Colombo - Sri Lanka on Thursday indicted the Greek skipper of a fire-damaged supertanker for causing an oil spill and failing to report the environmental damage to the island's waters.

Colombo - More than 1,000 workers have tested positive for coronavirus at a Sri Lanka factory that until August was producing surgical masks for the US, officials said Wednesday, as they scrambled to find the source of the country's biggest outbreak.

Colombo - The slaughter of cattle will soon be banned in Sri Lanka, the government said Tuesday, in a move widely viewed as a concession to increasingly influential Buddhists in the ruling party.

Colombo - Sri Lanka's president has ordered the termination of a $1.5-billion Japanese-funded light rail project, saying it is not a "cost-effective solution" for the congested capital Colombo, officials said Thursday.

Colombo - Sri Lanka will file negligence and pollution charges against the Greek skipper of an oil tanker that leaked fuel off the island nation's coast after a week-long fire, authorities said Wednesday.

Colombo - Sri Lankan military divers fixed a fuel leak from the engine of a fire-damaged oil tanker off the island's east coast, the navy said Saturday, in a salvage operation after the huge week-long blaze.

Colombo - International experts boarded an oil tanker stricken off Sri Lanka to begin salvage operations, the navy said Thursday, as firefighters looked to contain a large oil slick in the Indian Ocean.

Colombo - A blaze on a stricken oil tanker off Sri Lanka was finally extinguished Wednesday, authorities said, but while no crude has escaped the cargo, diesel leaking from the ship's engine raised fears for the environment.

Colombo - A stricken oil tanker off Sri Lanka that has been on fire since last week has left a kilometre-long (0.6 mile) slick across the Indian Ocean, the country's navy said Wednesday, sparking fears of an environmental disaster.

Colombo - India on Tuesday sent fresh supplies of firefighting chemicals to help battle a new blaze on a stricken tanker loaded with a massive cargo of crude oil off Sri Lanka's eastern coast.

Colombo - A massive fire on a stricken oil tanker off Sri Lanka's coast has been extinguished, the island nation's navy said Sunday, as international salvage experts began to assess the damage over fears of an environmental disaster if there is a leak.

Colombo - A fire-stricken oil tanker was pushed away from Sri Lanka's coast and into deeper waters on Saturday, rescuers said, after successfully containing the blaze during a 36-hour operation.

Colombo - Tugboats battled into the night Friday to stop a blazing oil tanker carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude from drifting towards the Sri Lankan coast.

Colombo - A Panamanian-registered oil tanker burned out of control for a second day off Sri Lanka on Friday as authorities confirmed a Filipino crew member was killed in an explosion and fears grew of a major new oil spill in the Indian Ocean.

Colombo - Indian warships on Thursday aided Sri Lanka's navy to extinguish a fire on a massive oil tanker off the island's eastern coast, officials said.

Colombo - Sri Lanka on Tuesday said electricity would be rationed across the island, after a Chinese-built coal power generator shut down during an hours-long nationwide blackout.

Colombo - Sri Lanka's coronavirus lockdown has helped reduce the death toll from clashes between elephants and humans, conservationists have said.A record 405 elephants were killed by humans in the country last year, up from about 360 in 2018.

Colombo - Sri Lanka's ruling Rajapaksa brothers secured a two-thirds majority in a parliamentary election that allowed them to rewrite the constitution and increase their power, final results showed Friday.

Colombo - Sri Lanka's ruling party took a clear lead Thursday in early results from parliamentary elections in which the dominant Rajapaksa family hope to strengthen their grip on power.

Colombo - Sri Lankans voted in large numbers Wednesday despite the coronavirus pandemic as the ruling Rajapaksa brothers sought to expand their mandate through the virus-delayed parliamentary polls.