Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has died at the age 100. He served as America’s top diplomat and national security adviser during the Nixon and Ford administrations. In a statement, Kissinger Associates, a political consulting firm he founded, said the German-born former diplomat died at his home in Connecticut but did not give […]

By Hiran H. Senewiratne The trading activities at the Colombo Stock Exchange witnessed a positive trend yesterday after a negative streak in the past few days, following the much anticipated debt restructuring deal between Sri Lanka and its official creditors. “The Official Creditor Committee (OCC) and Sri Lanka agreed on the main parameters of a […]

SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday (28) hit back at critics, claiming that a robust economy had been built under his presidency. He said the UNP-SLFP government which ruled the country during the 2015-2019 period should be held responsible for the current economic crisis. The following is the text of a statement, titled ‘the origins of […]

Monday 27th November, 2023 The SJB has commenced collecting signatures for a public petition as part of a campaign to have those who are responsible for the current economic crisis stripped of their civic rights. Given public resentment, which is palpable, the SJB may be able to obtain hundreds of thousands of signatures for its […]

By Sujeeva Nivunhella Last week in Vienna, Ambassador M.R.K Lenagala, Sri Lanka’s representative to the UNO and other international organizations in Vienna, officially became the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka, following the presenting of Letters of Credence to President Alexander Van der Bellen at the Hofburg Palace. The ceremonial event marked the initiation […]

(Excerpted from the memoirs of Lalith de Mel) He returned to a Sri Lanka going through a difficult phase due to the JVP uprising. There were curfews and a sense of fear in the air. His predecessor in Sri Lanka had a young family and was glad to get away from the chaos that prevailed […]

By Capt. A.G.A. Barrie P.Eng., B.Sc (Hons)(Eng) A.M.A. Azeez’s 50th death anniversary fell on November 24, 2023. Aboobucker Mohamed Abdul Azeez, an eminent educationist, erudite learned scholar in English and Tamil, brilliant orator, efficient administrator, writer, visionary and dedicated community worker, was born on October 4, 1911 to a traditional elite family of Vannarpannai in […]

The Palestinian armed group Hamas has released 24 hostages held captive by the group in Gaza for almost seven weeks, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry and the International Red Cross, hours after an Israel-Hamas truce mediated by Qatar came into effect. Among the captives released were 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen, […]

Pakistan has confirmed that it is charging an $830 fee from undocumented refugees who want to leave the country. The exit fee applies to people who arrived without a visa. In October Pakistan announced that it would deport 1.7 million undocumented foreigners from the country if they did not leave by 1 November. Most are […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, yesterday said that Parliament like other institutions should bear responsibility for the unprecedented economic crisis caused during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration. Minister Sabry said so when The Island sought his response as regards the responsibility of Parliament for the developing situation against the backdrop of the cou...

The abstention from voting recently by some foremost powers of the vital UN Security Council on a crucial resolution relating to the wellbeing of the people of the Gaza Strip, helped focus on the vexatious issues central to the Israel-Hamas war which are driving the world apart. The abstention from voting by the US, Russia […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita Historically, Sri Lankan governments have failed to reduce the budget deficit, SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne says. Sri Lankan governments have consistently looked at maximising revenue but paid minimal attention to curtailing expenditure, MP Wickramaratne has said. Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had not factored in state expenditures when the latest bailout […]

By C. A. Chandraprema The judgement delivered by a divided five-member bench of the Supreme Court with regard to two fundamental rights cases numbered 195/2022 and 212/2022 filed by several individuals including Mahim Mendis, Chandra Jayaratne, Julian Bolling and the NGO Transparency International has stirred up a political storm. The majority judgment was delivered by […]

by Ahilan Kadirgamar Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since the 1930s, and the stabilisation policies of the Government could drastically change the political economic landscape of the country. Amidst these changes underway, education more broadly and the university system in particular, have come under considerable strain. In this column, I analyse […]