Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China this week, both countries announced, using the first foreign trip of his new six-year term to underscore the deepening partnership with China’s Xi Jinping. China and Russia declared a “no limits”partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to replace his long-standing ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister, the Kremlin has announced. The 68-year-old has been in the role since 2012 and is to be appointed the head of Russia’s Security Council. Papers published by the upper chamber of the Russian parliament said  Shoigu will be replaced […]

The Pentagon says it will “rush” Patriot air defence missiles and artillery ammunition to Ukraine as part of its new military aid package. The US will utilise $6bn (£4.8bn) for this purpose, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin revealed on Friday. Patriot air defence batteries

MP Dayasiri Jayasekera informs House: By Saman Indrajith Parliament was yesterday informed that two Indians were recruiting ex-Sri Lankan servicemen to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. SLFP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera said the leading operator had identified himself as a lawyer while his brother called

The House of Representatives has finally approved billions of dollars in new US military aid for Ukraine as it struggles to resist Russia’s invasion. The much-delayed measure had vocal opponents in Congress and it took a fragile bipartisan deal to get the $61bn (£49bn) package

Ukraine s prime minister has told the BBC there will be a ÂThird World War if Ukraine loses its conflict with Russia, as he urged the US Congress to pass a long-stalled foreign aid bill.

Colombo has demonstrated its own brand of strategic autonomy on issues from Russia’s war in Ukraine to China’s global footprint By Michael Kugelman Most South Asian governments tend to have nonaligned foreign policies, balancing their relations with major powers. This maximizes their diplomatic

By Shamindra Ferdinando Against the backdrop of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena’s quite belated (but better late than never) public confirmation of external interventions in Aragalaya, that led to the overthrow of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government in mid-July 2022, former cashiered Flying Officer Keerthi Ratnayake, with a never-say-die attitude even when odds are overwhelmingly stacked ag...

The Defence Ministry has urged all members of Lankan tri-forces not to join Russian or Ukraine military forces through illegal means. In response to foreign media reports regarding the Sri Lankan soldiers killed in the Russia– Ukraine war, the Defence Ministry has said that although information

By Norman Palihawadane The CID is investigating a human trafficking network enabling Lankan ex servicemen to fight as mercenaries in both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war, Police headquarters sources said on Friday. According to information confirmed by the investigators, at least five

The ISIL (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for a brazen attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 145. At least five camouflage-clad gunmen with automatic weapons burst into the packed concert hall in the city’s western suburbs on Friday night as the audience was gathering to […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando By the time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had arrived in Singapore in the second week of July 2022, a few days after fleeing Sri Lanka, he firmly believed that then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was the only person capable of restoring the rule of law in the country. In the chapter titled ‘The […]

US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have both passed the delegate thresholds to clinch their parties’ nominations for the election in November. Four states, one American territory and Democrats living abroad held their primaries on Tuesday. The result means US voters face a rematch of the 2020 presidential election in eight months’ […]