Nuclear weapons: We are drifting towards unparalleled catastrophe

Climate change is not the only catastrophe the world has created for itself through selfish and irresponsible actions.

Lohan: Only a symptom; not the disease

The members of the Taliban in Afghanistan had broken into prisons in the country after they entered Capital Kabul on August 15 and shot dead a number of prisoners including Abu Omar Khorasani, the head of Islamic State in South Asia while freeing thousands of members of various armed groups, including the Al-Qaida.

Thinking of libraries and queues at wine stores - EDITORIAL

People are eagerly awaiting the day the country would be opened up for travelling sans restrictions. In this restricted environment....

Ruckus over AUKUS: Australia becomes US hitman in the Indo-Pacific region

In what appears to be a straw for the proverbial drowning man, the United States has clutched at a new defence alliance.....

Drop the mask, burst the bubble, unlock the mind

The re-opening of wine stores caused quite a stir. Memes of what’s now been called ‘bar pokura (wine store cluster) have done the rounds.

An occasion to heave a sigh of relief

We are now, most probably, on the last lap of more than a month-long period of quarantine curfew. During the past several weeks and months we have often focused on the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant increase in the number of new cases and related deaths.

Is AUKUS Pact the beginning of a new Cold War? - EDITORIAL

On Wednesday, September 15, US President Joe Biden announced the US would be joining Australia and the UK in a trilateral....

To the powerbrokers’ note takers

How does one choose who to give space in a story and where to place those inputs? Questions that not every journalist....

“TPA won’t rule out working with others if SJB fails” – MP Mano Ganesan

The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) continues to be accused of being weak and falling short of.....

Fraud of Value Added Services

After so many years of exploitation of customers by the telecommunication service providers and some unscrupulous elements in the guise of Value Added Services (VAS), The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

US-NATO counter attacks more catastrophic than 9/11

The world’s most powerful country, the United States remembered the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks last Saturday while Sri Lanka, supporting the remembrance, expressed solidarity with the US. Significantly, the truth that emerged from the post-9/11 wars; in terms of deaths, of refugees and of those who benefitted from the wars that the US-NATO launched in response to the attacks, are absolutely shocking when compared with the figures relati

Lohan Ratwatte’s escapade and Sri Lanka’s skewed rule of law

What else could be a better illustration of Sri Lanka’s grim state of rule of law than this? The state minister of prisons and prisoner rehabilitation, Lohan Ratwatte storms the Anuradhapura prisons under influence of alcohol, su

Good photography is a lot more than cover pages

When I received an email from the French Embassy in Sri Lanka that I have won the French spring festival photography contest titled ‘My island,’ my reaction was one of sheer disbelief. I’m not competition-oriented and this was only the second competition I have taken part in my whole life. I believe in my ability, but photography is a notoriously difficult medium in which to place yourself. Everyone can take pictures nowadays, and almost everyone

Release of 14 elephants back to captivity: Is it a jumbo victory for alleged elephant captors ?

On or around September 6, 2021, the Magistrate’s Courts in Colombo Fort and Matale ordered the Director-General of National....

An Affair of Over-wear, Underwear! No more Lockdowns

Elton John added spice to ‘Spice Girls’ singing…, ‘Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere’, the pop number that was released in Concept.....

Milk Price Wars

The dairy co-operative federation in Jaffna, YARLCO, raised the price of fresh milk sold through its many outlets from Rs.100 to Rs.120 per....

Five days of freedom - the breakout from Gilboa - EDITORIAL

On September 5, six Palestinian prisoners held captive in an Israeli maximum prison –the Gilboa prison - broke out in speculator....

Can Sri Lanka save GSP concessions?

The whole Tamil politics seems to rely on making the government accountable to the human rights violations allegedly committed during the war between the armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). And the Tamil leaders have reposed their hope fully on the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN system to achieve this end for the past 12 years – since the end of the war in 2009.

Peace is a state of mind, a disposition for justice

Deep and lasting peace is not just the absence of war but has many virtues and values. As the famous St. Ignatius of Loyola has put it, make me a channel of peace, where there is hatred let me bring love, where there is injury,

When the law goes against elephants! - EDITORIAL

Whether elephants should be domesticated for cultural and religious purposes has been hotly debated over the recent....

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka: Whither liberative Islam?

A world without women may be a good title for a socio-fiction movie or book. But under Taliban rulers, Afghanistan has become a country....

Covid survivors: Have they made use of the fresh ‘life’?

When the Government security forces fought the Tiger rebels, the island’s citizens were united in throwing their weight behind helping....

Spit and venom in Geneva (same old, same old)

It’s Bachelet’s hour. That’s Michelle, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The second of her bi-annual Christmas-come-early party in Geneva. Time to get her kicks probably. The grave countenance, deep tone and malice disguised as concern.

Let not anti-vaxxers mislead you; get vaccinated

We begin today’s column with a plea to those who have still not obtained their vaccines to visit one of the vaccination centres and get their jabs as soon as possible. It is one of the most important ways of safeguarding themselves and those they come in contact with.

Keeping Our Promises: Sri Lanka and Human Rights Council

As the Sri Lankan Government contends with urgent economic and public health crises, the specter of the 48th session....

International Youth Day: Olympic lessons from today’s youth

What can young people teach us about how to face today’s challenges? Could this summer’s Olympic Games - an event disrupted.....

Cardinal and that ‘Secular Western Religion’ of Human Rights

In a way, it is a stroke of irony that His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, had to end up seeking justice from the international....

A requiem to a Prime Minister - EDITORIAL

Sixty-two years-ago, on September 25, 1959 one of the most controversial and best-known Prime Ministers of this country.....

Strengthen competition to arrest price hikes

Amidst issues cropped up due to the COVID-19 pandemic such as the drastic drop in export revenue and collapse of the tourism industry, government is struggling to maintain the smooth supply of essential items to the general public and to

Playing with fire: Sri Lanka should avoid ‘long Covid’ on economy

Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 response has been reeking with gaffes, procrastination and miscalculations which effectively saw its initial modest success degenerating into a runaway pandemic. But in one crucial area, the country got it right: V