For the first time, the United Nations celebrated Vesak 2017 in Sri Lanka with the highlight being the three-day international conference attended by representatives from some 85 countries. As we stressed yesterday, significantly the theme was a peac

The moment of truth has come for the United States. But in politics, truth is rarely told -- and if told, it is told for a self-centred motive. Therefore it is naïve to assume that the embattled White House will tell the truth and nothing but th

At times, there is a huge difference between the choice of issues by the Tamil and the other two national language media. This disparity is evident in handling issues related to the rights of the Tamil people including their agitations, with Tamil me

In early 1990 while in parliament, opposition MP Mahinda Rajapaksa who was then campaigning on human rights violations in the South during President Premadasa’s rule, was called by State Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne and told personally, he

Vesak 2017 will be a little more than thrice-blessed for Sri Lanka with the United Nations deciding to celebrate the Vesak festival here, with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari being among t

Whoever is against SAITM should also be opposed to fee-levying institutions such as private nurseries, tuition classes, outfits that offer all kinds of certification and practices such as channelling services. This is an argument that is widely tos

This year’s May Day commemoration appears to have become the catalyst that determines the nature of politics in the months to come. It is now obvious that the Joint Opposition, led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, displayed a show of po

 By Dr.Dayan Jayatillleka -“And it’s all over now, Baby Blue” (Dylan) When you’ve passed the tipping point, things are never the same again. You cannot sustain the existing equilibrium nor can you go back to the old one.

Sri Lanka is bad news. There’s a garbage dump everywhere you look, metaphorically speaking.

 I have already penned many a column on wide-ranging political moves, policies and principles of Junius Richard Jayewardene ......

Twenty six centuries ago, an unprecedented and extraordinary epoch was dawn in our human history which a multitude of people still respectfully commemorate and spiritually celebrate, not blindly but realistically....

The French say they love revolutions. Yesterday they usurped one, electing 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron as the new President of....

At the historic January 2015 presidential election it was widely accepted that a huge minority community vote played a key.....

Today, May 8, is World Red Cross Day, the birth anniversary of the founder of the Red Cross - Henry Dunant. Dunant the founder....

As the fallout of the April 4th chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhun in Syria continues to unfold, contradictory reports on....

For cyber security experts mainly focusing on the contentious notion of cyber war, year 2017 is the 10 years anniversary...

People in many parts of the world are increasingly critical of their governments and other elected political institutions at different....

When the Provincial Councils were set up in 1987, in terms of the controversial Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, there was widespread...

Last May a court in Senegal convicted and sentenced to life-imprisonment Hissene Habre, the former ruler of Chad, for the crime of torture and crimes against humanity. On Thursday last, an appeal court upheld the sentence and now Habre, who ran from

Amid conflicting or contradictory reports on the success or failure of yesterday’s so-called general strike, a major question has arisen over the role of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA). The medical officers’ uni

When Maithripala Sirisena announced that he would run for President against Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was flanked on one side by Rajitha Senaratne. Sarath Fonseka is a Field Marshal, is an ex Army Commander and was the candidate that the Opposition field

“Major venues were full of heads. But all heads are empty heads.” My sorry conclusion on crowds at May Day festivals. May Day was undoubtedly a huge three cornered political competition among Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa. 

Since the creation of Israel in 1948, almost all United States’ Presidents have been either ignorant of the true story behind the Palestinians’ suffering or advocates of injustice, however much the victimised Palestinians shout ‘Nak

President Maithripala Sirisena’s reported suggestion at the Cabinet meeting last week that former army commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka be given the task of running the essential services uninterrupted cannot be a joke, as suggested by La

?Transitional Justice refers to the set of judicial and non-judicial measures that are implemented in countries which are coming out of a period of armed conflict, or state repression, and are in transition to a state of peace and good governance.

Confusion reigned within the government regarding the proposal to appoint Minister Sarath Fonseka, the one-time tough, battle-hardened Army Commander to deal with the emergency situation arising due to trade union actions. It evoked a provocative r

At May Day rallies there were resolutions to provide a better deal for workers in the coming months and years. Essentially the human dignity of workers and their families need to be restored. Doles and acts of charity are good but we need to go to

May Day (in Sri Lanka) is not about workers. It’s about show. This time it was about challenges thrown and accepted, one-upmanship and bragging rights.

It has been more than two weeks since a section of the Meethotamulla garbage dump had collapsed, snuffing out the lives of many....

The pile of garbage was as tall as a 14-storey building. Its collapse was crushing, no pun intended. Two weeks ago the death toll....