Jul 14 (EN) A curfew declared overnight ended at 0500am on July 14 with Prez Rajapaksa failing to resign as promised while protestors engaged in overnight battles with police and security forces near the country’s parliament. Police tear-gassed drove away protestors, led by a core of uni students, near the parliament junction late in to the night led by a core of university students and activists. Students also claimed they were batton-charged and were looking for sticks and clubs to retaliate. more..

Jul 14 (AD) A total of 84 protesters, who were injured during demonstrations staged yesterday (13), have been hospitalized for treatment. 42 of them had sustained injuries at the Polduwa Junction near the parliament complex. Five females are also among the injured. Reportedly, one army officer, two policemen and two media persons were also injured in the protests. In the meantime, the island-wide curfew, declared effective from 12 p.m. yesterday, was lifted at 5 a.m. today. more..

Jul 14 (TM) Against the backdrop of reports to the effect that it would not be possible to pay the public servants` salaries for the month of July due to the current economic and political situation, Govt sources stated there is no risk of such a situation arising. A high ranking official of a Ministry related to the payment of salaries to public servants, mentioned that the money needed to pay the salaries of the public servants of the respective institutions is usually credited to the accounts more..

Jul 14 (TM) Opposition parties yesterday (13) urged the Defence Forces to exercise restraint when encountering unarmed protestors while demanding that Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe listen to the demands of the people. “This Govt is using oppression to rule the people. Unarmed members of the public are being oppressed through weapons. They are spreading lies to oppress this country and more..

Jul 14 (AD) Chief Prelates of the three Buddhist Chapters today urge all party leaders to convene Parliament and establish a systematic governance. Issuing a joint statement today (13), they also urged protestors to avoid damaging public property and to engage in peaceful protests while respecting the rule of law. The people engaged in protests should act responsibly with intelligence, Buddhist leaders said. Chief Prelates said that all leaders of political parties should focus on the expectations more..

Jul 14 (DM) A T-56 firearm and two magazines containing 60 rounds of live ammunition, which were in the possession of a soldier during unrest near Parliament last night, were stolen by the protesters, police said. A tense flared up last evening at Polduwa Junction near Parliament between protesters and security forces when the protesters tried to advance towards Speaker's house and Parliament. They said the army soldier attached to a camp in Wellawaya was also injured during more..

Jul 14 (TM) At the party leaders’ meeting chaired by Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, which was not attended by Acting Prez and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, the party leaders urged the Speaker to intervene to get Prez Rajapaksa to remove Wickremesinghe from the post of Premier, before he (Prez) resigns. In addition to the political party leaders representing Parliament, more..

Jul 14 (FT) We each have our distinctive sensibilities which trigger our choices. I have my own favourite visual sequence; the one I consider the most emblematic of 9 July. A young man, bare-bodied, wearing low-rider jeans moves to the barricades and yells slogans; a water-cannon discharges a powerful jet of water which hits him full-on; he staggers and slides several yards back but doesn’t fall and rushes back to the barricades, more defiant than before. That, to me, defined the spirit of people’s more..

Jul 14 (FT) Today, 14 July 2022, marks the 233rd anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille, which iconic event in 1789 triggered the French Revolution and the march towards a modern secular republic. It has also been five days since our own revolutionary event: the storming and subsequent occupation of the Prez’s Office; Prez’s House; and iconic Temple Trees, the official residence of the PM. The similarities between the two events/movements offer us insights – as well as some cautions – more..

Jul 14 (EN) SL’s exporters will have to meet tight entry rules to Germany with a new human rights law being applied to German importers who will have ensure that the entire supply chain complies, German Ambassador Holger Seubert said. Several countries have introduced human rights due diligence laws and an EU wide has a draft legislation is under discussion but the German law is the most “far reaching human rights due diligence law” Ambassador Seubert said. more..

Jul 14 (DM) Claiming that it was absurd waiting anymore for the President’s resignation, as he had fled the country disregarding his responsibility, JVP said today Parliament had a right to elect a new Prez as per the Constitution. JVP MP Vijitha Herath said that if the Prez had not officially tendered his resignation, it could be presumed as vacating the post. He said there was a similar incident where Tunisian Prez Ben Ali fled the country without announcing his official resignation. more..

Jul 14 (AD) Curfew has been imposed in the Colombo administrative district with effect from 12 noon today until 5a.m. tomorrow (15). Acting Prez and PM Ranil Wickramasinghe has imposed the curfew under the provisions of the Public Security Ordinance, it said. The curfew order directs that no person shall be on any public road, railway, public park, public recreation ground or other public ground or the seashore in such areas, during that period except under the authority of a written permit more..

Jul 14 (DM) Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today said that he is ready to accept presidency if the majority MPs elect him to the post. "I have been asked to contest for presidency by some sections of MPs including a group from SLPP. Therefore, I will accept the post if I am elected," the former Army Commander said today. Asked whether he had informed his leader Sajith Premadasa, Fonseka said he has not. "I don't have to tell the leader about my personal discussions," more..

Jul 14 (EN) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has called for the immediate resignation of Prez Rajapaksa and a speedy end to the country’s political crisis. “CCC notes with dismay that Prez has not submitted his letter of resignation to the Speaker on 13th July as promised and urges that this is done without any further delay…,” a statement said. “CCC also urges the Speaker not to delay the process of electing a new president till the 20th and to have it done with immediate effect as a matter of more..

Jul 14 (DM) Army said members of the Armed Forces and the Police have been empowered to enforce and maintain law and order of the country so as to protect the people, public property and the country at large at the expense of their own lives. Army said in a statement that this has been practised since the country became an independent state and a free nation, through which the sovereignty of the republic, freedom of expression and free movement of the public as more..

Jul 14 (Island) The expenditure on medical supplies in the first quarter of 2022 was only Rs. 12.4b, a sharp drop from 2020 and 2021, AG’s Special Report on Procedures taken to avoid the Shortage of Pharmaceuticals in govt hospitals by 13 May 2022, has revealed. The amounts spent on medical supplies during the year 2020 and year 2021 were Rs. 83.5b and Rs. 73.6 b respectively. Actual quarterly average expenses on medical supplies in 2020 & 2021 were Rs. 20.8b & Rs. 18.4b more..

Jul 14 (ANI) Prez Rajapaksa and his wife will stay in Singapore and not travel further to the Middle East. President and his wife, who took Saudia Airlines flight SV788 to Singapore, were expected to travel to Jeddah. Rajapaksa is expected to arrive in Singapore by 7 pm today. Rajapaksa, his wife Ioma Rajapaksa, and two security officials were scheduled to board a Singapore Airlines flight last night from Male to Singapore but did not go ahead as scheduled due to security concerns, more..

Jul 14 (CI) SL remain very confident of hosting the Asia Cup, scheduled to start from late August, despite the island nation descending into a crisis following weeks of widespread political unrest. A final decision on whether Sri Lanka would be retained as the venue for the six-nation Asia Cup will be taken by the Asian Cricket Council on Friday. Having recently hosted Australia successfully, Mohan de Silva, secretary at SLC, said that cricket has remained immune from the civil unrest more..

Jul 14 (BN) A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Maldives to Singapore believed to be carrying SL’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the world’s most-tracked flight on Thursday, underscoring massive global interest in the troubled island nation’s political affairs. Saudia flight 788 from Male was being tracked by almost 5,000 users as of 7:43 a.m. GMT, according to data from Flightradar24.com, more than three times the number of people tracking a French Air Force plane flying in Europe. more..

Jul 14 (ANI) Amid the unrest in SL, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that it is important to address the conflict and grievances of protestors. UN Chief urged all party leaders of SL to compromise for a peaceful and democratic transition. "I continue to follow the situation in SL very closely. It is important that the root causes of the conflict and protestors' grievances are addressed. I urge all party leaders to embrace the spirit of compromise for a peaceful and more..

Jul 14 (CI) Left-arm spinners Praveen Jayawickrama and Lasith Embuldeniya have been left out of SL's 18-member squad for the two-match Test series against Pakistan starting July 16. The more inexperienced left-arm spinners, Prabath Jayasuriya, who picked up a record 12 wickets on Test debut against Australia, and uncapped Dunith Wellalage, who were drafted in the Covid-hit squad ahead of the second Test last week, have been included. Both Embuldeniya and Jayawickrama have been more..

Jul 14 (ANI) Amid the unrest in SL, US Ambassador to SL, Julie Chung has urged for the peaceful transfer of power within the country's constitutional framework and said that the US condemns all violence and calls for the rule of law to be upheld in the crisis-hit island nation. "We condemn all violence and call for the rule of law to be upheld," she said in a tweet, stressing that a peaceful transfer of power within SL's democratic and constitutional framework is essential so the people's demands for more..

Jul 14 (DW) SL's economic and political crisis has reached a breaking point in recent weeks, with the island nation facing severe shortages of essential supplies and fuel. Thousands of Sri Lankans took to the streets in Colombo, demanding that Prez Rajapaksa and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe step down. But protesting is a luxury many SL Tamils do not enjoy, and scarcities induced by the economic crisis are also not new to them, says Nilanthan, a political analyst based in Jaffna. more..

Jul 14 (CT) Electricity generated by the cheap and non-pollutive renewable energy led SL’s electricity sector for three consecutive days to Tuesday. Of the total electricity supplied by the CEB to consumers in SL in the three days to Tuesday, renewable energy share were 50.1%, 52.55% and 52.36% respectively, while the balance electricity supply was provided by the pollutive and imported fossil fuels. Prior to Tuesday, the last time RE provided over 50% of SL’s electricity needs for 3 consecutive days, more..

Jul 14 (DM) SJB said it will back the No Confidence Motion (NCM) which SLFP is to bring in against PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, SJB MP Hector Appuharmy said today. Mr. Appuharmy said that it is the need of the hour. "No confidence motion against the PM will reveal whether he has a majority in Parliament or not," he said. Also MP Appuharmy said Speaker should get his act together and consider that President had vacated his post. " Speaker should go ahead & get the House to elect a new Prez" more..

Jul 14 (OI) Sri Lanka’s simmering political crisis is rooted in an economic crisis which has been aggravated by a recent financial crisis that saw the total depletion of its foreign reserves and defaulting foreign debt this year. Sri Lanka has one of the oldest liberalized economies in South Asia. Economic liberalization began in 1977-78, ending a two-decade-old state-capitalist economy guided by a policy ideology of import-substitution industrialization. more..

Jul 14 (EN) Secretary General of the British Commonwealth Patricia Scotland has called for peaceful transition of power in SL after the collapse of a soft-peg and public protests force Prez Rajapaksa to flee the country. “Commonwealth is a community that is underpinned by our shared values,” Scotland said. “As one of the oldest democracies in Asia and a founding member of the modern Commonwealth, SL has always shown its strong commitment to these tenets, more..

Jul 14 (TS) India, on Thursday, made it clear that it would continue to stand by the people of SL as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values as well as established institutions and constitutional framework. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi noted that India had responded promptly to the economic hardships faced by the people of the island nation by extending assistance to the tune of $3.8b this yr alone. more..

Jul 14 (AD) Speaker’s Office says that they have received the letter of resignation from Prez Rajapaksa and that they are checking the legality of the letter. It is reported that the resignation letter is presently being authenticated as a mandatory procedure and that once confirmed the Speaker is expected to officially announce it later tonight. Prez Rajapaksa was expected to submit his letter of resignation to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena after landing in Singapore today. more..