Lanka ruling alliance suffers defeat

Colombo: Sri Lanka's ruling coalition is on course to suffer a shocking defeat in local elections as the party backed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to register a landslide victory.

At 1:30pm local time, with most results in, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna had won 44.05 per cent of the vote. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's UNP garnered 31.65 per cent.