An 11th-hour bid by Secretary of State John Kerry to ease the escalating crisis over the Kremlin’s intervention in Crimea ended in failure on Friday, raising the likelihood of sanctions against Russia and deepening the most serious East-West rift since the end of the Cold War.

With the appointment of the Leadership Council for the United National Party the crisis situation that existed in the UNP has further aggravated. Several United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians and recently elected provincial council members have decided to stand as independent members in the Parliament as well as in the respective provincial councils.

They have publicly stated that the United National Party does not have a future under the leadership of Ranil Wickremasinghe or under the so-called leadership council which they claim a bogus council to protect Ranil Wickremasinghe and his cohorts.
Party sources said that the Parliamentarians who have decided to stand independent in the Parliament are Palitha Range Bandara, Ashoka Abeysinghe and Dilip Wedaarachchi. They said that some other members too would join this group to function as independent members.
This situation has also resulted in the Central Provincial Council. They have taken this decision since the United National Party leadership has not consulted the elected members in nominating the opposition leader for the Central Provincial Council and many of the elected members are against the member arbitrarily nominated by the party leadership. The rebel group in the Central Provincial Council is reported to be led by the veteran UNPer Lucky Jayawardene.

Sri Lankan Airlines’ FlySmiLes partners Amaya Resorts and Spas to offer exciting benefits for its frequent flyers. With the new partnership, FlySmiLes members will now have the chance to earn and redeem miles for stays at any of the Amaya hotels.

Commenting on the performance of the network at ADFEST 2014, Mark Tutssel, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide stated: “ADFEST embraces and celebrates the best creativity, local culture and heritage of this highly important and vast region. I am delighted with the performance and results achieved by our network. I would especially like to congratulate Leo Burnett Sri Lanka for winning a Lotus Root Award, which recognises and celebrates ideas born with local roots. As a ‘HumanKind’ agency that truly believes in connecting with people, this award reiterates Leo Burnett Sri Lanka’s immersion and connection with its local roots.”