A senior Buddhist monk counselling former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to emulate Hitler and establish a military dictatorship may have seriously hurt his bid for the presidency, according to close associates.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday rejected outright a proposal by a United National Party (UNP) Cabinet Minister to pay “compensation” to Tiger guerrilla “ex combatants” and their “next of kin.”

Chamara Indrajith, who was arrested in connection with yesterday’s jewellery shop robbery and shootout in Matara, has been shot and killed by police officers when he allegedly attempted to hurl a grenade at them.

Sri Lanka launched an 130 billion rupee ($818.12 million) programme on Friday to generate entrepreneurship and rural development and boost faltering growth, officials said.

The Sri Lankan rupee ended firmer on Friday, further pulling away from a record-low, as exporters sold the U.S. dollar and foreign investors bought government securities a day after the island nation received more than half a billion dollars from a Chinese port operator, dealers said.

One police officer who was injured during the gunfire exchange at Matara this morning, had succumbed to injuries at the Matara General Hospital, police said.

An extraordinary gazette notification was issued against 14 individuals who are close associates of the LTTE, from entering into Sri Lanka.

President Maithripala Sirisena says on January 8, 2015, the people of this country contributed to the change the administration of the country which was increasingly moving towards a dictatorship.

Sri Lanka on Thursday said it will expand its aviation sector by allowing five new companies to operate domestic flights in the island country.

Sri Lanka on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a grant of USD 22.8 million for running free emergency ambulance service in the island nation. India had given a grant of USD 22.8 million – USD 7.6 million in first phase in 2016 and in second instalment USD 15.2 million this year – to Sri Lankan government to run free ambulance services.

Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) owner Arjun Aloysius and its CEO Kasun Palisena have been further remanded till 5th of July, by the order of the Fort Magistrate.

Following the announcement that the United States withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the US Ambassador in Colombo Atul Keshap has met with Sri Lankan officials to assure them continued support to fulfill commitments in the UNHRC resolution.

The International Monetary Fund urged Sri Lanka to let its rupee keep sliding and not intervene further to bolster the ailing currency as it fell to historic lows.

China Merchant Port Holdings Limited (CM Port) yesterday released the final tranche of US$ 584 million for the Hambantota Port, completing the US$ 976 million investment. This marks the single highest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received by Sri Lanka to date.