Bringing back the ‘Ugly American’: Trump’s Naked Aggression: War for Oil Disguised as Justice

This is really about controlling the world’s largest oil reserves and keeping them away from America’s rivals. Right now, China buys 80 percent of Venezuela’s oil exports.

Casting stones from glass houses: A distracted discourse on a module muddle

It is not clear how many people in this country can understand the ongoing row over the proposed education reforms which the government initially planned to implement from this month.

Foreign Minister gloats over sale of our people’s labour

Our Foreign Minister – Vijitha Herath -- was in a jubilant mood over the past few days. He announced foreign exchange remittances from Sri Lankan migrant workers had increased by nineteen percent. He boasted that the remittances at the end of December 2025 stood at a massive US$ 7.8 billion.

Digitalisation remains a slogan, not a service

We speak endlessly about “prosperity through digitalisation,” but the ground reality tells another story. The Ceylon Government Railway proudly offers online ticket booking, yet when a train is cancelled the refund cannot be processed online.

Auditor General vacuum, no excuse for Govt.

The prolonged delay in appointing a permanent Auditor General has quietly, but dangerously exposed a fault line in the government’s accountability. The issue, in fact, strikes at the very heart of public accountability and governance - topics touted much by the government made in the pre-election era as a force in the opposition. Ridding the country of corruption was the key campaign slogan of the current government. Investigations into past cri

Venezuela: Beware of imperial America’s unholy Roman emperor

On January 3, under the cover of darkness, the United States invaded Venezuela and kidnapped its democratically elected leader, Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife. In doing so, it destroyed an edifice that, since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, has symbolised the inviolability of state sovereignty. Following the West’s victory over Communism in 1991, Francis Fukuyama advanced his “End of History” theory, arguing that liberal democracy has reach

A silver lining amid the storm

The recent storm that devastated large parts of the country through floods and landslides also exposed an uncomfortable truth we have long chosen to ignore—the alarming level of pollution in our rivers, streams, and brooks caused by polythene and plastic waste. As floodwaters rose, carrying debris downstream, the extent of this pollution became starkly visible. A striking image from the Mahaweli River bank near Katugastota shows polythene waste t

Climate change is real, but are we ready to face it?

Adverse weather conditions are likely to prevail in Sri Lanka with another depression forming over the Bay of Bengal. According to the Meteorological Department, this Depression is likely to intensify over the next 24 hours. Red alerts have been issued in several districts including Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Matale. Many of these areas are now like an active volcano, erupting frequently, posing threats to people living in these rather isol

The World according to Trump: 19th century gunboat diplomacy without diplomats

US President Donald Trump has thrown a wrecking ball at the rule-based international order and brags about it. However, unlike his previous action, the cost of the latest misadventures is hard to undo, and it has set the template for the other great powers to follow suit at their own volition. The international order that would emerge from the smouldering of American action in Venezuela would mimic the international system harking back to 19th-ce

Democracy’s digital divide: Women politicians face epidemic of online violence

Digital platforms are now central to political campaigning in Sri Lanka. During the 2025 local elections, they offered a clearer view of how political engagement unfolds online, particularly for women in public life.

CORALL Conservation Trust Fund for conservation of Sri Lanka’s seascapes

Sri Lanka’s first ever CORALL Conservation Trust Fund was established to conserve Pigeon Island National Park, Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary and Kayankerni Marine Sanctuary and their associated seascapes. The Trust Deed was signed by the Settlor, Environment Foundation Guarantee Ltd (EFL) and members of the Board of Trustees recently.

The real reason why Harini should resign

Regarding the 6th January news item, “It is not ethical for Subject Minister of Education Harini Amarasuriya to be forced to resign based on a defect in a single word of a module, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatisa said”. Either he is confused or obfuscating, as the problem is not a word but a link to an inappropriate gay website! Though the opposition too, is harping on this, the real reason why Harini disqualifies herself is otherwise

Sri Lanka’s collision with nature: Lessons from India to address the agrarian crisis

Nature seems to beat war with a market-driven investment pattern, slowly decaying the means of survival for the masses. In many ways, this ecological pushback expressed through Cyclone Ditwah mirrors the 2022 people’s uprising, which sought to overthrow an entrenched political establishment.

Right of Reply Apropos: Positioning Sri Lanka in an emerging Multipolar World Order

USA is and was the criminal culprit in the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Palastine, and yet are we to stand neutral? The famous definition of Non Alignment certainly is known too well to the civilised world for quite some time.

The harsh reality of world order again manifested

Why did the Trump administration launch a major military attack on Venezuela on Saturday morning, bombing facilities and capturing the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and flying them to the United States?

The U.S. takes military adventurism to new heights: Four interlocking objectives of Trump’s invasion of Venezuela

The United States’ invasion of Venezuela in early January 2026, culminating in the overthrow of President Nicolás Maduro’s left-wing government, was driven by four interlocking objectives:

Spheres of Influence and the New World Order of 2026

The arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in early 2026 has done more than just decapitate a regime; it has acted as the definitive catalyst for a seismic shift in global geopolitics. As we move further into this decade, the post-World War II “liberal international order” defined by global institutions, universal rules, and American policing of every corner of the globe is visibly crumbling. In its place, a “New World Order

Public Health at Risk: One Month without Garbage Collection in Wellampitiya

Has the Kotikawatta–Mulleriyawa Urban Council (KMUC) garbage lorry disappeared with the Ditwah cyclonic winds?

Protection of the state from terrorism act; a critique of the current proposal

The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979, (PTA), has been vigorously assailed for 45 years as the anchor of a legislative regime which is destructive of basic political and civil rights.

Food and Financial Self-Sufficiency: The key to survival in an increasingly unstable world

Sri Lanka is moving from crisis to crisis. Our country begins 2026 amidst a precarious recovery from the long economic crisis, aggravated more recently by the devastating cyclone.

A hypocrisy called the United Nations!

There is a quiet anger spreading across much of the world. It is not the loud kind that fills streets with protests, but a deeper, more painful frustration felt by ordinary people who are watching global justice collapse under the weight of hypocrisy.

Three Wheelers: A Crisis Created by Policy Paralysis

Successive governments have repeatedly promised to regulate three-wheeler services, particularly fares. Yet these assurances have remained largely rhetorical.

Elephants in the Fridge and Humans in the Wedge? Post ‘Ditwah’ urges rationalised Elephant and Land Management

In addition to exposing weaknesses in our Land management policy and practices in terms of Irrigation and Road infrastructure, Soil conservation, crop-diversification, food system and market logistics etc., the recent blitz of nature through ‘Ditwah’ has upstaged the elusive debate of Human Elephant Conflict (HEC),

What Happens if the Budget Is Rejected?

Under the original provisions, if the Council failed to pass the budget within two weeks of its submission, the budget would, notwithstanding such failure, be deemed to have been duly adopted.

Media excesses or government overreach:Towards a healthy relationship between the state and the media

The National People’s Power (NPP) government is being accused of suppression of media freedom again, a month after it was accused of the same, after the Chief Editor of the Sinhala language daily, “Aruna” was summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over a news item published in that newspaper.

NPP - few successes, a plethora of broken promises

Prior to the presidential and parliamentary elections, the National People’s Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the largest political group within the NPP, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), promised the electorate to lower the cost of living and lead a corruption-free government.

Invisible Zebra Crossing: Are Pedestrians Being Lured into Traffic?

While accompanying my young grandson to his Abacus class, I was compelled to cross the road directly opposite the Building Materials Corporation (BMC), No. 486, Sri Sangharaja Mawatha, Colombo 10. What should have been a routine and safe pedestrian crossing turned into a terrifying gamble with fast-moving traffic.

A New Year forged in unity, not circumstance

Sri Lanka stepped into the New Year 2026 not under clear skies, but amid the lingering impact of Cyclone Ditwah. Homes were damaged, livelihoods disrupted and entire communities were once again reminded of the island’s vulnerability to forces beyond human control. Yet, as midnight passed and calendars turned, what defined the nation was not despair, but hope—quiet, determined and shared.

2026 world order: More war than peace

Rationally speaking, January 1st is just another day. Scientifically, there is no evidence that time began on a January 1, whether millennia or billennia ago. Yet the turning of the calendar invites reflection. The spiritually inclined may take stock of themselves, and teenagers may pledge to give up or take up a habit. In general, the belief is that a new year brings new hope. But does it?

Education reforms and related blunders

The latest in the education reforms process is the gay website controversy. Even though some might call it a typo, the government has launched an investigation into it. Sometimes, we have too many investigations but no satisfactory outcomes. There are committees being appointed for all sorts of things; from taking action against an individual to investigating corruption and so on. People sometimes wonder whether the government has enough people