Applications have opened for the 2027 intake of the Australia Awards Scholarships for Sri Lankan citizens, with the programme placing particular emphasis on applicants from conflict-affected and socioeconomically disadvantaged districts, as well as professionals working in the disability sector. The application window began on February 1, 2026, and will close on April 30, 2026. Programme guidelines state that late submissions — including incomplete or delayed supporting documents — will not be

The Swiss Embassy in Colombo is set to convene Tamil political parties on Feb. 19 in an effort to encourage a unified position on Sri Lanka’s long-running constitutional question. But even before the meeting takes place, observers across the island are questioning whether the initiative reflects the country’s political realities. The gathering comes at a time when prospects for sweeping constitutional reform appear distant. The current government has offered no indication that it intends to pur

More than 50 students and teachers were injured on Wednesday morning after wasps from a nest on the premises of Kilinochchi Maha Vidyalayam attacked students and staff, triggering panic across the school. At least 39 students were admitted to hospital for treatment, while the deputy principal and two teachers were also hospitalised. According to eyewitness accounts, students fled classrooms in fear, abandoning their school bags and learning materials as they attempted to shield themselves from

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has appointed Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Ragul Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam as its new Parliamentary Group Leader, removing senior Jaffna legislator Sivagnanam Sritharan in a leadership overhaul that has exposed deepening factional divisions within Sri Lanka's main Tamil political party. The appointment of the 35-year-old Shanakiyan, widely regarded as a close ally of Acting General Secretary M. A. Sumanthiran, comes after weeks of internal discord ove