For the first time in twenty five years, Northern Sri Lankans will live unburdened by violent conflict. This is a great opportunity for northern and already �€œliberated�€ eastern province Sri Lankans to rapidly advance towards their peace-time potential. Now focused on rebuilding democratic governance and infrastructure along with expanding educational capacity and economic advancement, northern and eastern Sri Lankans should hit the ground running.

On the 11th of February, 2009 Morgan Tsvangarai, leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe was sworn in as Prime Minister of his country. This came on the heels of months of international pressure on him to adhere to a power sharing agreement between his party, Movement for Democratic Change, and President Robert Mugabe���s ZANU-PF.

A year ago the world experienced food riots on a global scale. After being on the decline for decades, food prices increased exponentially between 2006 and 2008. Rice prices rose by 217%, wheat by 136%, maize by 125% and soybeans by over 100%. Last year, there was much talk about food security and how to ensure it, along with the reasons for the crisis. These included higher land usage for bio-fuels, combined with the failure of wheat crop in Canada and drought in Australia.

On a recent visit to China, the global financial crisis was the centre of most conversations. We debated the cause of it- and answers ranged from greed on Wall Street and the sub-prime crisis to lifestyles not in sync with real earnings, of people living on credit, in debt and beyond their means. The recent announcement of the Chinese government of a stimulus package of Yuan 4 trillion to create domestic demand for Chinese goods also figured a lot in our conversations. Western governments have also been discussing bail out measures and have begun to implement them. So, the financial system in the process of being rescued.

When a state fails to learn the art of creation, it develops the skill of destruction.

After the events of November 26th, 27th and 28th, Israel and India both found themselves victim to horrific acts of terror. The indiscriminate massacre of Indians and the capture and murder of Israelis by the terrorists in the Chabad house has brought about a common sense of purpose between these two rising state actors.

The 10th of December is celebrated as World Human Rights Day internationally. The date marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations, in 1948. That makes this year's December 10th all the more special, it is the 60th anniversary of the event. However, most of the attempts, in the media or otherwise, to commemorate the occasion brought into sharp focus the failure of the Declaration, for that matter the international community, with respect to ensuring basic rights for everyone across the globe. In South and West Asia, a region mostly populated by Islamic countries, the situation is seemingly more serious than most other places. An obvious reason for this is the fact that much of the region in mired in one or more of several regional and international conflicts. With the new incoming American administration, is there a chance to effect significant change?

As Somalia�€™s pirates continue to attack merchant vessels along the Gulf of Aden - undeterred by the presence of the world�€™s Navies - it is pertinent to question what measures the international community should enforce to ensure that one of the world�€™s major shipping lanes is safeguarded, and that the lives of sailors are protected.