Feizal Samath

POLITICS: World Intellectuals Honour Slain Sri Lankan Leader

Scholars, rights activists and former heads of government from some 25 countries met here this week to honour Neelan Tiruchelvam, a Sri Lankan intellectual who was assassinated by suspected Tamil rebels last year.

/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/CULTURE-SRI LANKA: Dissenting Actors, Singers Face Intimidation

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankan actor Anoja Weerasinghe played the role of a queen who lost her children, her husband and her country in the stage version of a Greek anti-war tragedy last month, but little did she imagine it would happen to her too.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Travel Tougher for Tamils After Suicide Attacks

By Feizal Samath

Travel restrictions on Sri Lanka's Tamil community, the biggest minority group who already also face arrests, house searches, and other forms of discrimination, are being tightened in the north and east of the island from Feb. 15.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Kumaratunga Wins Face-off with Opposition

By Feizal Samath

Main opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe's surprise offer of support to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga is the best chance the government has to push through a plan to resolve the ethnic conflict.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Traders Forced to Bargain with ‘Docile’ Workers

By Feizal Samath

For decades headload workers of Indian origin have staggered through the dusty and dirty streets and alleys of the wholesale and retail trade in the Sri Lankan capital carrying heavy loads on their bare backs.

RIGHTS-ASIA: Colombo Meet Teaches Judges Gender Equality

By Feizal Samath

Judges, lawyers and rights activists from the Asia-Pacific region met this week in the Sri Lankan capital to discuss violence against women and children, and gender equality issues.

DEVELOPMENT-SRI LANKA: Education Reforms Widen Rich-poor Gap

By Feizal Samath

At a secondary school in Sri Lanka's north central region, there are not enough teachers for every class. While the school should have a minimum of 17 teachers, there are only 10 including its principal.

ECONOMY-SRI LANKA: Get Competitive or Lose Out, say Economists

By Feizal Samath

Developing countries like Sri Lanka will have to modernise swiftly if they want to survive in an era of globalisation and competition, economists say.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Kumaratunga Talks Tough With Media, Opposition

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, re-elected to office last month, has accused both the private media of biased reporting and the opposition of hatching a secret pact with Tamil rebels, 18 months ago.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Kumaratunga Wins Second Term, Sworn-in

By Feizal Samath

President Chandrika Kumaratunga won the presidential poll with a convincing victory, and vowed, in a no-holds-barred speech Wednesday, to crack down on Tamil separatist rebels and implement a stalled peace plan.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Voting is Peaceful After Violent Campaign

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankans turned out in large numbers to cast their votes, Tuesday, in presidential elections which have been marked by violence including a weekend assassination bid on President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Injured Kumaratunga Pitches For Re-election

By Feizal Samath

A hospitalised Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has vowed to crush the Tamil separatist rebels if she wins Tuesday's election, but the weekend attempt on her life is unlikely to turn into a sympathy wave.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Kumaratunga In Tough Re-election Fight

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her main rival, opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, are running neck-and-neck in the presidential race, which outcome will be decided by voters Dec. 21.

RIGHTS-ASIA: Sri Lankan Gay-Lesbian Rights Groups Plan Meet

By Feizal Samath

Two conferences being organised in the Sri Lankan capital next year will seek to highlight the problems faced by gays and lesbians in this country and elsewhere in Asia, activists said here.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Independent Monitors Barred From Poll Booths

By Feizal Samath

Independent poll observers in Sri Lanka have found a simple way of circumventing rules that bar them from polling stations in the upcoming presidential election -- using voters to report any irregular happenings.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Independent Monitors Barred From Poll Booths

By Feizal Samath

Independent poll observers in Sri Lanka have found a simple way of circumventing rules that bar them from polling stations in the upcoming presidential election -- using voters to report any irregular happenings.

RIGHTS-ASIA: Sri Lankan Gay-Lesbian Rights Groups Plan Meet

By Feizal Samath

Two conferences being organised in the Sri Lankan capital next year will seek to highlight the problems faced by gays and lesbians in this country and elsewhere in Asia, activists said here.

ROUT=MANILATIME= APRI=qxSEL=XJ WX DD AA CAT=AP IP DEST=serveng POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Medical Graduates Wooed Ahead Of Polls

By Feizal Samath

A six-month-long protest campaign by Sri Lankan medical students finally achieved results last week with the government promising to absorb all new doctors from state universities for the next 10 years.