Trumping Trump in incompetent president stakes
I have been musing recently this month about this man Donald Trump. Trump, who managed to con the gullible voters of America to vote him in as president of their country in November 2016, has, for almost the past three years, presided over what, according to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, has been called “an [...]
Terrorism 3.0: The rise of social media-based radicalisation
Sri Lanka has achieved phenomenal growth when considering the online connectivity of Lankans, thanks to a booming telecommunications sector that has brought cutting edge technology (eg 4G/5G) to the local market. As of January 2019, there were 7.13 million internet users in Sri Lanka, (internet penetration stands at 34%); of those, 5.7 million (almost 80%) [...]
A comedian as Ukrainian president, but he’s not the only one
Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky’s resounding victory in the Ukranian presidential election — polling 73 percent of the vote — against former president oligarch Petro Poroshenko, known as the ‘Chocolate King’ of Ukraine, has not had the expected impact in geopolitics, caused surprise or even amusement. This giant-killing performance of the 41-year-old comedian has not made much [...]
Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka celebrates India-funded estate housing project
On March 24, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and India’s High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu ceremonially handed over 98 homes built under the ‘Indian Housing Project’, to the families of the Hellbodde Estate in Nuwara Eliya. Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Minister Palani Thigambaram, Lands Minister Gayantha Karunathilake and Special Area Development Minister [...]
Schoolgirl’s life hangs in the balance: Needs blood transfusion in Mumbai
Life has been an excruciating struggle for Chalani Divumini. The battle between life and death emerged when she was an infant, and amidst an ocean of tears, the child’s poor parents continue to grapple with the twist of fate to save their daughter’s life. Chalani underwent surgery for a congenital cardiac condition when she was [...]
The global consequences of a Sino-American cold war
NEW YORK – A few years ago, as part of a Western delegation to China, I met President Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. When addressing us, Xi argued that China’s rise would be peaceful, and that other countries – namely, the United States – need not worry about the “Thucydides Trap,” [...]