September 2026

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — M.K. Sivajilingam, a veteran Tamil nationalist politician and former member of Parliament who underwent a kidney transplant in June, has been moved to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Colombo, according to people familiar with his condition. Mr. Sivajilingam, who currently serves as chairman of the Valvettithurai Urban Council, had remained in Colombo for continuing treatment after undergoing the transplant. He was admitted to the hospital again last week and

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A 10-year-old student from a small primary school in Mallakam has secured the highest Tamil-medium score in Sri Lanka’s 2026 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination. Surendar Sabin, a student at Dr. Thangamma Appakutty Junior School, scored 188 marks, the highest result among students who sat the examination in the Tamil medium. The result has brought national attention to a modest school in Mallakam, a town about 10 miles north of Jaffna. Dr. Thangamma Appakutty Junior School, whi

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The seizure of 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at the Port of Colombo this week grew out of a weeks-long international intelligence operation involving American, Pakistani and Sri Lankan authorities, according to new details released Wednesday by the United States Embassy, offering a fuller account of an interdiction initially described largely through the actions of Sri Lankan investigators. The Embassy said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Delhi Cou