North Korea puts rockets on standby for US strike

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered preparations for strategic rocket strikes on the US mainland and military bases in the Pacific and South Korea.

US joint military drills with South Korea.

With tensions soaring n the Korean peninsula, two B-2s flew training bombing runs over South Korea to underline US commitment to its military alliance with Seoul in the event of any aggression from the North.

Iran, North Korea and Syria block arms trade treaty

Iran, North Korea and Syria held up agreement on the first global treaty on the 80 billion dollar a year conventional arms trade.

The three states twice blocked moves to adopt a treaty by consensus at the end of 10 days of arduous talks at the UN headquarters.

Kenya announced that a coalition of countries from around the world would now take the treaty straight to the 193-member UN General Assembly next week for approval.

It can be passed with a two thirds majority which is virtually assured.

US 'prepared for any eventuality' from N.Korea

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said  that the United States was "prepared to deal with any eventuality" from North Korea and warned that danger from Pyongyang was on the rise.

Tensions have risen sharply with North Korea, which in recent months launched a long-range rocket, tested its third nuclear bomb and threatened to attack US bases in the Pacific as well as the US mainland.

The B-2 overflights were considered a major step as the United States rarely publicly announces such tests, which anger Pyongyang.

General Martin Dempsey, the top US military officer, said that the decision to send the B-2s was more about South Korea and Japan.

Pope Francis delivers Easter plea for peace

Pope Francis has delivered a passionate plea for peace in his first Easter Sunday message since being elected.

Francis used his "Urbi et Orbi" address to call for peace in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where he singled out "above all dear Syria".

Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar and pilgrims have attended church across the world.

Pope Francis concluded by saying: "Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st Century

Today is Easter Sunday

Today is Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday, also known as the Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.

Now, let’s take a look at the real meaning of Easter.

Indian government issues official stance regarding security of Sri Lankan players taking part in IPL

Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage states that the safety of Sri Lankan players participating in the IPL has been guaranteed in all regions of India accept Chennai.

Expressing his views to our news team Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage noted that the Indian Centre had provided this assurance to the government of Sri Lanka via the Ministry of External Affairs.

Accordingly players would be permitted to participate in the tournament based on their personnel preference.

According to reports, Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka's T20 international skipper has rejected offers to play in the sixth edition of the IPL.

Chandimal was not among the 13 Sri Lankan players originally contracted to play in the IPL auction.

He is said to have rejected offers from Pune Warriors to fill in the void of the injured Australian captain Michael Clarke and from Delhi Daredevils to replace English batsman Kevin Pietersen, who is also injured.

His rejection came amidst controversy over the Sri Lanka players' participation in the Chennai matches of the IPL.

Former Indian captain and Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid has said that the issue about the participation of Sri Lankan players in Chennai is unfortunate.

In an interview with Times of India, Dravid said that the Indian Government and the BCCI are looking into the matter and they will handle the issue in the best possible way.

Against this backdrop United National Party Parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella states that the government should intervene to ensure the safety of Sri Lankan cricketers taking part in the IPL.

Addressing a function held in Gurudeniya-Kandy today Kiriella noted that if the safety of Sri Lankan players was not confirmed, they should be precluded from taking part in the tournament.

Senior Indian Minister V Narayan Swami has stated that the government of India is on the constant lookout for the issues faced by Sri Lankan Tamils.

Expressing his views further Narayanswami had stated that it was the Indian Congress party which worked for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils. 

He has also noted that Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Jayalalitha Jeyaram who had earlier called for a ban to be placed on the LTTE is now behaving in a manner forgetful of it.

Dionne Warwick files for bankruptcy, owing $10m

Walk On By singer Dionne Warwick has filed for bankruptcy in the US after amassing debts of almost $10 million dollars  in taxes since 1991.

Warwick, has sold more than 100 million records since the 1960s.

Her publicist said she had been the victim of poor financial management.

Warwick, cousin of the late Whitney Houston, won her first of five Grammy awards in 1968 with Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

Her second came two years later, for the album I'll Never Fall In Love Again.

She has enjoyed more charts hits than almost any other female singer.

Obama names first woman head of US Secret Service

US President Barack Obama has picked the first woman director of the Secret Service.

Julia Pierson, formerly Secret Service chief of staff, will succeed Mark Sullivan, who announced last month that he would retire.

The agency was caught up in a prostitution scandal last year during a presidential visit to Colombia.

The Secret Service investigates financial crimes, and protects the president and his family.

Doha summit gives Arab states 'right' to arm Syria rebels

Arab League leaders gathered for an annual summit in Doha and gave member states the "right" to offer Syrians all means of self-defence, including arms supplies.

The Arab summit affirms the "right of every state to offer all forms of self-defence, including military, to support the resistance of the Syrian people and the Free Syrian Army," a resolution said.

However, "efforts aimed at reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis are a priority.

The Damascus government charges that summit host Qatar and heavyweight neighbour Saudi Arabia have long since been arming the rebels.

Cyber attacks slowing Internet

Security experts said the Internet may have been slowed by one of the largest cyber attacks ever seen, which targeted a European group that patrols the Web for spam.

The attacks targeted Spamhaus, a Geneva-based volunteer group that publishes spam blacklists which are used by networks to filter out unwanted email, and led to cyberspace congestion which may have affected the overall Internet, according to Matthew Prince of the US security firm CloudFlare.

The attacks began last week, according to Spamhaus, after it placed on its blacklist the Dutch-based Web hosting site Cyberbunker, which claimed it was unfairly labelled as a haven for cybercrime and spam.

While the origin of the attacks has not been identified, some experts pointed the finger at Cyberbunker, possibly in coordination with Eastern European cyber-criminals.

Assad urges BRICS to help 'stop the violence' in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged BRICS nations to help "stop the violence" in his country and end the suffering of his people, which he blamed on international sanctions.

His plea came as rights watchdog Amnesty International said the world must press all parties to the conflict -- which has killed an estimated 70,000 people since March 2011 -- to "end war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Almost four million have fled, either into neighbouring countries or within Syria, over the last two years, as an initially peaceful uprising has given way to a civil war that lately appears to have reached a bloody stalemate.

Sri Lanka not affected by cyber attack - says .lk ownership

Cyber experts have identified the cyber attack that crippled internet activity as a distributed denial-of-service attack.

The TechCERT institute stated that this attack did not affect the internet service in Sri Lanka.

TechCERT is the institution under which .lk websites are registered.

Manager of the Engineering Service Division  stated that the attack had targeted the spamhause website which is an information sharing website.

He further stated that this is being considered the largest cyber attack on the internet.

Eagles have announced a limited number of shows

The legendary California rockers Eagles have announced a limited number of shows for their ‘History of the Eagles’ tour, which will kick off July 6^th in Louisville, Kentucky. and wrap up in Bethel, N.Y. on July 25^th.

The famously tight-lipped group recently rolled out a documentary titled ‘History of the Eagles,’ which is slated for release on DVD and Blu-ray on April 30^th.

Their upcoming road trek will continue in that vein, featuring songs from across the broad spectrum of the band’s career, as well as some of the band members’ solo hits.

UN to move many staff out of violence-wracked Syria

The United Nations is moving about half of its 100 international staff in Syria out of the country as violence creeps closer to UN facilities.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters that the foreign staff in Damascus will be relocated because of "security conditions.

Nesirky told reporters that nearly all of the Damascus staff of UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will be moved to Cairo or Beirut.

But he stressed that efforts by Brahimi, who is based in Cairo, to end the two-year-old conflict would continue.

Bangladesh bowled out for 265

Rangana Herath who is celebrating his 35^th birthday today spun the ball this morning to bamboozle the Bangladeshi batsmen and reached a personnel milestone by becoming the 3^rd Sri lankan bowler to grab 200 test wickets.

Herath grabbed 7 wickets for 89 runs and Bangladeshis were bowled out for 265 runs in the 2^nd innings.

Sri lanka require 160 runs to win the 2^nd test match.

Karunanidhi pulls out of Indian Congress

The DMK represented by its patriarch M. Karunanidhi has pulled out of the UPA government over the issue of alleged human rights' violations of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The DMK ministers are set to resign from the UPA government.

Addressing a press conference in Chennai, DMK chief Karunanidhi said that his ministers would submit their resignations shortly.

Karunanidhi said that in spite of repeated requests by the DMK to the Centre over the human rights violations against Sri Lankan Tamils, the Centre did not pay any heed.

Blue plaque unveiled in London to Beatles legends Lennon and Harrison.

A blue plaque has been unveiled in London to Beatles legends John Lennon and George Harrison.

The commemoration was at 94 Baker Street, which was the site of the now dissolved Apple Boutique clothing store.

It was owned in the 60s by Apple Corps Ltd, a company formed by the band.

A blue plaque to Lennon was already there and has been replaced with one that also remembers Harrison, who died in 2001.

New Zealand v England; Stuart Broad builds on Matt Prior's 82

Stuart Broad struck twice in two balls to help England take control of the second Test against New Zealand.

He removed Hamish Rutherford and Ross Taylor as the hosts stuttered to 66-3 by the close of day two in Wellington - trailing by a distant 399.

England had converted their overnight 267-2 into an imposing 465, their highest total at the Basin Reserve.

Kevin Pietersen made 73 and Matt Prior a sparkling 82.

SL on 18 for 1 after Bangladesh bowled out for 240

Sri Lanka made good inroads in to the Bangladeshi batting line up as they were bowled out for 240.

Sri Lanka Won the toss and elected to field first.

Rangana Herath was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 68.

In reply Sri Lanka were on 18 for 1 at stumps after losing Thilakarathna Dilshan early on.

US move on missile defence could revive talks with Russia

The United States is ready to abandon the final phase of its European missile defence system,in a move that could revive arms control talks with Russia.

An administration official said As part of plans to deploy more anti-missile batteries in Alaska to thwart potential strikes from North Korea, the United States intends to "restructure" its missile defence program in Europe.

President Barack Obama's plan for Europe had envisaged SM-3 interceptors on land and sea that would be upgraded and steadily improved over four stages.

Canadian Envoy to the Commonwealth to arrive in Sri Lanka tomorrow on fact finding mission

Canadian Special Envoy to the Commonwealth, Senator Hugh Segal will arrive in Sri Lanka Monday on a fact finding mission to review Sri Lanka's situation as the country prepares to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November this year.

The envoy, who was appointed by the Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird to advise him and represent Canada on Commonwealth matters, will meet the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, External Affairs Minister, Prof. G.L. Peiris, and representatives of various political parties.

An all party conference from the UNP

The UNP has decided to hold an all-party conference for discussing about the challenges directed against the country at the Geneva Human Rights Session.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said so at a meeting with a group of UNP activists held in Kurunegala yesterday.

The Opposition Leader pointed out that although he had invited the Government to take action with regard to this, no proper response had been received for it yet.

A special UNP working committee meeting is scheduled to be held this evening with Party Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe at the chair.

Party general secretary Tissa Attanayake said that special discussions on, how the next provincial council elections should be faced, would be held at this meeting.

MP Sajith Premadasa, whom the Party Leader appointed to the working committee with immediate effect, is also scheduled to participate in today’s working committee meeting.  

Maththala international airport inaugurated today

Turning a new chapter in the country’s aviation history, Sri Lanka’s second international air gateway - Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, will be opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa today.

Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said the facility will go down in history as the first-ever to be operated as an international airport from day one of its commencement.

SriLankan Airlines, the country’s national carrier, will fly the inaugural flight to MRIA.

Already 23 international airlines have voiced interest in initiating flights to MRIA.

The airport has a one million passenger handling capacity.

SriLankan Airlines during the first phase will operate two flights to Riyadh, four to Male, two to Beijing and one to Shanghai via Bangkok.

Another impressive factor at MRIA is that its modern airstrip could facilitate landing of the latest Airbus 380.

Sri Lankan Cargo will manage MRIA’s 5,000-square metre cargo facility with the capacity of handling 60,000 metric tons.

The airport is geared to support domestic flights as well and will handle air-sea cargo transshipment in conjunction with the Hambantota sea port and will be an alternative to BIA.

The entire project is to cost 200 million dollars.

Under the first phase, basic aerodrome facilities, runway apron, taxi way, passenger and cargo terminals are constructed.

Pope Francis warns Church of dangers of inaction

Pope Francis warned that the troubled Catholic Church risked becoming little more than a charity with no spiritual foundations if it failed to undergo renewal.

The 76-year-old Argentinian told the cardinals who elected him as Latin America's first pope that the Church could "end up a compassionate NGO".

The new head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, who was formerly known as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had begun his reign by meeting people in Rome and laying a bouquet of flowers in homage to the Virgin Mary in a basilica.

Minister Samarasinghe states that international Community was informed regarding activities of LTTE

Addressing the UNHRC yesterday Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe thanked the member states of the UNHRC for their positive engagement during the Universal Periodic Review while highlighting the concerns of the country regarding misinformation.

Minister Samarasinghe stated that the country was thankful to member states that acknowledged its progress last November in terms of the stride Sri Lanka had made following the war.

He reminded the council that Sri Lanka had accepted 110 of the recommendations made by the Council while an additional 3 recommendations enjoyed the support of Sri Lanka whereas 91 other recommendations were not accepted by the country.

Furthermore, he added that Sri Lanka had accepted 12 recommendations pertaining to the implementation of the recommendations set out by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

At present attention continues to grip the US sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka & neighboring India’s stance on it.

Our news team made inquiries from Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who is the Sri Lankan Presidents Special Envoy on Human Rights to the UN regarding the countries future course of action during the UNHRC.