• Rise in Sri Lankan sex workers sees infections soar

    Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has seen more people turn to sex work, said a leading doctor on the island, which in turn has led to a growing number of sexually transmitted diseases being detected.

    According to Sri Lanka’s National STD/AIDS Control Programme, 4,556 HIV patients were recorded in the first quarter of 2022, up 11.8 percent from 4,073 in 2021 first quarter.

    In the second quarter of 2022, 4,686 HIV patients have been identified, up 13.2 percent from 4,142 in 2021.

  • Prince: A royal pain

    Horror, much like most other genres, elicits laughter when it fails. Failed comedy, on the other hand, leaves the viewer horrified. This was my experience of watching Anudeep KV’s Sivakarthikeyan starrer ‘Prince.’ 

  • Sardar: What Cobra could have been - a competently made spy thriller

    Having seen the teaser for PS Mithran’s latest release ‘Sardar’, I had braced myself  for a repeat viewing of ‘Cobra’ released earlier this Summer. The film’s star Karthi appears in multiple disguises and costumes - which was also Cobra’s primary marketing point - and I was overcome with flashbacks to rolling my eyes and sighing with the Vikram starrer. Thankfully, ‘Sardar’ is a better feature in almost every aspect. 

  • Will Sri Lanka go bust?

    In a bid to increase government revenues, Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry unveiled a 150% increase on annual taxes for casinos, from Rs 200 million to Rs 500 million, as well as the introduction of an entrance for locals of 200 US dollars.

  • 13 years after the massacres, bodies discovered in Mullaitivu

    More than 13 years after the Sri Lankan military massacred tens of thousands of Tamils in Mullaitivu, human remains have been discovered in the district earlier this month.

    The Mullaitivu District Judge has ordered Forensic Medical Officers to conduct an investigation on the remains, which were discovered in a private site in Ananthapuram, Puthukudiyiruppu.

  • Bail granted for four suspects detained over alleged plot to murder Sumanthiran

    The Colombo High Court granted bail to four persons who were detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) over an alleged assassination attempt on Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran last week.

    The four suspects had been detained since February 2017.

  • Kokuvil Hindu College massacre by IPKF commemorated

    The 35th anniversary event of the Kokuvil Hindu College massacre by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IKPF) was held in Jaffna on Monday.

    The commemoration was in front of the entrance of Kokuvil Hindu College on Kankesanturai Road and organized by the relatives of victims.

  • Drugs and economic crisis fuel rise of robberies in Jaffna

    The Sri Lankan police stationed in Jaffna said that cases of theft and robberies are on the rise in the peninsula, as the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and a surge of illegal drug use has plagued the North-East.

  • ‘You are taking us for jokers!’ – MA Sumanthiran slams 22nd Amendment

    On Friday, Sri Lankan parliament passed the 22nd amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution aimed at curbing the powers of the executive presidency.

  • Rishi Sunak - Will Britain's new Prime Minister deliver justice for Tamils?

    Rishi Sunak is set to become the next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest earlier today.

    In August of this year, Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to justice for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and discussed the possibility of applying targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials just as the UK has on Russians. 

  • Has inflation peaked in Sri Lanka?

    Almost half of the Sri Lankan population has been forced to live under the poverty line, but Sri Lanka Central Bank Governor, Nandalal Weerasinghe has reassured the public that he expects inflation to ease and claimed that inflation peaked in September, hitting over 70%.

  • Jaffna International Airport to resume flights at the end of the month


    Flights from Jaffna International Airport  will resume from the end of this month Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said in Parliament this week. 

  • Australia forcibly sends back 183 asylum seekers from Sri Lanka


    Australia has forcibly sent back 183 asylum seekers who attempted to flee crisis-hit Sri Lanka.  

    “We will stop any maritime people smuggling vessels seeking to reach Australia, and safely return those on board to their point of departure or country of origin, or if required, transfer them to a regional processing country,” Operation Sovereign Borders Rear Admiral Jones reportedly said.

  • A survivor’s success story

    A survivor of the 1995 Navaly Church massacre who lost his sight when the Sri Lankan air force dropped 13 bombs on St Peter’s Church in Jaffna, graduated from the University of Jaffna this month.

    Sasiraj Selvanayagam was just 5-years-old when the attack took place.

  • ‘You’re the right man to do this’ – US tells Ranil

    US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu met with Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe this week, as he told him “You’re the right man” to lead the island.

    “With economic stability I think will come political stability,” said Lu, as he met with Wickremesinghe in Colombo.

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