The speech argues that ancient Greece gave the West far more than democracy, philosophy and political institutions: it bequeathed a distinctive ideal of human excellence, intellectual curiosity, courage, competition and national loyalty.
by Luxman Aravind Sri Lanka’s latest controversy over Chabad Houses has become something far more revealing than a dispute over a religious centre in a tourist town. It is becoming a case
More
The warning comes as tensions between the Ethiopian Government’s National Defense Force (ENDF) and the ethno-nationalist Tigray’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have escalated in recent weeks, with a drone strike on the city
More
The White House personnel report lists Natalie Harp as a special assistant and personal aide to the US president, with an annual salary of $150,000. On paper, it is a significant position.
More
For centuries, the Arctic was less a highway than a barrier. European explorers searched for a northern maritime passage to Asia from the 1500s onwards, repeatedly confronting ice, distance and extreme conditions.
More
by Durga Velayudham In Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, the traces of Hui Ka Yan’s extraordinary rise and fall can be found in the unfinished buildings, abandoned construction sites and apartment
More
Editorial Nanda Malini is gone, and Sri Lanka has lost something that cannot simply be replaced by another singer. She may well be the last great Sinhala-Buddhist singer of a particular generation,
More
An analysis of communism delivered by a naked pop star while receiving a massage may sound like an unlikely scene from a music documentary. Yet it captures something essential about Wham!’s extraordinary
More
As Donald Trump continued his attacks on Iran earlier this month, a potentially transformative security agreement was quietly taking shape in Saudi Arabia. On 7 August, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed
More
This week marks five years since the fall of Kabul to Taliban rule, an anniversary that closes one chapter of Afghanistan’s modern history while highlighting the unresolved consequences of the country’s isolation.
More
At 4am, Yogi Adityanath rises from a hard wooden bed. Two hours of meditation and prayer follow, then a simple vegetarian breakfast. The routine is austere, but the day that follows belongs
More
Iran has considered attacking US military targets in Europe if President Donald Trump escalates the war, according to people close to the Iranian regime, in a sign that Tehran is assessing options
More
A striking contradiction is emerging at the heart of the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle America’s federal greenhouse gas reporting system: major oil and gas companies are seeking weaker requirements for measuring
More
At 22, Sarah Omari has exchanged her police uniform for the management of Austria’s largest brothel, a transition that raises questions about work, privilege, safety and the changing sex industry. On a
More
Editorial This is not new. This is precisely how the hunger for power works. Mahinda Rajapaksa tried it through the infamous 18th Amendment; Anura Kumara Dissanayake is now attempting something different in
More
The month he turned 50, my father, Mervyn de Silva, and my mother, Lakshmi, were in Havana watching Fidel Castro take over the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement at its 6th Summit.
More