Category: Daily Financial Times

Global oil prices have fluctuated slightly on Friday, briefly reaching back above the $ 80 per barrel mark for Brent crude, as the United States and Iran called off further talks in Switzerland.

A stall in talks between the United States and Iran have cast doubt over the preliminary peace agreement reached earlier this week. The oil market has begun reflecting that uncertainty early Friday.

Vice President JD Vance was set to travel to Switzerland to continue into the next phase of negotiations with Iran. Vance’s trip has been postponed while Israel has opened up more strikes on Lebanon.

Part of the agreement between the United States and Iran included an end to military operations in Lebanon.

Overall oil prices are heading toward a second consecutive week of falling prices. August Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, traded at about $ 80.23 per barrel on Friday morning. July West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded for about $ 75.96 per barrel.

The Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup 2026 Amateur Series will return to Sri Lanka today at the Royal Colombo Golf Club.

There will be two tee-off sessions, at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., with a total of 230 golfers registered for the event. The prize-giving ceremony will take place from 7.30 p.m. onwards at the RCGC clubhouse.

Trophies will be awarded to the overall winner, runner-up, third-place finisher, Best Gross winner, and Nearest-to-the-Pin winners in both the men’s and women’s categories.

The Overall Net Stableford Champion will earn a coveted place at the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup World Finals in Trkiye, flying Business Class with Turkish Airlines and enjoying a six-night stay at the luxurious Gloria Serenity Resort.

The event is sponsored by Gloria Hotels and Resorts. (SJ)

In a probing interview on her YouTube channel ‘Conversations with Alanki’, Alanki Kishani Perera recently asked Senior Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs Duminda Hulangamuwa a series of pertinent and timely questions. To which the answers, while polite and politic, were not always as perspicacious as one would have hoped for at that level.

Yet, the most revealing aspect of the conversation lies not in any single answer. Rather, it is the cumulative impression left behind by the interview as a whole.

For all the ideological battles that preceded the elections of 2024, and despite years of rhetoric positioning itself against the economic orthodoxy of successive administrations, the National People’s Power (NPP) today seems to be governing from a place that is remarkably close to the economic centre.

That may be the most important political story in Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic life today.

The movement that rose to prominence as a vehicle of protest increasingly sounds like a Government of pragmatists. And the revolution, it would seem, has become managerial. Good thing too.

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to provide a comprehensive suite of concessionary financial facilities to SLAF personnel, reaffirming the bank’s commitment to supporting those who serve the nation.

The MoU, incorporating the financial facilities proposed by HNB, was officially signed on 9 June 2026 at the Air Force Headquarters. The agreement was signed by HNB Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Wijemanne and SLAF Air Vice Marshal Rajinth Jayawardena.

The signing ceremony was attended by several distinguished representatives from both institutions. Representing the SLAF were Air Commodore Erandika Gunawardena, Group Captain Harshani Katugampola (Director Legal), and Group Captain Malinga Silva. HNB was represented by Kanchana Karunagama, Head of Retail Banking, and Susith Perera, Head of Personal Financial Services along with other senior officials.

This strategic partnership, unveiled during the 75th anniversary year of the Sri Lanka Air Force-established in March 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force-reflects a shared recognition of the SLAF’s vital role as the ‘Guardians of the Skies,’ entrusted with safeguarding the nation’s security and sovereignty.

Under the terms of the agreement, HNB will offer a range of specially tailored financial products to SLAF personnel, including personal loans, vehicle loans, loans against property (LAP), and credit cards. These facilities will be extended at concessionary interest rates, enabling SLAF personnel to access financial support on preferential and affordable terms.

The initiative is part of HNB’s ongoing efforts to deliver accessible, customer-centric lending solutions that cater to diverse financial needs. The scheme is designed with flexible and attractive repayment structures, allowing Air Force personnel to manage their financial commitments with greater ease.

A key feature of the program is the flexibility afforded to borrowers to align repayment plans with their income patterns, ensuring long-term sustainability. Additionally, upon retirement, eligible facilities may be converted to the HNB Sathkara Loan Scheme at applicable rates, further enhancing financial continuity and support.

This collaboration underscores HNB’s continued dedication to developing meaningful financial solutions for key segments of society, while honouring the commitment and service of Sri Lanka Air Force personnel and supporting their long-term financial wellbeing.

International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Jay Shah met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat, amid ongoing discussions on the administration and governance of cricket in Sri Lanka.

According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. No further details of the discussions were immediately disclosed.

The Government of Japan has donated six refrigerated trucks worth Rs. 200 million to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries to strengthen fish distribution and reduce post-harvest losses.

Saskia Fernando Gallery hosts Thisath Thoradeniya’s latest exhibition, ‘The Way You Like It’, marking the artist’s first solo presentation in a decade. ‘The Way You Like It’ is an examination of the human condition. Thisath Thoradeniya imagines life as an absurd theatre, inviting viewers to make sense of it while remaining aware of the impossibility of ever escaping it. The exhibition opens into a dialogue on human agency and experience that constantly goes off script amidst uncontrollable social, political, and emotional variables.

Led by an inanimate wooden marionette that plays the secondary role of Victorian jester, Thoradeniya’s series of drawings and kinetic sculptures reveal a careful study in body language and psychology. Imbued with nonchalance, joy and fear they come alive with a range of human emotions.

Existing in a fool’s paradise, the marionette wades through a discomforting reality with mirth. Dancing on the edge draws on the familiar metaphors of the circus, trapeze performances, and precarious balancing acts to imagine life as a spectacle of uncertainty. Here, the jester is never fully in control, pulled in different directions by forces beyond its grasp, embodying the tensions and absurdities of human existence. With each series, the scene shifts between warmth, suspense, humour, and fear.

Aspirations take centre stage in the series ‘Dreams, Dreams, Dreams’. Filled with whimsy, the works construct worlds of make-believe that mirror our deepest desires and imagined futures. Yet beneath their playful surfaces lie the blind spots of dreaming itself. Thoradeniya reflects on the ease with which we abandon these aspirations as they collide with the demands and realities of contemporary life.

The Great Fall gradually moves towards a more sombre register, where playful theatrics give way to the weight of lived experience. The toy-like marionette slowly transforms into a figure marked by resilience and determination, coming to terms with the contradictions of its own human existence.

Within this theatre of life, the protagonist is both subject and observer, predestined to be shaped by its environment while simultaneously questioning the roles we inhabit.

The exhibition, ‘The Way You Like It’ will be open to the public from 11 June to 11 July 2026, at SFG, 138 Galle Road, Colombo 03.

The Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA) has confirmed the national teams set to represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Games 2026 Esports Qualifiers, which are being conducted throughout June 2026.

The qualifiers serve as the official selection pathway to the 20th Asian Games, to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 19 September to 4 October 2026, where Esports will feature as a full medal event for the second consecutive time at the Games.

The national squads were confirmed following the successful conclusion of the Esports Nationals 2026, the official national qualifier conducted by SLESA. The Selection Committee of the Sri Lanka Esports Association, appointed by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, formalised the team selections, which were subsequently reviewed and approved by the National Sports Selection Committee. The process reflects SLESA’s commitment to a transparent, merit-based pathway for national representation in Esports.

Sri Lanka will field national teams across six titles at the qualifiers.

Each of the six national squads will be accompanied by a well-experienced team manager. Raveen Wijayatilake accompanies both the Naraka: Bladepoint and PUBG MOBILE teams while Vikum Jayasekera will oversee the League of Legends and Mobile Legends squads and Ramesh Liyanage will manage the Identity V and Honour of Kings teams.

Sri Lanka Esports Secretary Ramesh Liyanage said: ‘Sri Lankan Esports athletes who once dreamt of representing their country in Esports now have a chance to wear the national jersey and take part in Esports for a multisport event at the level of the Asian Games. Thanks to a structured pathway, we are now seeing players who are committed towards the sport realise their potential on the international stage. SLESA is confident that these teams will give their very best and regardless of the outcome, the experience of competing at an event of this calibre will only strengthen them, much like it has for Sri Lanka’s athletes across traditional sports for generations.’

With the qualifiers now underway, Sri Lanka’s national teams will compete against some of the strongest Esports talent across the continent. The Asian Games have always been about more than results. They represent the spirit of fair competition and the pursuit of excellence at the highest level. For Sri Lanka’s Esports athletes, the experience of competing in that environment will be as significant as the outcome and one that will no doubt serve them well in the years ahead.

The road to the semifinals has been a brilliant start for the new multi-sport franchise, Weligama Sharks.

Day 1 saw the team take out the Trinco Titans convincingly, winning 44-24. It was a statement opener for the Sharks, setting the tone for what was to come in Group A.

Day 2 brought a much tougher test, as the Sharks came up against Colombo Aces. Both teams played a great match, full of close, hard-fought sets. In the end, the Sharks fell just short, with the Aces edging it 36-35.

Day 3 saw the Sharks bounce back in style. Facing Ella Archers in their final group match, the Sharks made quick work of them once again, winning 37-27.

When the dust settled on the group stage, it was Weligama Sharks sitting on top of the table – ahead of Colombo Aces, who are fast becoming their new arch rivals in franchise sport.

This season marks Season 2 of the Standard Chartered Priority Sri Lanka Padel League, powered by Hutch – organised by Eventistry Sports. The league has grown into one of the most exciting team sport competitions in the country, bringing together city and regional franchises in a fast-paced, high-energy format.

With eight teams split across two groups, the round-robin stage has delivered drama, rivalries, and some seriously high-quality padel.

Weligama Sharks, playing their very first season as a franchise, have shown they belong at the top of the conversation – finishing the group stage unbeaten in spirit, even after one narrow loss to the Aces.

The Finals take place this Sunday at the CR and FC, starting at 2 PM, with a pre-finals show by Magic Box Mix Up set to get the crowd going before the action begins.

With Weligama Sharks finishing top of Group A, all eyes will be on whether they can carry their group-stage form into the knockout rounds – and whether Colombo Aces will get their chance at revenge.

Minoli De Silva is a 40-year-old Sri Lankan-born Australian and a former chemical engineer. Five years ago, she left her engineering profession to dedicate herself to her childhood passion: food. The creation of food, mainly Sri Lankan cuisine, fascinated her. In 2021 and 2022, she took a leap of faith by competing in MasterChef Australia, presenting Sri Lankan food, and thereafter opening a now highly successful Sri Lankan restaurant in Darwin, Australia, named ‘Ella’. The restaurant is named after the Uva Province town of Ella in Sri Lanka, and she has since developed a culinary fusion of Sri Lankan food with both Sri Lankan and Australian spices, earning ‘Ella’ a place in the Australian Good Food Guide.

De Silva was in Sri Lanka last month at the invitation of the Dilmah Tea Company as part of a documentary series promoting Sri Lanka that Dilmah has embarked upon.

At the end of her visit to Sri Lanka, during which she travelled across the island as part of the documentary production, including to Kandy, Jaffna and, of course, Ella, experiencing the food of each locale, she spoke to a small group of Sri Lankans in a unique interaction arranged by Dilmah.

‘Stories, flavour, resilience and reinvention’ was the theme of what Dilmah described as an ‘intimate salon conversation’ held at the t-Lounge and Bar by Dilmah at The Shoppes at City of Dreams in Colombo.

As De Silva began speaking in an open, clear and joyous manner about her life, and especially the bold step of leaving an engineering career to cook, what emerged between the lines and through her carefree manner of speaking was a quiet wisdom.

‘It is what you put into the world that is returned to you. Ultimately, one has to be happy. One has to be at peace with oneself in doing what the heart calls. This is what I chose to do after more than a decade of functioning very successfully as an engineer in Australia,’ she stated.

The questions fielded to her were many.

Fellow Sri Lankans, the majority of whom had never been to Australia, wanted to know many things, one of which was how her Sri Lankan parents, originally from Gampola in Kandy, reacted to her decision to leave her engineering career to cook.

‘My mother knew I loved to cook. I used to copy her cooking and failed many times to get the taste of the curry right. But once I took the decision, it was respected as what I wanted,’ she replied.

De Silva finished in 10th place in Season 13 of MasterChef Australia in 2021 and in 18th place in Season 14 in 2022. Although she did not win, she became one of the most popular contestants and, as a result, an ambassador for Sri Lankan food.

The documentary she participated in for Dilmah, aimed at promoting Sri Lanka and its cuisine, will be showcased to the public at a later date. What is already clear, however, is that De Silva is among the strongest promoters of her birth country in Australia. She left Sri Lanka with her parents at the age of six, and although she grew up in an English-speaking country, her connection to her parents’ language, Sinhala, remains strong.

‘I speak Sinhala at home. I can speak it now,’ she quipped.

Listening to her anecdotes, from her food-obsessed childhood self sneaking money from her mother’s purse to buy a hot dog, to her audacity in competing on MasterChef Australia without any previous professional culinary experience, was a testament to how human beings are united by the common threads of passion, hope and the desire to create something beyond routine or fear.

‘How many of you are doing something you really, really love?’ she asked her small audience, which consisted of a few writers and mostly young entrepreneurs and culinary enthusiasts.

My hand shot up and she grinned at me.

Later, during a brief private discussion, I asked her about something I sensed as she spoke: a deeper inner awareness and connection with the universe that she seemed to possess.

I referred to one of her comments in which she stated that ‘it is what you put out into the world that you get back’.

There was also a thread in her thinking that emphasised the importance of forgiving oneself and becoming one’s own best friend by offering oneself love through trust.

‘I spend a lot of time alone contemplating various things. I believe that one has to connect first with oneself, to truly understand what one wants to give to the world. I first chose engineering, but it was not my passion. It was something I pursued, but it was not something I would sacrifice everything for. I left it when I did because it felt like the right time. The COVID-19 lockdown was the decisive period, because I had time to cook, and then the change occurred just like that,’ she shared.

In the adjoining article on this page are some reflections on youth, examination stress, and the importance of choosing what brings happiness and peace. De Silva is a powerful example, for both young people and parents in Sri Lanka, of choosing joy over fear and constraint when deciding on a career path. If more Sri Lankans could make a choice like De Silva’s and venture into the global arena with confidence and faith, pursuing paths off the beaten track, the country would undoubtedly create more of the happiness it so greatly needs.