News stories by Feizal Samath, page 5

Despite acrimonious exchanges between Sri Lanka and the European Union (EU) over human rights violations on which rests the fate of continued tax-free exports to Europe, development assistance continues unhindered to the Indian Ocean island, according to Europe’s top diplomat here.

When Thamalini, leader of the women’s wing of Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger guerrillas, entertained guests at the women’s political wing office in northern areas once controlled by the rebels, the visitors were served tea and other refreshments by male aides.

New laws dealing with foreign employment agents and migrant workers, Sri Lanka’s biggest foreign revenue earner, have stirred up a hornet’s nest and concerns over a fundamental issue — the freedom to travel.

Tea lovers around the globe may soon have to pay more for every cup of their favorite beverage. That is, assuming tea plantation workers in one of the world’s major tea-producing countries get their demand for a significant increase in their daily wages.

The Sri Lankan government, accused of keeping the refugees who fled fighting between the military and Tamil rebels against their will, is preparing to resettle these minority civilians ahead of next month’s monsoon period, officials from non-government agencies said Friday.

The main news-pages in Sri Lanka these days are dominated by reports of clashes between two Muslim groups, the drama of two baby elephants separated from their mothers and government efforts to ban porn sites and curb adult-only movies. That marks a radical departure from the days when newspapers were choked with news of war.

After months of being at the receiving end of international criticism for human rights violations, Sri Lanka finally clinched a crucial agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday for a standby credit facility of $2.5 billion, which will help bolster the country’s foreign exchange reserves depleted by the sharp impacts of the global economic downturn and an expensive war.

The Sri Lankan government wants the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to scale down its operations in the country, but is sparing other international nongovernmental organisations amid questions over the post-war role for humanitarian workers.

Sri Lankan journalists are laying aside their pens once again and bracing for renewed confrontation with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government after the revival of the repressive Press Council and fresh attacks on the media.

A crisis summit organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to halt millions of job losses across the world due to the global economic slowdown ended Wednesday with a ringing call by its host to act now and put 'the workers first before anything else.'