Cabinet decided to allow students who were affected by the z-score crisis in 2011 to sit for the Advanced Level Examination for the fourth time in the 2013/2014 academic year.

The approval was given after a proposal was put forward in this regard by the Minister of Higher Education, S.B.Dissanayake.

“As previewed by Foreign Secretary Kohona’s comment, this will likely be cast as a major success by the government. KP was seen as the last top LTTE leader still at-large since the end of the war, and the government will likely feel they have tied up the last loose end with this capture. KP had a much higher level of international notoriety than the few other remaining LTTE leaders, and had worked to cast himself as the successor to Prabhakaran upon his death in May. He was allegedly in control of a significant portion of the

Aheadline in yesterday's edition of this paper said 13 prostitutes had been arrested by the police in Maradana and released on bail.

Some might argue that such stories are far from the juicy pieces written about sexual escapades and the mere arrest, detention and subsequent release of sex workers in a place that has been notorious for prostitution over the years, has no news value.

Interestingly, in this country sex is a taboo subject in public, unlike the way it is taken up in many other countries. And sometime

Led by the bishop of Mannar, some 133 members of the clergy want the United Nations Human Rights Council to implement the UN war crimes resolution. The group also calls for the demilitarisation of the country's north-eastern region and a stop to government authoritarianism.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - Mgr Rayappu Joseph, bishop of Mannar, and 133 Tamil Christian religious wrote a letter with a list of demands for the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC). They include repatriation of the last civil war refugees, the demilit

A would-be illegal asylum seeker from Sri Lanka attempting to sail to Australia illegally by boat
A would-be Sri Lankan asylum seeker. 'Australia’s extreme measures have been prompted by a curious surge in the number of people arriving by boat from Sri Lanka.' Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte /Reuters

It's election year in Australia, and that means open season on boat migrants. Last year, 17,000 people arrived by boat, with a massive surge of 6,500 from Sri Lanka. These numbers have an alarming impact on A

Jaffna national holding British citizenship had gone missing in Colombo was a complaint made to the police. Concerning this incident, the British Embassy in Colombo had been notified.
 
Arumugam Yogeswaran aged 37 years a native of Karainagar had lived in Jaffna Eechamottai locality had gone missing.
 
He migrated to London and had obtained British citizenship and recently visited to Jaffna to meet his wife and relations.
 
To proceed to London he had come to Colombo. In this state from last 10th,

Sri Lankan sailors assist a Myanmar national on a stretcher off a navy ship at the southern port of Galle, following a rescue at sea. AFP PHOTO/SRI LANKAN NAVY Source: AFP
People smuggler jailed over boat horror

NEW Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor says he has no short-term way to stop asylum boats, as he digests the first horrifying loss of life since he took the role this month.

He said the 98 Australia-bound asylum seekers thrown overboard by shipmates as they died one by one after weeks without foo

Sri Lankan media largely ignored the sensation created in India and elsewhere in the world, after the publication of new pictures which suggested that Tamil Tiger chief V. Prabakaran’s youngest son, Balachandran, was captured by the Sri Lankan forces ahead of being shot dead.

The English press, barring Ceylon Today, did not even carry the Sri Lankan rebuttal of the story. The main Tamil newspaper, Virakesari, carried the rebuttal prominently, but made this an excuse to carry the picture in question — where Balachan

It seems that somebody has shifted the gear to the reverse.  It’s really disheartening to see how a golden opportunity the country was presented with about three and a half years ago is allowed to slip away carelessly. Chauvinism, racism and religious and cultural intolerance have forced themselves into the front seat while harmony, unity and respect for difference have retreated to the back seat.

It is tragic to see how young men and women, who are supposed to herald the wonders of the future, are going  back

Marking the ‘World Day of Social Justice’ today (Feb. 20), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “As we seek to build the world we want, let us intensify our efforts to achieve a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable development path built on dialogue, transparency and social justice.” Inspiring words indeed, but in the context of globalisation, regions and nations like Sri Lanka with small populations and weak economies have virtually no say. Despite this, Sri Lanka has demonstrated a long-term commitment to