Hundreds of civilians fled Sri Lanka’s northern war zone yesterday as the president promised the UN that the military would safeguard noncombatants while it pushed ahead with its offensive to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s assurances came after Sri Lankan forces captured the rebels’ biggest sea base, effectively cutting off their main supply point and driving them closer to defeat, and the government rejected calls for a ceasefire that would allow civilians to escape the fighting.
Evidence has grown in recent days of mounting casualties among the estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the shrinking sliver of land still controlled by the rebels. While reports from the sealed war zone were spotty, the top health official there said last week that 300 civilians had been killed, and the UN said at least 52 civilians were killed on Tuesday.
In a 15-minute phone conversation on Thursday with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Rajapaksa assured the UN chief that the offensive “would be carried out without harassment to the civilian population,” a statement from the president’s office said.
Meanwhile, the military said at least 320 civilians had crossed into the government-controlled area yesterday morning, and another 300 were waiting to cross. A total of 1,637 civilians crossed on Thursday, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said, adding that the government saw this as the start of a large exodus from the war zone.
Amnesty International called on both sides to declare a humanitarian ceasefire to allow civilians out and to let food, water and medical supplies be delivered to those who can’t leave.
“A quarter of a million people are suffering without adequate food and shelter while shells rain down upon them. Most of those who have managed to escape the conflict have not received adequate hospital treatment,” said Yolanda Foster, a researcher at the London-based rights group.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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