by Eng Parakrama Jayasinghe parajayasinghe@gmail.com  Electricity consumers reeling from the massive increase in tariff in February (adjusted somewhat in July 2023) were naturally appalled by the request for a further increase by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).  A public consultation was held on 18 October 2023 by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) […]

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has renewed his demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and said that international law was being violated in the war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Israel has bombarded the besieged Gaza Strip relentlessly since October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killling at […]

By Gamini Seneviratne It was just twenty years ago that George W Bush of the USA declared that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that threatened the security of The Free World. Today, we are presented with a whole range of similar – and much worse – fictions by and on behalf of Israel. It […]

IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the first review of the 48-month EFF-supported programme. Sri Lanka will have access to SDR 254 million (about 330 million U.S Dollars) in financing once the review is approved by the IMF Management and IMF Executive Board. Macroeconomic […]

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to stand with Israel in its “darkest hour,” adding he wanted the country to “win” its war with Hamas. Speaking after a meeting with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the PM said the Palestinian people were “victims of Hamas too”. He repeated the UK supported Israel’s right to self-defence, […]

The United States said it was “disturbed” by a Russian envoy’s announcement that Moscow will reverse its ratification of a 1996 treaty that banned the testing of nuclear weapons. Russia’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Friday that Moscow will revoke its ratification of the pact. The announcement by Ulyanov […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the 5th Forum of Ministers & Environment Authorities of the Asia Pacific at the Shangri La Hotel in Colombo today (05), delivering a passionate speech that emphasized three crucial points: the urgency of the climate crisis, Sri Lanka’s ambitious climate plans and the dire state of global biodiversity. President Wickremesinghe opened […]

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said all media should engage in a discussion on whether to enter into international agreements or work within the country’s legal framework. He said so at the felicitation ceremony to honour one of the most distinguished figures in Sri Lankan journalism, Edmund Ranasinghe, the founding Editor of ‘Divaina’ newspaper and former […]

By Saman Indrajith Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday that Sri Lanka had failed to secure the crucial second tranche of a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund as the country was still being ruled by the same corrupt family regime, which had bankrupted the economy. Premadasa said that the […]

The price of oil will continue to stay elevated as demand for energy increases, says the secretary general of Opec+. Opec+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries which decides how much crude oil to sell on the world market. “We see demand growing about 2.4 million barrels a day,” Haitham Al Ghais told the […]