The inside story of Rajapaksa family infighting that toppled a country into violence and bankruptcy
Dilith Jayaweera can still recall the moment he realised Sri Lanka was hurtling, unstoppably, towards financial ruin.
It was around October 2021 and Jayaweera, a Sri Lankan media magnate and close friend of the Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had invited Basil Rajapaksa, the president’s younger brother, who was also the finance minister, to join him for dinner.
Continue reading...Campaigners wearing T-shirts with name of Chinese tennis player say they were told not to approach anyone
Activists wearing “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts claim they were confronted by Wimbledon security staff who warned them against approaching spectators and political messaging at SW19.
Nine-time champion Martina Navratilova expressed her anger at the move after the campaigners posted a video online saying they were stopped and questioned.
The group of four men from the Free Tibet campaign said they came to Wimbledon to “raise a bit of awareness” about the Chinese tennis player, a former doubles world No 1.
The 36-year-old disappeared from public view for weeks last year after she made public allegations on social media saying that a former top-ranked Communist party official pressured her into having sex.
But her post was deleted quickly, and Peng was not seen for a couple of weeks. She later appeared only in photo opportunities arranged by Chinese officials. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) suspended hosting events in China because of their concerns about her.
Will Hoyles, 39, one of the campaigners, said: “We came trying to raise a bit of awareness but Wimbledon have managed to make it worse for themselves by harassing us …
“They were asking loads of questions about what we were going to do, why we were here, you know, what we’d already done etc. And we told them we’d just been wandering around and we’d spoken to a few people and that’s when they seemed to get quite suspicious.”
Continue reading...Family of Alaa Abd El Fattah join wife of Karim Ennarah, under travel ban, in demanding more action from foreign secretary
The family of a British national jailed in Egypt and the British wife of an Egyptian rights defender under a travel ban are demanding that Liz Truss do more to pressure her Egyptian counterpart when they meet this week.
The foreign secretary is expected to meet Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, in London after telling parliament in June that she would seek a meeting with him and raise the case of detained British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah. “We’re working very hard to secure his release,” she said.
Continue reading...Agreement between government and Indigenous leaders includes fuel price cut and mining restrictions
Ecuador’s government and the country’s main Indigenous group have reached an agreement to end 18 days of often-violent strikes that had virtually paralysed the country and killed at least four people.
The deal, which includes a decrease in the price of fuel and other concessions, was signed by government minister Francisco Jimenez, Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza and the head of the Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Luis Cabrera, who acted as mediator.
The agreement on Thursday sets out that gasoline prices will decrease 15c to US$2.40 a gallon and diesel prices will also decline the same amount, from $1.90 a gallon to $1.75.
The deal also sets limits to the expansion of oil exploration areas and prohibits mining activity in protected areas, national parks and water sources.
The government now has 90 days to deliver solutions to the demands of the Indigenous groups.
“Social peace will only be able to be achieved, hopefully soon, through dialogue with particular attention paid to marginalised communities, but always respecting everyone’s rights,” Cabrera said.
He went on to warn that “if state policies do not resolve the problem of the poor, then the people will rise up”.
Use of teargas and arrests by police and targeting by anti-abortion activists disrupts demonstrations in multiple states
Fears over police violence and attacks by anti-abortion activists have been growing following a wave of incidents at demonstrations against the US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which upheld the constitutional right to an abortion.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered at protests objecting to the ruling. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some have seen incidents of police violence – including attacks on protesters – and an incident of a car driving dangerously through marchers.
Continue reading...Ten arrested as direct action group starts week of ‘disruption’ to ‘resist climate destruction’ as NSW police pledge crackdown
The New South Wales deputy premier has told climate change protesters to “go and get a real job” after police made 10 arrests across Sydney.
Blockade Australia protesters were among a group of 50 to 60 activists who converged on Hyde Park about 8am on Monday, before marching towards the harbour, chanting, playing drums, with some pulling down signs, dragging wheelie bins onto the road and blocking intersections.
Continue reading...Demands include end to fossil fuels, preservation of biodiversity and greater social justice
About 3,500 protesters have gathered in Munich as the G7 group of leading economic powers prepare to hold their annual gathering in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, which holds the rotating presidency this year.
Police said earlier that they were expecting a crowd of about 20,000, but initially fewer people showed up for the main protest, which started at midday on Saturday, the German news agency dpa reported.
Continue reading...Pro-choice activists and lawmakers express their dismay over the court ruling and vow to keep fighting for women’s rights
The crowds gathered outside the US supreme court building in expectation of today’s decision – which resulted in a stunning reversal of federal law, the overturning of Roe v Wade and the end constitutional right to an abortion – turned quickly to anger, protest and in some cases to celebration.
Dominated with the voices of anger and dissent, young people and older ones joined together with handmade signs and chanting slogans of protest and defiance.
Continue reading...Human rights and environment organisations call for police to act ‘responsibly, with integrity’ ahead of planned climate action in Sydney
Unions, human rights groups and environmental organisations say police overreached in their treatment of protesters arrested after a bungled raid on the weekend, and have urged officers to act responsibly amid plans for climate action across Sydney in coming days.
The police operation targeting Blockade Australia protesters in the Colo Valley, in Sydney’s north-west, unravelled on Sunday when an activist at the remote property noticed two people wearing camouflage gear in bushland to the rear of the camp.
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Continue reading...Government rejects conditions for dialogue to end 10 days of Indigenous-led demonstrations against economic policy
Violent protests against the economic policies of Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso have paralysed the country’s capital and other regions, but the government on Wednesday rejected their conditions for dialogue.
Quito is experiencing food and fuel shortages after 10 days of demonstrations in which protesters at times have clashed with police. After officials rejected the conditions for negotiations, the United States government issued an advisory urging travellers to reconsider visiting the country due to “civil unrest and crime”.
Continue reading...Award-winning founder of green development centre was arrested on tax evasion charges in February
The US government has said it is “deeply concerned” by the sentencing of the Vietnamese environmental advocate and activist Nguy Thi Khanh and called on Vietnam to release her.
Khanh, Vietnam’s first recipient of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize, was reported in February to have been arrested on tax evasion charges. The founder of the Green Innovation and Development Centre was detained in January.
Continue reading...Seven wounded after motorists protest petrol shortage as government declares two-week school shutdown to conserve fuel
Sri Lanka’s military have opened fire to quell rioting at a fuel station, officials say, as unprecedented queues for petrol and diesel were seen across the bankrupt country.
Troops fired in Visuvamadu, 365km (228 miles) north of Colombo on Saturday night as their guard point was pelted with stones, army spokesperson Nilantha Premaratne said.
Continue reading...Government announces concessions to scheme as police arrest at least 260 people and hundreds of train services cancelled due to unrest
Protesters in India’s eastern state of Bihar have damaged public property and ransacked offices in a railway station, expressing outrage at a new military recruitment plan and demanding the government reverse course.
The government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has introduced a scheme called Agnipath, or “path of fire”, designed to bring more people into the military on four-year contracts to lower the average age of India’s 1.38 million-strong armed forces.
Continue reading...Demonstration organised by TUC calls on government to make ‘better deal’ for people struggling to cope with soaring inflation
Thousands of people have gathered in London to protest against the government’s lack of action in tackling the cost of living crisis.
Protesters marched from Portland Place to Parliament Square for a rally with speakers including Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, which organised the event.
Continue reading...Former captain of national team said he fears he could be ‘jailed or killed’ for speaking out against the conflict
Igor Denisov, the former captain of Russia’s national football team, has said he feared he could be “jailed or killed” as he spoke out to condemn his country’s war against Ukraine.
The 38-year-old has become the most senior former or current athlete who still lives in Russia to publicly condemn the conflict.
Continue reading...Protesters march in city centre as anger grows over Priti Patel’s refugee scheme
Hundreds of Mancunians – many of them from charities, campaign groups and religious organisations – gathered in the city’s St Peter’s Square on Sunday to protest against the government’s plan to deport refugees to Rwanda.
With just two days to go before the first refugees are due to board flights to the central African country, the protest was one of a number taking place across the UK, and was happening amid further legal challenges after the high court ruled last week that the flights can go ahead.
Continue reading...The March for Our Lives rallies come after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York
Rallies for gun reform were held in Washington, New York, other US cities and around the world on Saturday, seeking to increase pressure on Congress to act following a spate of mass shootings.
In Washington, the son of an 86-year-old victim in the Buffalo supermarket shooting said: “Enough is enough. We will not go quietly into the night.”
Continue reading...Met police called to help enforcement officers get past crowd of demonstrators after Nigerian man detained for overstaying visa
A man arrested for immigration offences was released on bail after protesters gathered in south-east London on Saturday for hours to block a van he was being transported in from leaving.
Video footage posted on Twitter showed a crowd of about 200 people sitting on the ground in front of the vehicle in Peckham while another clip showed members of the public standing and shouting “let him go”.
Continue reading...Officers claimed they feared being violently attacked, say reports, but campaigners accuse force of ‘trampling all over human rights’
Attenders at Sarah Everard’s vigil were arrested by police officers who feared the event had become an “anti-police protest”, according to reports.
Officers claimed in witness statements first reported by the Evening Standard that they were branded “murderers” by those in attendance.
Continue reading...City abandons €72m scheme to develop area and create huge garden in time for 2024 Olympics
Protesters in Paris are celebrating having saved more than 40 trees – one of them over 200 years old – from being chopped down or threatened with damage around the Eiffel Tower as part of a €72m scheme to create a huge garden.
Paris’s city hall has been forced to row back on plans to clear the area around the structure on the Champ-de-Mars to improve access to the tower and make the traffic-clogged area greener in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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