Growing threats against the ‘right to protest’
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — The French writer and philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), once famously remarked: “I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend unto death, your right to utter them.” But that ancient political axiom hardly applies to multiple governments in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America—including Greece, the [...]
WHO: Act now to stop dengue
Special Dengue Prevention Day tomorrow By Dr. Alaka Singh, WHO Representative to Sri Lanka Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and sometimes a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to [...]
The use and abuse of President Wickremesinghe
Both pundits and the hoi polloi now agree that when Sri Lanka was at the critical juncture in deciding whether to take the straight and narrow hard way or muddle through and be engulfed in chaos, a correct decision was made to go to the IMF. However, it was not wisdom that resulted in going [...]
The problem with the current Russia sanctions regime
By Mohamed A. El-Erian, Project Syndicate, exclusively for the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka It has been five months since Europe and the United States imposed tough economic and financial sanctions on Russia, a G20 country that was the world’s eleventh-largest economy on the eve of its invasion of Ukraine. While the sanctions have been [...]