Clashes have broken out between powerful persons in government and those who are urging the police to stop raiding Karaoke clubs and night clubs in Colombo and the suburbs. But another equally powerful section has asked the police to continue with the raids and bring to a halt the mushrooming night life in the city.
Many of the Karaoke clubs and night clubs in Colombo and the suburbs are owned by persons who have close links to those in power. These nightspots are located in Colpetty, Bambalapitiya and the Fort. More >>

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is putting on hold the decision to appoint a special panel on Sri Lanka, until Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe completes his scheduled visit to Sri Lanka in the second week of May.
According to UN sources Lynn Pascoe will discuss political developments in Sri Lanka with state authorities. Earlier UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in telephone discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa assured him that he would send his Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe to discuss developments. More >>

The UNP’s internal squabbles are going in the usual direction and already it’s a full blown crisis with a great many UNPers favouring party reforms perhaps with Sajith Premadasa as the UNP leader, but heavyweights such as Ravi Karunanayake objecting to this scenario. The UNP internal dust-up has assumed melodrama proportions, but Ranil Wickremesinghe carries on - - even though this is according to the now tried and tested script after each unsuccessful election. More >>

It is well known that a coterie of homosexuals in the UNP are the key decision makers in the party and that they are responsible for all the election defeats since 1994. Though this issue is known to many in Colombo, UNP supporters in the villages are unaware of it.
Many UNP diehards are of the view that this “gay’’ gang has to be chased out if the party is genuinely interested in returning to power. More >>

While emphasizing the need for an honest, open, transparent and consistent selection process which can be understood by players, administrators and selectors, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) unveiled its selection policy, the first of its kind last week in a bid to end country’s raging selection controversies.
Lack of direct, open and honest communication with players, specially the ones nearing their age of retirement has led to many embarrassing incidents during the last several years and SLC believes that the said guidelines will help avoid such unfortunate incidents in the future. More >>

Sri Lanka were the most consistent team in last year’s World Twenty20, moving into the final unbeaten before falling to an inspired Pakistan outfit at Lord’s. This time they are left knowing only a victory against Zimbabwe will keep them in the tournament, and even then it will require a nervous wait for the outcome of the final match in the group.
The game against New Zealand was always a nip-and-tuck affair although Sri Lanka had the bowling attack to defend 135. When the spinners strangled the middle of the chase it looked as though they would do just that, More >>

The burqa. The niqab. A threatening symbol or religious expression? A gateway to radical Islam that disrupts western-type democracy or simply yet another ripple in the western tide of Islamaphobia? LAKBIMAnEWS found out what Sri Lankan Muslims were making of it all.
“It’s as bad as the Spanish Inquisition,” said Feroze Kamardeen, artistic director of Stage Light & Magic, of the ban. More >>

The Gratiaen shortlist for 2009 (awarded in 2010) was announced at the British Council Auditorium on Monday, April 26. Attended by a packed house of literary-enthusiasts, the shortlist pinned down five contenders to run for the prize which will be awarded on May 8. This year, the shortlist, made out of 52 entries, is dominated by short fiction and the genre of the novel. These include four manuscripts and a published novel. More >>

As an environmental disaster, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico just keeps getting worse. Late on Thursday, BP - the energy company that operates the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig and is financially responsible for the spill - revealed that oil was leaking from the burst well at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day, five times faster than previously estimated. That means about 210,000 gallons of oil are now spilling into the Gulf each day, forming a metastasizing oil slick that is 5,000 sq. mi. (13,000 sq km) large and growing by the hour. More >>

Labour spin doctors today tried to justify Gordon Brown’s ‘bigot’ slur by claiming that he thought Gillian Duffy had sworn when asking him about immigration, it has emerged. The grandmother from Rochdale had quizzed the Prime Minister about where all the Eastern European immigrants were ‘flocking’ from. But today, in an attempt to justify Mr Brown appalling gaffe, it was claimed that Mr Brown had misheard the 66-year-old and had though she had asked ‘where are they f***ing from?’ More >>

Shares at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) closed the week at record high with high investor confidence in banking, property and plantation stocks. The ASI which tracks the movement of all the stocks in the exchange, gained 67 points or 1.6% to close at 4,119 while the MPI, which tracks the movement of the 25 most liquid companies rose 17 points or 0.4% to close at 4,712. Though the week was shortened by holidays to 3.5 trading days, turnover remained high at Rs 6.8 billion for the week with an average daily turnover of Rs 1.9 billion.. More >>

The 2011 budget will include fiscal reforms including tax changes, but not this year’s budget as had previously been pledged, the Treasury Secretary, Dr. P. B. Jayasundara said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will authorize three months of expenditure until July 22, and then a mini-budget will be adopted for the rest of 2010, Treasury Secretary said in an interview with the Reuters.
That will give Sri Lanka time to introduce much-needed reforms in the 2011 budget, he said.
“The aim of the (2011) budget is to focus on tax reforms, More >>

May Day is celebrated on May 1 by workers around the world as an expression of their international solidarity and shared political aspirations for freedom.
Haymarket massacre
In 1884, the U.S. Federation of Organized Trade and Labour Unions had passed a law declaring that, as of May 1, 1886, an eight hour workday would be the full and legal workday for all U.S. workers - the ruling class had that much time to recognize this new law and put it into effect.The owners refused..... More >>

Daniel Boone has become a legend as one of America’s greatest pioneers and frontier heroes. He was a dead shot with a rifle and a skilful hunter who could glide through forests as swiftly and silently as an Indian.
Daniel was born on November 2, 1734, at Oley, a frontier settlement in Pennsylvania. By the age of 12, he was hunting for the dinner table with his first rifle. Indians roamed the nearby woods. More >>