Author: Sariaslan Gorgage

In a move that can cause fresh tensions in the region, Sri Lanka has allowed the Chinese Navy training ship, Po Lang, to dock at its port, despite a 12-month moratorium imposed earlier this year on foreign research vessels, following security concerns raised by India and the United States. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath explained the decision to permit the Po Lang—a three-masted tall ship with a crew of 130. He emphasized that the vessel is classified as “a training vessel and not a research craft.” He stated that there has been no change in the policy regarding research vessels. The…

The Chinese and US defence ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, the first in-person meeting between ministers since 2022. Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for China’s defence ministry, said the bilateral meeting between Dong Jun and Lloyd Austin was “positive, practical and constructive” communication at the strategic level. He said that during the meeting, the two exchanged views, including on relations between the two militaries, Taiwan, the South China Sea and “the Ukraine crisis”. The meeting had a “positive effect” on promoting understanding and avoiding miscalculation, Wu said in a press conference after…

PESHAWAR: A coalition of civil society organisations has urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to “persuade Pakistani government not to detain and forcibly deport” Afghan asylum-seekers, who hold valid documents and whose applications for refuge are pending with it. These Afghans include women, children, the sick and the elderly, according to Ending Violence against Women and Girls Alliance (EVAWG). In an open letter to the UNHCR and National Commission for Human Rights, the EVAWG said the current caretaker government, departing from the country’s four decades-long policy of providing refuge to Afghan nationals regardless of their valid documents,…

Copenhagen (14/11 – 40) The massive mobilization and sustained pressure jolted the Sri Lankan presidency of the previously all-powerful Gotabaya Rajapaksa, prompted mass resignations from the government at the time, and solidified existing spaces and created new spaces for dissent and discussions on much-needed reforms. Sri Lanka is facing an exceptional political and economic crisis that has sparked months-long protests across the country. The new leadership under President Ranil Wickremesinghe struggles with the economic situation and seemingly failed to uphold basic human rights and pursue accountability for grave crimes towards the people of Sri Lanka. Despite troubling trends of authoritarianism,…

COLOMBO -Sri Lanka’s consumer price inflation rate eased to 0.8% year-on-year in September from 2.1% in August, the statistics department said on Monday. The National Consumer Price Index captures broader retail price inflation and is released with a lag of 21 days every month. Food prices fell 5.2% in September after declining 5.4% in August, from a year earlier, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement. Prices for non-food items, however, climbed 5.9% in September after rising 9% year-on-year in August. Sri Lanka experienced record high inflation after its economy was pummelled by the worst financial crisis…

WASHINGTON – Black holes, celestial objects known for their gluttony, usually eat stars unlucky enough to stray too close to them in one big gulp, annihilating them with their enormous gravitational pull. But some, it turns out, tend to snack rather than gorge. Researchers said they have observed a supermassive black hole at the centre of a relatively nearby galaxy as it takes bites out of a star similar in size and composition to our sun, consuming material equal to about three times Earth’s mass each time the star makes a close pass on its elongated oval-shaped obit. Black holes are…

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq is set to return to the PCB nearly two years after he resigned as head coach of the national side. ESPNcricinfo understands Misbah is likely to be appointed the head of a cricket committee that will soon be formed. He will also be the advisor on cricketing affairs to the current head of the PCB, Zaka Ashraf. The impending appointment is the first major move the new administration will make in the running of Pakistan cricket. Ashraf was appointed head of the PCB’s new management committee earlier this month, after a brief legal tangle following the end of Najam Sethi’s stint as…

Childhood vaccination, along with clean drinking water and improved hygiene practices, are the key to eradication of typhoid XDR, not indiscriminate use of antibiotics, say health experts. The first thing you notice about eight-month-old Manahil Zeeshan is how tiny she looks on the adult-size hospital bed at the government-run Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) in Karachi’s Korangi district. Her right foot is taped with a cannula, and she whimpers incessantly. “I have been in and out of the hospital for the last seven days,” said Uzma Mohammad, Zeeshan’s mother, with worry lines on her forehead. “High fever…

LIV Golf rebel Thomas Pieters has claimed that ‘lonely’ life on the PGA Tour combined with financial incentives led to him defecting to the Saudi-funded circuit. The Belgian was the Saudi-backed series’ big name signing ahead of its second season in a huge blow to Team Europe’s Ryder Cup hopes.  The 31-year-old joined Bubba Watson’s team, the RangeGoats, and has played the opening two events of the season in Mexico and Tucson, Oklahoma.  Despite all the controversy surrounding his and his fellow LIV Golf rebels’ defections, Pieters has claimed it is not a big deal. ‘Obviously there’s a lot of talk, but at…

BAHAWALPUR: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq lashed out at corrupt elements among politicians and state institutions, who he said were mentioned in the Panama Papers and Pandora Leaks and wasted Pakistan’s precious 75 years. Addressing a workers’ convention at Dera Izzat on Saturday, the JI chief regretted that at least 80 million people of the country were forced to live below the poverty line. He claimed that finance minister Ishaq Dar had admitted his failure to reset the country’s falling economy, which, he said, was due to the “slavery of IMF and World Bank”. Mr Haq criticised the PPP, PTI…