| 
Litmus test for Colombo security
- In a city with many Army sentry posts and barricades, this marked another first: that of a President stepping out in an open, fairly crowded space and signalling an end to the siege mentality that has been the defining feature of Sri Lanka for many decades.
- Mr. Rajapaksa, the most protected person in Sri Lanka because of the threats to his life from various quarters, drove down to the Independence Avenue
Parliamentarians pledge to work for reproductive health rights
- Parliamentarians from six Asia Pacific countries on Sunday committed themselves to fostering dialogue and mobilising fellow legislators to accelerate allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for sexual and reproductive health rights-related programmes
- Parliamentarians from Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam attended the meeting.
- The statement said the parliamentarians would work for increasing resources for sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services, including education, counselling, maternal health, and family planning in national development budgets, specifically in the allocations meant for education and health
