The Chinese company-lessee of Hambantota Port is refusing to release the final lease rent of US$585 million to the Sri Lankan Government unless a man-made island – which has been built as an entertainment facility off Hambantota – is also given, as part of the deal.

A multi-stakeholder network involving law enforcement agencies and intelligence services was being trained to detect drug trafficking via social media (including Facebook), the deep web, dark web and dark nets, through information technology-based surveillance and infiltration of these modes of transfer.

At least 46,000 new tax files were opened within the first month after the new Inland Revenue Act was implemented, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka has accepted an eight-year China Development Bank $1 billion syndicated loan to repay loans maturing this year, two top Finance Ministry officials said on Friday.

The National Disaster Management Center (DMC) yesterday announced that more than 125,954 persons belonging to 32,136 families have been affected by the prevailing adverse weather condition in the country with 13 deaths reported so far.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Yasantha Kodagoda yesterday told Fort Magistrate that a member of parliament had received Rs. 1 mn in 2015 from Walt and Row Associates affiliated to primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries Limited involved in the Treasury bond scams perpetrated in 2015 and 2016.Although, Kodagoda didn’t name the MP in open court, a B report filed in respect of the magisterial inquiry identified the politician as Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera.

The Sri Lankan rupee fell on Thursday on importer dollar demand, while exporters stayed on the sidelines on expectation the currency would weaken further in line with other emerging markets.

A member of the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, who is also the father of Sri Lankan cricketer Dhananjaya de Silva, has been killed in a shooting incident at Ratmalana last night, the Police Spokesman said.

INTERPOL has confirmed that the Former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Arjuna Mahendran, is in Singapore.

The Navy was being kept in readiness following a warning issued to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya by Minister of Western Development and Megapolis Patali Champika Ranawaka that the Parliamentary complex might go under water if the water levels of the Diyawanna Oya rises further.

Britain’s Foreign Office destroyed almost 200 files on Sri Lanka dating from the start of a Tamil Tiger uprising during which MI5 and the SAS secretly advised the country’s security forces, it has emerged.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said a total of 105,352 persons (18,542 families) were affected and eleven deaths have been reported so far due to the prevailing inclement weather.

The Australian Government, WFP and UNICEF have signed a 3-year partnership (2018-2020) with a funding of AUD750,000 (around 89 million Sri Lanka Rupees), to ensure stronger preparedness and faster, more integrated responses to natural disaster emergencies in Sri Lanka.

The Disaster Management Center (DMC) says that 84,943 persons in 14 districts have been affected due to the heavy monsoon rain and strong winds across Sri Lanka.