader said should force the cancellation of every permit issued under those conditions. The concessions by Sunil Handunnetti, the Minister of I