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Getting away with murder in Colombo

WHEN governments kill the people they are mandated to protect and help prosper, what is the world's tipping point for outrage? How horrific must despotism be to compel the ''international community'' to pursue and prosecute national leaders whose regimes commit war crimes?

Sri Lankan brotherhood

The model in war-weary Sri Lanka is Singapore but the feel is more Suharto's Indonesia

Big In Sri Lanka!

Sri Lanka: A one family state?

The Year in Asia

After the war comes Sri Lanka’s refugee crisis (shorter version or longer)

Sri Lanka's Next Battle

Sri Lanka's president talks to Forbes about the war and the economy

Postwar Sri Lanka Holds Promise, at Last

After a long civil war, Sri Lanka looks ready to do business

Colombo banks on a Tamil-led recovery

 
An almost bankrupt Sri Lankan economy will turn to the Tamils' renowned business skills to help turn the nation around

A cornered tiger still has teeth

One of the world's most notorious terrorists seems to be cornered....

Hearts and Jobs in Sri Lanka

CHATTING with Ajith Cabraal, the amiable governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in his lofty eyrie above Colombo, one could be forgiven that he’s presiding over some approximation of a Switzerland-sur-tropique

City Life - Colombo

Peace would be a better business plan for the island of a hundred ministers...

Tea with the Tigers becomes a turbulent brew

Vintage Ceylon

Sri Lankan tea maker Dilmah is taking a leaf from the wine industry to label its beverage as high-end and chic

Eyewitness account of Tamil attack

Sunday's Tamil attack was yet another embarrassment to President Mahinda Rajapakse's dysfunctional government

The Flying Tigers of Tamil Eelam Buzz Sri Lanka

A surreal air raid and gunfire awaken the snoozing guests of the Galle Face, Colombo’s famous old seaside hotel

 

War of words over a Sri Lankan literary festival

A flamboyant hotelier’s plan to pair his tsunami charity with a lit fest draws pointed questions from donors and book lovers alike

Dean Jones: cricket tragic

The former Australian batsman's "terrorist" slur on a South African player came as no surprise to those who have followed Jones' crass commentating career

East & Eden

For a truly inspiring Asian experience step off the well-trodden path. The top 10 must-visit holiday hotspots

Turn of the Tide

Almost a year later, too little has changed along the tsunami-smashed Sri Lankan coast. Aid was sent but the will to recover seems to have been swept away

Through hell and high water

As an occasional resident of a Sri Lankan fishing village, writer Eric Ellis pitched in to help those ruined by the tsunami. But the plan to finance and organise replacement boats was beset by bureaucracy, connivance and internecine warfare

Island at Sea

Sri Lanka’s efforts to rebuild after the tsunami have been slowed by
bureaucracy and renewed ethnic tensions. Can President Kumaratunga
use the disaster to transform the island’s political culture?

Project oru:

A reporter’s account of one personal mission

Interview with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka

A Swell Party

Sri Lanka's expat elite are kicking off their high heels and rolling up the sleeves of their linen shirts with some acts of extraordinary generosity that few thought them capable of. Eric Ellis reports.

The long road home

After the apocalypse; A journey to find loved ones in the devastation of southern Sri Lanka defies description - the jaw drops; the eyes glaze; the soul weeps. And the politicians fiddle as the people wail.

TSUNAMI: On the Road to Galle

Along this stretch of highway south of Sri Lanka's capital, 10,000 people were washed away. What remains is sorrow

The rise and rise of China is posing extreme economic challenges for Asian nations, and will continue to do so

Victoria's Secret's Secret? Hint: It's In the Indian Ocean

Sri Lanka's largest private company has overcome 20 years of civil war to become the lingerie chain's biggest supplier

Sri Lanka elections

A vote that could prove dangerous

Sticky Wicket

The controversies in Australian cricket pale into insignificance when you look at Sri Lanka

Peace talks in Sri Lanka have prompted a mini-boom, with investors eager to profit from the potential of a country some hope will become the Singapore or Dubai of the sub-continent

Crease Fire

In Sri Lanka, a national obsession with cricket is helping to heal the wounds of a long-running civil war

Teardrop isle smiles once more

Colombo is striving to become "Asia's Majorca" as canny tourists snap up postwar bargains, says Eric Ellis

Tamil Elan

Colombo's Embryo Exchange

The Colombo stockmarket just had its best-ever year, but no-one in Sri Lanka seems to know how good, least of all the management of the emerging stock exchange. That's because the tiny market, capitalised at about $A800 million, does not yet have a share price indicator.

A Top Business Watering Hole

The most splendid reminder of those different times must surely be the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo.