The speaker of Poland’s upper house of parliament has called on the government to reveal what it knew about an escalating cash for visas scandal. Tomasz Grodzki said the issue was ruining the country’s international reputation as a responsible democracy. The government has released few details but media reports say migrants paid up to $5,000 […]

Singaporeans have chosen Tharman Shanmugaratnam as their next president – but many would have let out a small sigh of disappointment as they did so. On Friday, the former top minister won a record 70.4% of the votes, comfortably beating two other candidates in the country’s first contested presidential election in more than a decade. […]

The former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been barred from holding public office for five years by the country’s electoral authorities. The decision was announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan three days after the former Prime Minister was sentenced to three years in prison for corruption. Tuesday’s announcement also means Imran Khan […]

By Jayantha Somasundaram (This articlecontinued from yesterday (25) is based on reporting by the international media on the events in Sri Lanka forty years ago.) “For day after day Tamils were beaten, hacked or burned to death in the streets, on buses, on trains – sometimes in the sight of horrified foreign tourists. Their homes […]

(Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiography) During one of my visits to Colombo I got a call to see the President at ‘Breamar’. Gamini Dissanayake had told him of my friendship with Parathasarathy and he wanted me to help him repair the damage done to their friendship due to the abuse heaped […]

Udeni Kaluthantri, a 54-year-old port worker, became an overnight sensation last year for reasons that had nothing to do with his job. Days after protesters stormed the presidential palace in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, a video surfaced of Mr Kaluthantri lounging on a bed draped with the presidential flag. Pictures of young men jumping […]

Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court has voted 5-2 to bar ex-president Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years. Bolsonaro was found guilty of abusing his power ahead of last year’s presidential poll. He had been accused of undermining Brazilian democracy by falsely claiming that the electronic ballots used were vulnerable to hacking and fraud. […]

The muted, panicked voice came through the phone of a friend who croaked she was very confidentially warning Cassandra and advising her. Yours truly was immediately panic infected. With deep emphasis and concern the friend took her time to advise that Cass withdraws all money from banks. Cass was for once glad she was poor […]

BBC reported that Cambodia’s most prominent opposition leader has been sentenced to 27 years under house arrest for treason. Kem Sokha, the former leader of the now-dissolved Cambodian National Rescue Party, has also been barred from standing or voting in elections. He was accused

The winter morning was cloaked in thick fog. Our car swerved past horse-drawn carriages, a mode of transport still popular in the rural reaches of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, the trotting horses and turbaned coachmen looking like shadowy apparitions in the pearly-white mist. After spending a night in the town of Bodhgaya, the […]

As the train pulled into Peradeniya Junction station in central Sri Lanka, the man sitting opposite me leapt out of his seat and leaned out of the window, placing his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistling loudly. A vade seller soon appeared outside, removed a basket from the top of his head and handed it […]

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo has slammed US Ambassador here Julie Chung over her comments in an interview with the BBC. The Chinese Embassy has questioned the US policy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka struggling to overcome an unprecedented economic crisis. The following is the text of the Chinese Embassy

By Samira Hussain Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, is threatening to dissolve two provincial assemblies in a high-stakes attempt to force the federal government to hold early elections. The dissolution of legislatures controlled by his party in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is set for 23 December, about a year before elections are due. “For […]

Cassandra’s ole head is spinning like a carousel after reading Don Manu’s column in the Sunday Times of December 4, titled Mahinda gorged on foreign cake while people struggled for bread. He lists the millions spent on foreign trips of two brothers – then Prez and PM – and in a separate box deals with […]