August 2026

A Jaffna Family Built a Life in Australia. Now All Four Are Missing in Nepal

A Jaffna Family Built a Life in Australia. Now All Four Are Missing in Nepal

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan Tamil couple who migrated from Jaffna to Australia and their two young sons have gone missing in flood-stricken Nepal, leaving relatives in Sri Lanka and Australia anxiously awaiting news of their whereabouts. Chandrasekaran Muralitharan, 47, a native of Kopay in Jaffna, his wife, Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, and their sons, Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11, disappeared while travelling in Nepal. All four hold Australian passports. Mr. Muralitharan and his wife are firs
August 2026
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As ITAK Rivals Fight for Influence, Former LTTE Fighters Become the New Battleground

As ITAK Rivals Fight for Influence, Former LTTE Fighters Become the New Battleground

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — For more than 17 years since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended, many former Tamil Tiger fighters have lived on the margins, poor and jobless and carrying the injuries of the battlefield. Now, as a struggle for influence intensifies inside the country’s main Tamil political party, they are suddenly being courted. M.A. Sumanthiran and S. Sritharan, longtime rivals inside the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, or ITAK, are holding separate meetings in Kilinochchi with former members of
JM Exclusive August 2026
Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam
North-East Landowners Unite Over Military and State-Held Land

North-East Landowners Unite Over Military and State-Held Land

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Landowners and community representatives from seven districts across Sri Lanka’s north and east met in Jaffna on Friday to form a common front seeking the return of land they say has been taken over by the military and government agencies, arguing that successive governments have failed to resolve disputes that have persisted for years after the civil war. The meeting brought together representatives from all five districts of the Northern Province and from Batticaloa and Tr
August 2026 Monitor Memo
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Sri Lanka Ranks Near Bottom in Global Minimum-Wage Comparison, but Data Are From 2024

Sri Lanka Ranks Near Bottom in Global Minimum-Wage Comparison, but Data Are From 2024

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka has been placed 120th out of 130 countries in a global comparison of minimum wages, near the bottom of a ranking that has drawn attention in the country but is based on wage data from two years ago. The comparison, published on Aug. 26 by Visual Capitalist using 2024 data from the International Labour Organization, puts Sri Lanka’s monthly minimum wage at $200 after adjusting for purchasing power. That does not mean Sri Lankan workers were paid $200 a month. The
August 2026
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Sri Lanka, Japan Begin Work on Export-Oriented Industrial Corridor

Sri Lanka, Japan Begin Work on Export-Oriented Industrial Corridor

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka and Japan have begun work on plans for an export-oriented industrial corridor, setting up a joint working group to identify priorities and a timetable for the project. The first meeting of the Sri Lanka-Japan Joint Working Group on Export-Oriented Industrial Corridor Development was held at the Japanese Embassy in Colombo on Aug. 25. The group was established following an agreement reached at an intergovernmental economic policy dialogue in February, where the tw
August 2026 Economics
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Bimal Says Government Has Final Say on Jaffna Airport and KKS. Critics Call It Racism

Bimal Says Government Has Final Say on Jaffna Airport and KKS. Critics Call It Racism

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka will decide when and how to develop Jaffna International Airport and Kankesanthurai Port even if India provides financial assistance for the projects, Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake, a politician increasingly accused by Tamil critics of being hostile to the development of the north, said in Jaffna. Mr. Rathnayake, the minister of transport and highways and the governing National People’s Power’s chief coordinator for the Northern Province, has been accused by
August 2026 Economics
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Australian Senator Urges Government to Press Sri Lanka Over Chemmani Mass Grave

Australian Senator Urges Government to Press Sri Lanka Over Chemmani Mass Grave

CANBERRA, Australia —An Australian senator has urged his government to raise the Chemmani mass grave with Sri Lanka in bilateral talks and at the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for independent forensic scrutiny of the site and protection of the evidence recovered from it. David Shoebridge, a Greens senator for New South Wales, told the Australian Senate that Canberra should act on its stated commitments to accountability in Sri Lanka. "This means supporting the preservation of the
JM Exclusive August 2026
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Former Sri Lankan Parliamentary Leaders Reject Audit Findings on Fuel Use
Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena

Former Sri Lankan Parliamentary Leaders Reject Audit Findings on Fuel Use

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s former Speaker and deputy speaker have rejected the findings of a special government audit that raised questions about millions of rupees spent on fuel and the use of multiple vehicles during their time in office. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the former Speaker, and Ajith Rajapakse, the former deputy speaker, said they had committed no wrongdoing and called for a formal investigation, saying they were prepared to answer questions about the expenditure. Their denia
August 2026
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