COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's Media Minister said Tuesday that future appointments to the top editorial position at the state-run Tamil daily Thinakaran would be made on the basis of qualifications, as the newspaper's management faces criticism over the interim appointment it made following the suspension of its Editor-in-Chief over alleged financial misconduct. The minister, Nalinda Jayatissa, made the remarks at a government media briefing held to announce Cabinet decisions, after journali

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Senior Sri Lankan defense officials traveled to the country's Northern Province on Tuesday to inspect lands that have remained under military control for years, in what security sources described as early steps in a process that could eventually return some of those parcels to their civilian owners — though the scope, timeline, and ultimate outcome of any releases remain unclear. The Deputy Minister of Defense and the Commander of the Army conducted field inspections across