People like to be kings. Some believe they are kings, often because they misread the meaning of ‘raja yogas’.

US: President Barack Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser on Sunday lashed out at US lawmakers, accusing them of using national security issues as a “political football” for their own gains.

The coalition of parties, a motley group of political parties with divergent views, for which General Sarath Fonseka gave leadership, has been defeated at the Presidential poll which gave special recognition to some of the fundamental realities of the Sri Lankan polity.

COLOMBO: The chief of the UN human rights watchdog will quiz a Sri Lankan delegation over the controversial allegation by the former army chief that instructions were given by a senior government official to kill the top Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders and not allow them to surrender during the final stages of the ethnic conflict.

Saudi Arabia will fund Saudi Riyal 172 million (Rs. 5,332 million) for the construction of a dam in Sri Lanka, which will be the highest grant offered to the island since 1981.

(Russia has agreed to start oil and gas exploration in the seas off Mannar after President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the Russian Gas and Oil company Gazprom, Moscow yesterday.

The mental health of children is severely compromised by war and consequent displacement. Nations have a duty under various UN agreements to alleviate the effects of war on children’s mental health.

In the context of a presidential election just concluded and a general election in the offing, there lies a great challenge before the Tamils.

At the Iraq inquiry in London on January 29, former British prime minister Tony Blair found a new way to defend his decision to join George W. Bush in invading Iraq in 2003: the what-if defence. What if they hadn’t invaded Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had remained in power there?

Colombo, 08 February (Asiantribune.com): A new political alliance is gradually taking shape in the North. It is learnt that a handful of TNA dissidents might join the TULF led by V. Anandasangaree to face the forthcoming Parliamentary General Election in Jaffna and Vanni electoral districts.

New Delhi, 08 February (Asiantribune.com): While Australian authorities have been found wanting in solving many assault cases involving Indians, the Victorian police chief Simon Overland has come up with a strange and ridiculous advice to avert such incidents. Police have been sticking to their version that not all incidents could be dubbed as racial.

A big lie has been in circulation ever since the night of January 26, the day of the Presidential election.

Intervention by Sri Lankan Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha at an exchange of views on the “GSP+ scheme and Sri Lanka” at the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee on January 14

FOR India, time is ticking in Bangladesh. All eyes are focused on New Delhi to see if and when it begins to implement the steps listed in the joint communiqué that the Prime Ministers of the two countries signed some 15 days ago.

Available data shows the budget deficit for the first nine months of 2009 at 17.6 percent of GDP but with revenues generally coming in during the last few months of the year there is a possibility that the budget deficit could near the IMF target of 7 percent of GDP for the year.

Sarath Fonseka may not be ready to accept it, but everyone else has acknowledged that Mahinda Rajapaksa roundly defeated the man at the Presidential Election.

The Government has expedited the resettlement of 97,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in welfare centres and with foster families in Vavuniya, from February 2.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Parliament on Friday the resounding victory of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Polls earned the praise of several friendly countries.

He was given a red carpet welcome as he arrived at the Vinucowa Airport in Moscow on Saturday morning.

Sri Lankan shares hit a new high in Monday’s trade, with analysts saying that investors were optimistic on the political stability in the country after the win of Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Jan. 26 presidential polls.

New Delhi, India (CNN) -- Limit displays of affection as you celebrate Valentine's Day or face prosecution, authorities in western India are warning the public.

NEW DELHI, February 6: India has made it clear that it does not want to be either the regional cop or "head master" in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

(CNN) -- A shootout in a border city that leaves five alleged drug traffickers sprawled dead on the street and seven police wounded. A police chief and his bodyguards gunned down outside his house in another border city.

The People’s Friendship University of Moscow in Russia conferred an honorary Doctorate on visiting President Mahinda Rajapaksa last evening. President Rajapaksa is seen here accepting the Doctorate at a ceremony held at the University.

Colombo, 06 February (Asiantribune.com): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov is seen with Rajapaksa when he visited Sri Lanka in last OctoberSri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to be awarded today at 6 pm with an Honorary Doctorate by the Peoples’ Friendship University of the Russian Federation, especially considering his outstanding contribution towards fostering world peace and his success against terrorism.

The UN secretary-general says Israel has "followed up on every allegation" that it committed war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians during last year's Gaza offensive.

British prosecutors have announced criminal charges against four politicians over alleged abuse of parliamentary expenses, a dramatic twist in a scandal that has rocked politics in the UK.

(BRUSSELS) - EU nations have decided to suspend Sri Lanka's preferential trade status because of the island's human rights record and will make the formal move later this month, officials said Friday.

Australian Federal Police officers were warned by a judge saying they could face criminal charges over their arrest of a Sri Lankan Tamil man at gunpoint on terrorism charges, the Age newspaper reported.

2009 proved to be a bad year for US led coalition forces in Afghanistan. In the wake of upsurge of Taliban deadly attacks and mounting US fatalities in Afghanistan (304 in 2009), Gen McCrystal pulled out all troops from forward posts and relocated them in fortified towns.

Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said in Parliament yesterday that the integrity of the election was acknowledged by the Colombo-based diplomats of the European countries during his discussions with them yesterday.

A special Police team yesterday traced a hideout used by LTTEleader Velupillai Prabhakaran during the final stages of war at Vellamulliwaikkaland and recovered several files containing classified information, 56 CDs and a large quantity of sophisticated weapons.

Australia needs to become a republic‚ not to have an Australian as head of state‚ but because Australia will not be able to develop to its full potential unless the British monetarist shackles on Australian sovereignty‚ enforced by the Crown in the Constitution‚ are broken‚ Citizens Electoral Council leader Craig Isherwood declared today.

An Open Letter to Brad Adams of HRW by Asoka Weerasinghe .

The resounding victory by President Mahinda Rajapaksa placed in perspective the feelings of many Sri Lankans, a sense of gratitude towards a President that had the courage to withstand international pressure and take the battle to the end.

Amongst the more astonishing features of the election was the association between the UNP and the JVP to promote the candidacy of General Fonseka. Or, rather, this was in itself not astonishing, for clearly both parties would have felt a need to clutch at any straw, even a blockbuster of the caliber of the General, to do better than they had done in other recent elections.

The Head of Compliance and Training of Standard Chartered Bank India and South Asia P. Ananthakrishnan says, citing International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, money laundering, whereby monies gained through crime and other illegal means are infused into formal circulation, is a global problem amounting to two to five percent of the world’s economy.

The US says that India will be a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond with the growth of its military capabilities.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the 62nd National Independence anniversary celebrations at Kandy yesterday said that having succeeded in uniting the territory he is now entrusted with the task of uniting the hearts of all sections of the people.

Spanish and Portuguese shares were dragged down Thursday by mounting worries over the health of their public finances following similar fears in Greece that have rocked the single European currency.

Haiti has charged 10 US missionaries with child abduction and criminal conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 children out of the country.

My older daughter asks different kinds of questions. She wants to know why we have two ‘independence days’.

The government is to finalize the first draft of the National Action Plan for promotion and protection of Human Rights (HR) shortly, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights said.

Some of the 33 children that a group of American Baptists tried to take out of Haiti without papers were reunited on Tuesday with their parents.

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka today refuted allegations of malpractices during the course of Presidential polls. He also added that there were no incidents to nullify any results.

I have read many e-mails and articles with regard to the presidential election but failed to gain the better of my profundity to express my point of view. However soon after the successful conclusion of the presidential election, when the mind was placed at ease once more, I regained my depth of thought or understanding to write this article.

The 17th Amendment to the constitution was enacted by Parliament with much jubilation after last minute agreement on the composition of Constitutional Council. All talked about the unanimous passing of the Bill.

Recent events like Google’s complaint about censorship in China, a British woman’s being prosecuted for having illicit sex in Dubai, and a British man’s being convicted of drug smuggling in China had received swift criticisms against the host countries from both governments and mass media in the West.

Oh General ! Our General!

A LTTE suspect connected with the bomb attack on a bus in Kebithigollewa in 2006 which killed 64 civilians was arrested by a special police team of the Therunuwara police today.

A discusson by Dr. Asoka Bandarage on "The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, Ethnicity, and Political Economy"

A court has heard that three men who raised more than one million Australian dollars for the LTTE are senior members of the terrorist organisation in Australia. The three men pleaded guilty to funding the Tigers, Radio Australia reported.

Sri Lanka received major world recognition when it was ranked as the eighth fastest growing economy in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of the United States.

The 2010 Sri Lankan Presidential Election turned out an anti-climax. All the pundits got it wrong and what was promised to be a hard-fought out election practically a photo-finish turned into a no contest with Mahinda Rajapakse creating history by becoming the first incumbent President to be re-elected to office with a resounding victory.

MEDIA RELEASE by the Lanka Support Group regarding a statement issued by Senator Chris Evans on illegal migrants on Christmas Island

New Delhi, 02 February (Asiantribune.com) : Even as the Shiv Sena stuck to its vicious campaign of “ Mumbai for Maharashtrians” , Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday rejected the Sena contention as a “pernicious thesis”.

Colombo, 02 February (Asiantribune.com): In the guise of congratulating the victory of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Presidential election, the Western countries have made it a habit to sermonize what Sri Lanka should do and what it should not.

India’s Union Home Minister P, Chidambaram said that India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has received the 'documentation' from Sri Lanka confirming the death of LTTE Chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

The unsuccessful Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka has refused to concede defeat claiming that the verdict announced by the Elections Commissioner was not in keeping with the enthusiasm of people he encountered during his campaign. He further claims that the opinion polls even as late as the January 25. showed that he had a slender lead over the incumbent.

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the campaign for General Fonseka was the complete absence of principle evinced by the vast majority of thinking persons who ended up supporting him.

Many analysts have written claiming that the votes cast in the recent presidential election testify to the ethnic divide. Others claim that the vote is an affirmation of the obduracy of the Tamils and Sinhalese who do not want to cooperate with each other.

Those in the international community that promoted regime change in Sri Lanka received a rude shock with Mahinda Rajapaksa’s clear victory at last week’s presidential election.

Boasting that he had never lost a battle in his military career (not true) Common Candidate Sarath Fonseka opened what he called his “second front” against his Commander-in-Chief, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

It is time now, for some sober reflection on the war, the much longed for peace and security,the concluded hustings and the economic and political future of the country.

Eight months into the death of LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran, the proclaimed offender in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, India is yet to receive his death certificate from the Sri Lankan authorities, the Press Trust of India reported.

IN the days when now defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka reigned supreme as the army commander—with his Commander in Chief President Mahinda Rajapaksa and immediate boss Defense Secretary Gotobaya Rajapaksa readily indulging his every military wish, and often even personal tantrums (which by all accounts were frequent and sometimes exceedingly tiresome)—the discreet tattle in the Officers’ Mess was how during decisive stages of the final fierce push against the Tamil Tigers, Fonseka displayed an uncanny knack of always being comfortably removed from the action. So much so that some senior officers were given to quip: “When we advance we have Johnny” (meaning the Tigers’ landmines); “And when we retreat we have Fonny” (meaning Fonseka, of course!).

Colombian Poll: For once, the Colombians have gained fame in the academic realm, as subjects of a socio-anthropological study. They were primarily responsible for the defeat of Sarath Fonseka by brazenly pronouncing the defeat of Mahinda Rajapakse prematurely; lost an election they would have won.

They, the people felt the pain - the pain of losing to the war their sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, children of their friends and children of their neighbours.

Hype always trips and sometimes both the generator and the receiver. This is particularly true during election campaigns.

Sri Lanka’s policy direction is clearer after a President Rajapaksa was returned to power with a bigger majority allowing investors to emerge from any ‘wait and see’ attitude, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said shortly after the election result was in.

The (geographic) periphery proved to be (politically) peripheral, while the road to power lay through the paddy fields and the provinces of the Sinhala heartland. Mahinda Rajapakse gave the lie to the notion that the minorities, especially the Tamil minority, held the key to the outcome of the election.

Minister of Transport, Dulles Alahapperuma in a campaign speech drew from that ancient practice of throwing a piece of iron out into the garden when there was thunder and lightning, a practice that is prevalent even today in many parts of the island. He was speaking of the dilemma faced by the UNP leadership when the presidential election was announced.

Jehan Perera remains an unrepentant advocate of the LTTE’s cause - even of LTTE post mortem. Perera seems to have undergone a make-over and become an unbiased political commentator

It was on 11th January that I wrote about the Ingratitude of Man. At that time I never thought that I will be compelled to write on the same theme again. But some election results have compelled me to write.

Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (Padmanaba) Party General Secretary Thirunavukkarasu Sritharan said that the Tamil National Alliance had misguided the Tamils.

The NDF candidate, the loser claims that he was denied victory by fraudulent means. The JVP in chorus repeats the same.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair faced tough questioning Friday on his controversial decision to back the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq - a pledge that led to widespread protests in Britain and weakened his standing as leader.

More U.S. moves to create instability in Afghanistan - 1 million US dollars to buy off one tribe. This is still cheaper than what the US threw in for the SL elections (140 million dollars)

Australian Federal Immigration Minister Chris Evans says a peaceful protest by Sri Lankan detainees on Christmas Island will do little to help their cause.

The European Union (EU) says the large turn out at the recent Presidential elections in Sri Lanka demonstrates the wish of the Sri Lankan people to participate fully in the democratic process

A security alert has been sounded in India following the seizure of ammunition on the Tamil Nadu coast and the arrest of four Indian men who allegedly helped former Tamil Tiger (LTTE) guerrillas fleeing Sri Lanka take shelter in India.

Former British PM Tony Blair has told a public inquiry he had no regrets about removing Saddam Hussein, after delivering a defence of the Iraq invasion.

With its false accusations and refusal to engage, Human Rights Watch is undermining the cause of human rights in Sri Lanka

Jan 28, Colombo: Sri Lankan defence authorities say an LTTE leader living abroad has been arrested and brought to Colombo.

Even the last effort of creating a Tamil Eelam dreamt by unpatriotic forces of the country has been shattered and defeated by the landslide Presidential Election victory, Asgiri Chapter Anunayaka Thera Ven. Galagama Sri Attadassi Thera said..

Observers from the Association of Asian Election Authority (AAEA) said yesterday they were of the view that the just concluded presidential election was largely free and fair.

An open letter to Mr. Ban Ki-moon,Secretary of the United Nations by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada.

The country went to the polls yesterday. They would have chosen their Executive President by now.

The victory attained is not personal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was a victory of the people and a victory for democracy just as it was a victory for him.

Winging Western media and the paid agents based in SL who mislead the West

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s victory in Sri Lanka’s presidential election has exceeded all expectations, including the most optimistic projections made within the President’s camp on the basis of hard-nosed pre-election opinion polls.

The reelection of Sri Lanka’s president – whom influential Tamil expats had bitterly opposed during the long civil war – has revived questions of what role they should play in their homeland.

In the aftermath of the the global crisis, India stands out as an island of growth in an ocean of economic debris.

Human rights report indicates clear evidence of UK role in secret detention of British Muslims

One of the most important, if unheralded, tasks performed by the United Nations is the gathering, standardizing, and publishing of statistics on a broad variety of issues and subjects.

Around this time last year, U.N. leaders decided that the best way to cut rampant corruption in its ranks was to aggressively ... stop looking for it.

Looking from the sideline, and especially today when election is over, it is unavoidable to with great surprise reflect the passed and compare it with the electionresults. Some questions arise.

While the victors are jubilant and the defeated devastated we breathe a sigh of relief that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is re-elected, and look forward to a Subha Anagathayak (A Promising Future) with cautious optimism.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa scored a historic victory over Opposition presidential candidate, General (retd) Sarath Fonseka at the first national poll since the collapse of the LTTE last May.

The Sri Lankan Presidential Election – Respect the Peoples Mandate

Given changing geopolitical alliances and the increasing importance of Sri Lanka's strategic location in the Indian Ocean, the outcome of the presidential elections on Tuesday will be decisive domestically, regionally and internationally

The US miscalculated, its envoy Blake miscalculated, the West miscalculated and so did India to result in the “ Unthinkable” – Rajapakse’s astuteness, defiance, strategic realignment and resolve created military history by militarily defeating the darling of the West and its key tool to use Sri Lanka as a foothold to overtly destabilize the region, emerging markets of India as well as China. The anticipated red herring in the form of Fonseka has also backfired.

Jan 27, Colombo: The United States commended the people of Sri Lanka for the