british Archives - Ceylon Independent

Three wheeler driver arrested over British rugby players’ deaths

22May

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Three wheeler driver arrested over British rugby players’ deaths

Sri Lanka's Fort Police investigating the recent deaths of two British rugby players have arrested a three-wheeler driver yesterday in suspicion of connection with the deaths. The police say, according to CCTV video footage, they believe the two players had gone to the night club in Kollupitiya in the three-wheeler. Therefore, they suspect that the two players obtained the drugs used by them through the trishaw driver and he had been taken into custody for questioning. Two of the team of 22 British Rugby players arrived in Sri Lanka on 10th May to participate in a friendly Rugby tournament suddenly died after developing breathing difficulties. The two players, 26-year-old Tom Betty and 25-year-old Thomas Howard have developed breathing difficulties after they visited a night club ...

Second British rugby player dies in Sri Lanka

16May

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Second British rugby player dies in Sri Lanka

A second visiting British rugby player, who was hospitalized after developing breathing difficulties on Sunday, has died in the hospital on Tuesday while receiving treatment. Thomas Baty, 27 has died after he was admitted on Sunday to a private hospital in Colombo and remained in a critical state in the intensive care unit. Earlier, his team mate Thomas Andrew Howard, 26, died on shortly after admission on Sunday. A team of 22 British rugby players has arrived in Sri Lanka on 10th May to participate in a friendly Rugby tournament. They participated in a match on the 12th May at a stadium in Colombo and afterwards the players had attended the dinner held at the sports complex. After the banquet, British Rugby players had come to the hotel where they were staying and afterwards had ...

British rugby player dies after arriving in Sri Lanka

14May

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

British rugby player dies after arriving in Sri Lanka

A British rugby player has died after arriving in Sri Lanka, the Police media unit said. The Police said the British rugby player had arrived in Sri Lanka to play a friendly game. He had suffered breathing difficulties while in Sri Lanka and was admitted to hospital where he had passed away. Another player is said to be in critical condition.

Racism looms: Where is the Prime Minister?

12Mar

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL, Main Story

Racism looms: Where is the Prime Minister?

By Faizer Shaheid "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." ― Theodore Roosevelt There are no strong religious roots in Sri Lanka, but there are many blind followers. This has been noted since the British period, when communal riots broke out on many an occasion. We have had wars fought, and leaders murdered, all for the clamour of racism. The latest saga unveiled in Teldeniya, Kandy and the current tensions have escalated fears of a renewed backlash against the Muslims. Herein lies a moment of decision. A decision to use the powers of Government and curb the onslaught, or do nothing and watch this country destroyed in the name of racism. The Background The racist violence unfolded following an isolated i...

John Mahoney: British-born Frasier actor dies aged 77

6Feb

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

World

John Mahoney: British-born Frasier actor dies aged 77

The British-born actor John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane in the US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 77. He died on Sunday while in hospice care in Chicago. Mahoney enjoyed a distinguished career in theatre, winning a Tony award, and had a long list of film and TV credits. But he will be best remembered for playing the unpretentious, blunt father of Frasier and Niles Crane in the hit comedy, which ran for 11 seasons from 1993-2004. Mahoney won a SAG award in 2000 for the role, and was also nominated for two Emmys and two Golden Globes. Much of the comic spark in Frasier came from the relationship between the down-to-earth retired police officer Martin Crane and his pompous sons Frasier and Niles, played by Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce.

UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Sri Lanka pleased with the development in North

8Jan

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Business

UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Sri Lanka pleased with the development in North

A British parliamentary group visiting Sri Lanka has expressed their satisfaction with the development in the Northern Province. A four member delegation of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sri Lanka, who is on a tour in the island from 3-8 January visited the Northern Province and met with the Governor Reginald Cooray at the Governor's Office in Jaffna on Sunday. The delegation is led by the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sri Lanka MP. Ranil Jayawardena, and includes MPs Michelle Donelan, Chris Green, and John Lamont. During the meeting with the Governor, the British parliamentary group in length discussed the government's reconciliation agenda and its progress. The British MPs have also inquired about the government's constitutional reforms, provincial...

4Dec

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Feature

Text messaging celebrates 25th birthday

The humble text message has reached its 25th birthday, and it sure has come a long way. The first ever SMS (Short Message Service) was sent by British engineer Neil Papworth on 3 December, 1992. He wrote “Merry Christmas” to his colleague Richard Jarvis. Jarvis, a director at the London-based telecom company Vodafone UK, received the text message while at the company’s holiday party. “I’m proud and I’m happy that I did what I did,” Papworth said in an interview from Montreal. Since then, the text message which is sent through the phone service provider, has been joined by social messaging services such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, which use the internet, with the text evolving to smiley faces, emojis, GIFs and animojis.

Australian senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore quits over British citizenship

23Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

World

Australian senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore quits over British citizenship

A ninth Australian parliamentarian will be unseated by a dual citizenship saga. South Australian senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore has announced she will resign from the Senate after she discovered she obtained British citizenship through her mother. Her mother was born in Singapore in 1957 to British parents, and has migrated to Australia with her family in 1970. Later, Skye was born in Darwin in 1985. At a press conference in Adelaide on Wednesday, Kakoschke-Moore announced she had received advice from the UK Home Office on Friday, confirmed by a specialist barrister, that she had received British citizenship from her mother. Skye’s resignation follows a High Court of Australia decision last month that clarified constitutional rules and determined five politicians to be ineligibl...

British national Sheree unites with biological mother in Sri Lanka

15Nov

By AdminNo Comments

History

British national Sheree unites with biological mother in Sri Lanka

The thought of not seeing your mother for a week scares you. But Sri Lankan-born British national Sheree Atcheson, the uniting with her own mother remained a dream for a long time. And that dream came true today, November 15. It was an emotional time not only for her, but for all the viewers at home as well. Sheree Atcheson was adopted by an Irish couple when she was only three weeks old. Her search for her birth mother started a couple months back. She refers to the time thus: “It seems like I have searched her for years.” The News 1st team helped in the search for her mother and finally found “Dingiri Amma.” DNA were matched and things came through sooner than anyone could have ever thought. Sheree landed in Sri Lanka yesterday, November 14, and arrived to the premises of New...

Australia Senate President Stephen Parry to resign after confirming he is British

1Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

World

Australia Senate President Stephen Parry to resign after confirming he is British

Australian Senate President Stephen Parry has said he will resign after confirming he is a UK dual citizen. Yesterday, Senator Parry revealed he had doubts about his citizenship status because his father was born in the UK, and emigrated to Australia in the 1950s. His successor is likely to be Richard Colbeck, a former tourism minister under Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull who lost his seat in the 2016 poll.