By Amal JAYASINGHE Malé (Maldives) AFP: Rising sea levels threaten to swamp the Maldives and the Indian Ocean archipelago is already out of drinking water, but the new president says he has scrapped plans to relocate citizens. Instead, President Mohamed Muizzu promises the low-lying nation will beat back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and building […]

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 […]

ECONOMYNEXT –Former minister, MP Rauff Hakeem has opposed Sri Lanka’s plans to send 10,000 workers to belligerent Israel.Cabinet spokesman minister Bandula Gunawardena said this week that cabinet approved a plan to send workers to Israel’s agriculture sector. “Sending our workers to a country that is committing war crimes is like sending workers to Nazi Germany, […]

ECONOMYNEXT –A Minister warns of emerging racism in the island nation targeting ethnic minorities ahead of 2024 elections while regretting the past racism-led events including riots and insurrections since the 1948 independence. Sri Lankan politicians have historically used racism to divide the country and win elections with the help of their own ethnicities and religious […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe last week faced a googly from Indian Firstpost presenter Palki Sharma in a widely telecast interview recorded in Colombo when she blandly asked him: “Is Jay Shah running Sri Lanka Cricket?” RW: No, Jay Shah does not run Sri Lanka Cricket. Sharma: So why is he being dragged into this? RW: They […]

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 […]

Second death anniversary by Tisaranee Gunasekara “Who has known the ocean.” Rachel Carson (Undersea) Weddings require invitations. Funerals are open spaces. None are barred; anyone can turn up, even sworn enemies. Lankan politicians make use of this openness as a political tool, thus only so far as they remain in active politics. Sirisena Cooray never […]

Legal action should be taken against individuals that the Supreme Court found guilty of triggering the country’s worst financial crisis by mishandling the economy, former president Maithripala Sirisena said. Addressing the media in Colombo, he said that none of the economic hitmen named by the Supreme Court was in his government. “People will not rest […]

Saturday 25th November, 2023 The exploitation of Sri Lankans continues unabated. The private sector stands accused of maniacally pursuing profit maximisation at the expense of the public, but sadly the public enterprises are no better, the worst culprits being the lending outfits and the state monopolies, especially in the power and energy sectors. Debt, or […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Sri Lanka won’t do anything that is deterimental to India’s security.In an interview with Firstpost, Wickremesinghe said, “India is worried about its own security. Sri Lanka won’t do anything to hurt its security.” When asked about his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, Wickremesinghe said, “I have […]

Friday 24th November, 2023 Sri Lanka’s cricket crisis has become internationalised. Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe and the Opposition insist that some Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials were behind the International Cricket Council’s decision to suspend SLC. They have produced documentary evidence to prove their claim and tabled in Parliament the copies of the letters that […]

By Uditha Devapriya There is a point in Killers of the Flower Moon where it stops becoming a film and transforms into an experience. I found myself moved to anger, sadness, and then provoked into self-reflection. This is a film that tells us everything, in one go, about the history of the West, the plight […]

Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment  Manusha Nanayakkara at a press briefing convened today (17), at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC), under the theme ‘One Way to a Stable Country’ said that incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe will contest the next Presidential Election as a common candidate. He reiterated that President Wickremesinghe accepted the challenge to […]

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 […]

In Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) classes, teachers give their students a list of words for them to find the odd one out. Then they have to explain why they thought it to be odd. It’s an exciting game because teachers include more than one word that may be interpreted as odd in […]

Thursday 23rd November, 2023 A famous artiste once incurred much public opprobrium by arguing that the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa was of the same royal lineage as Prince Siddhartha. We lack expertise in genealogy, and therefore cannot either confirm or deny the veracity of such claims but the reason SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa has given […]

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 […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe says Sri Lankan cricket crisis should be resolved by bringing in relevant laws to select the most suitable persons for the administration of the sport.