Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavations at the Chemmani mass grave end on Wednesday with 582 sets of human remains identified, among them those of children, and no decision on whether digging will resume before a court date in October. Wednesday is the 56th and final day authorised by the court for the third phase of the excavation, and the 110th day of digging at the site on the outskirts of Jaffna since work began in May last year. Whether a fourth phase goes ahead rests on a hearing set for Oct. 14,


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka can return inflation to its 5 percent target if global oil prices hold near $80 a barrel, the country's central bank governor said, while warning that a fresh energy shock would strain a recovery that remains vulnerable to forces beyond the island's control. Nandalal Weerasinghe, governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney, where he is leading an investor roadshow intended to draw foreign money into Sri Lanka's stock m


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's weather authority says an unusually powerful El Niño is likely to develop by the end of the year, arriving just as reservoirs across the country are running low. The Department of Meteorology now puts the probability of a "very strong" El Niño at about 90 percent, said Ajith Wijemanna, the department's director general. He said there was roughly a 70 percent chance the event would exceed the intensity of any El Niño recorded since 1950. The forecast tracks closely with re


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

New E.U. Packaging Rules Now Apply to Sri Lankan Exports

New E.U. Packaging Rules Now Apply to Sri Lankan Exports

COLOMBO — European rules governing packaging began to apply on 12 August, and they cover imports. Sri Lankan exporters of tea, spices, seafood and processed food must now be able to show that the pouches, cartons and wrappers they ship to Europe meet binding requirements on recyclability, recycled content, labelling and chemical safety. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force in February 2025 after years of negotiation in Brussels. It draws no distinction between packagi


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

UNAFRAID AND UNBOWED

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." - Isaiah 58:1 His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and chief shepherd of the Catholic flock in all of Sri Lanka, has recently marked fifty years in the sacred priesthood. As the highest-ranking prelate whose dominion spans the entire island, he now stands as a mighty voice crying for justice, calling upon the nations of the earth for interv


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Why South Asia Reveres Books-and Fears Their Destruction Irrespective of religion, across the Indian subcontinent, books have long held an exalted status. In the indigenous spiritual traditions that emerged from this land-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism-knowledge is not merely valued; it is venerated in the highest order. In homes, temples, and schools across the region, people treat books with profound reverence-never touching them with their feet, and if done accidentally, offering a


Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

The dead do not speak - but the earth does A few years ago, I visited Cambodia. My original aim was to see the Angkor Wat temple complex. But, as always, my journalistic instincts led me deeper into rural Cambodia, where I found myself in quiet conversations with a few former soldiers of the Pol Pot regime, now living ordinary lives as toddy tappers, farmers, and small shop owners. One of them - a former henchman of the Khmer Rouge - opened up after a few glasses of toddy. In a hauntingly calm


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Read More

Explore our archive of articles, interviews, and creative projects

India’s Defence Minister Heads to Sri Lanka for High-Level Security Talks

India’s Defence Minister Heads to Sri Lanka for High-Level Security Talks

COLOMBO — India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, is expected to visit Sri Lanka next week for talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in what would be the most senior Indian defence visit to the island since the two countries signed their first formal defence cooperation agreement last year. Mr. Singh is also expected to meet Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, the secretary to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence, according to people familiar with preparations for the visit. Mr. Dissanay


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Tamil Lawmaker Questioned by Police Over Remarks on Federalism and Land

Tamil Lawmaker Questioned by Police Over Remarks on Federalism and Land

COLOMBO — Sri Lankan police questioned a senior Tamil lawmaker for about four hours over public remarks on power-sharing, federalism and land, in an inquiry examining whether his statements amounted to promoting separatism or stirring hostility between ethnic communities. R. Shanakiyan, the parliamentary group leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, known as ITAK, was summoned after a complaint over comments he made to reporters following a meeting between the party’s lawmakers and President


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Kanjipani Imran Has Not Been Arrested, Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister Says

Kanjipani Imran Has Not Been Arrested, Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister Says

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister denied Monday that fugitive underworld figure Kanjipani Imran, wanted in connection with international drug trafficking, had been arrested in Italy, saying police were still trying to catch him. Several local outlets reported earlier in the day that Imran, whose full name is Mohamed Nazeem Mohamed Imran, had been taken into custody there. Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said the reports were false and appeared to stem from confusion over r


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Sri Lankan Police Seek Temple Priest Accused of Pawning Gold to Fund Gambling

Sri Lankan Police Seek Temple Priest Accused of Pawning Gold to Fund Gambling

COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan court has ordered the arrest of the chief priest of a Hindu temple in central Colombo after police said he repeatedly removed gold jewellery from the temple’s safe, pawned it and used the proceeds for gambling before redeeming and returning the valuables. The Fort Magistrate’s Court also imposed a travel ban on the priest, identified as Satheeskumar Gurukkal, 34, who served as the chief priest of the Sri Sivasubramaniyar Temple in Slave Island and has since gone into hidi


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Meet Our Authors

Be the first to know

Join our community and get notified about upcoming stories

Subscribing...
You've been subscribed!
Something went wrong