UN Secretary Geberal Ban Ki-moon says a spirit of non-violence is needed to help inspire peace and quell conflict.

In his Vesak Day message, the UN Chief said that that Vesak is an opportunity for all members of the international community to benefit from their rich traditions.

“This year’s observance, falling at a time of widespread strife and misery, is an occasion to examine how Buddhist teachings can inform our response to prevailing challenges,” he said.

Dominican Republic authorities have arrested four men from Sri Lanka accused of smuggling at least into the U.S. and Canada using fake passports.
 
Officials with the National Investigations Department say the alleged leader of the group is a Canadian citizen identified as 42-year-old Karunhanithy Nallathamby.  
 
Director Fidel Calcagno said late Wednesday that Nallathamby was in charge of obtaining passports in Canada that would later be altered and given to

Australian Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor has granted lawyers access to two Tamil asylum seekers who feared they would be sent back to Sri Lanka, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today.

One asylum seeker, who cannot be named, emailed refugee lawyer David Manne from Christmas Island on Wednesday seeking his help to apply for refugee protection.

The email came after 31 Tamil asylum seekers were flown from Christmas Island to Sri Lanka after they were found not to be genuine refugees. Daniel Webb, from t

Logically, it is right to say “I am a human” when the question  “who are you?”, is posed, which tries to identify the real “us”.  But technically it may not be right, because this apparently simple question requires an answer within the context in which it is asked.

In a multi-ethnic country like Sri Lanka or elsewhere if the question is asked to a Muslim person from Sri Lanka it should not be answered equivocally. For instance, I happened to be faced with the question in Lon

Australia said it has returned another 16 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Colombo after failing to meet Australia's international obligations.

A group of 16 Sri Lankan irregular maritime arrivals has departed the Christmas Island Thursday night to be flown to Colombo involuntarily, office of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Brendan O'Connor said.

With today's send-off, since August 13, 2012, Australia has returned 1,177Sri Lankans home and 966 of them involuntarily.

The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is alleged to have warned that those who do not adhere to the BBS’s preference with respect to how Vesak should be commemorated will be caned.  The BBS finds the festivities associated with Vesak, especially the frills, the color, the play of puppeteers and other kolam objectionable.  Instead, the BBS advocates a deeper engagement with the dhamma and a temple-based commemoration.

A court in Cyprus today issued a three-day custody decree against four people including a Sri Lankan in connection with accusations of an illegal marriage of convenience, the Cyprus Weekly reported.

Two are from Bulgaria, a man and a woman aged 24 and 30 respectively, a man from Bangladesh aged 27 years and the man from Sri Lanka aged 37 years.

Police are investigating conspiracy to commit an indictable offense and aiding illegal entry and residence in the Republic of Cyprus.

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, addressing the 66th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organisation (WHO), in Geneva on Monday (20), decried the organisation’s proposed budget reduction in 2014 – Asia Region, considering that one fourth of the world’s population and one third of the global disease burden were confined to the region.

He said the unkind cut was not justifiable and the organization, as the leader in global health, had a greater responsibility in overcoming di

The Bribery Commission yesterday withdrew a case filed against Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake and three others and thereafter they were discharged by the Colombo Chief Magistrate.  

In this case the Central Province Chief Minister and three others were allegedly accused by the Bribery Commission of having influenced a Kandy School Principal to enroll a child to Grade 1 in 2008. They were discharged from the charges following the Commission withdrawing the case against the suspects yesterday.

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York Major General Shavendra Silva says freedom came to Sri Lanka at a very high price.

He told a gathering at an event in New York to commemorate four years since the end of the war in Sri Lanka that one should never forget or stop being grateful for the freedom.

“if you were to go to the front of a school in the morning, you could witness children holding on to the hands of their parents, smiling. But, among this sea of smiles you can see som