Monitor Memo

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka — Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, the former state minister better known as Pillayan, was ordered held in custody on Tuesday over a separate series of killings dating to 2008, even as the terrorism investigation that has kept him imprisoned for more than a year over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings has yet to produce a single criminal charge. Mr. Chandrakanthan, a former chief minister of the Eastern Province and one-time commander of the breakaway Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pu

COLOMBO — A media-industry body that works to deepen ties between Sri Lanka and India will hold the second edition of its annual Media Fest in the capital on July 11, the organizers said. The Sri Lanka–India Media Friendship Association, known as SLIMFA, said the gathering would take place at the Taj Samudra hotel under the theme “Staying Relevant in a Changing World.” It follows the association’s inaugural festival, held over two days in April last year at the same venue. The association said

“If one morning dish were chosen to represent three cities across Viet Nam's three regions, Hanoi would be Phở, Hue would be Bún bò giò heo, and Ho Chi Minh City would be Hủ tiếu” - Professor Trần Quốc Vượng Deeply rooted in Viet Nam's rice-farming civilisation and passed down through centuries, phở (noodle soup) has travelled with the Vietnamese people across five continents and earned its place among the world's most beloved dishes. Though the dish has evolved and taken on countless variation

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Parliament descended into disorder on Tuesday when opposition lawmakers protested the government’s refusal to allow an urgent debate on persistent judicial vacancies and a contentious proposal to extend the retirement age of senior judges, prompting the Speaker to suspend proceedings for 10 minutes. The confrontation began after opposition legislators, led by Ajith P. Perera of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, pressed for immediate discussion of long-unfilled positio

RATMALANA, Sri Lanka — The United States has transferred 10 TH-57 Sea Ranger (Bell 206) helicopters to the Sri Lanka Air Force, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo on Tuesday. The handover took place at Ratmalana Air Force Base in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, U.S. Pacific Air Forces Commander General Kevin Schneider, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Paul Kapur, the embassy said. According to the U.S. Embassy, the helicopters were trans

COLOMBO — The Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives will stage two free public concerts this month, in Colombo on June 21 and in Kandy on June 23, as part of the Fête de la Musique, the annual French music festival now celebrated in more than 120 countries. The French singer and writer Kelly ou moi, whose work draws on the blues, will headline both evenings, the embassy said. She will be joined by the disc jockey Chandana and the Sri Lankan band DotDotay. The Colombo concert will beg

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Relatives of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war staged a protest on Friday outside the Chemmani mass grave site, demanding an international investigation and rejecting what they described as inadequate domestic efforts to uncover the truth. The demonstration coincided with a visit by Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara and officials from the Office on Missing Persons to the excavation site at the Siththupathi Hindu cemetery in Jaffna, where forensic teams