War crime probes will hinder Sri Lanka’s reconciliation: ex-defense secretary

War crime investigations backed by some Western countries and the United Nations will exacerbate the differences between Sri Lanka’s two main ethnic groups instead of uniting them, former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Monday.



Withholding of evidence — SF should be arrested: Udaya

Field Marshal and Minister Sarath Fonseka should be arrested and put in jail on charges of withholding evidence on the killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickramatunge in 2008, MP Udaya Gammanpila said today.



Sri Lanka wants to reduce China’s stake in strategic port deal

Sri Lanka’s government wants a Chinese company to agree to cut its stake in a strategic port project by up to a quarter, as part of a renegotiation aimed at blunting public and political opposition to the deal.



Special committee to set guidelines to modernise legal system

Since most countries have modernised their legal systems, a special committee will be appointed this year to set guidelines for modernising our legal system too, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.



Ravi Karunanayake gets The Banker’s title as Best Finance Minister of Asia Pacific

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday that the financial discipline of Sri Lanka had been recognised internationally with the selection of him as the Best Finance Minister of the Asia Pacific region by prestigious London-based international financial magazine The Banker.



CBSL printsRs 48.9 Billion Money printing costs up by Rs 676 Million to RS 7.9 Billion

Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on Friday printed money to the tune of a massive Rs 48,928.75 million to help meet the Government of Sri Lanka’s (GoSL’s) monetary commitments



‘Neville Fernando Hospital is not a teaching hospital’

Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Deputy Minister Faizel Mohammed revealed in Parliament yesterday that the Dr. Neville Fernando Sri Lanka-Russian Friendship Hospital in Malabe is not a teaching hospital.



Rajapakshe damns International Community

Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Thursday lashed out at the international community for making unrealistic demands from Sri Lanka.



Rajini’s Lanka visit triggers opposition from Tamil outfits

Superstar Rajinikanth’s visit to Sri Lanka next month to inaugurate a housing scheme has met with opposition from pro-Tamil outfits here, who cautioned him from getting “involved” in the emotive ethnic issue.



U.N. presses Sri Lanka to meet commitments on war crimes investigations, reforms

Sri Lanka must make more progress towards meeting commitments to establishing a credible investigation into alleged war crimes during the country’s civil war and enacting reforms, the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said on Thursday.



Russia pledges to enhance economic cooperation

Sri Lanka and Russia pledged to enhance long term economic cooperation and affirmed to build a strong foundation to take bilateral relations to a new high.



Warm welcome to President at Moscow Airport

President Maithripala Sirisena received a warm welcome at the Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow yesterday (22nd March). He was received by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Morgulov, Chief of Protocol and other high officials of the Russian Federation.



Zeid highlights need for international participation in judicial mechanism

While welcoming Sri Lanka’s ‘promising progress’ in constitutional reforms, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein today urged the government to set up mechanisms to implement the resolution adopted at the UNHRC in 2015.



Five dead, around 40 injured in UK parliament ‘terrorist’ attack

Five people were killed and about 40 injured in London on Wednesday after a car plowed into pedestrians and a suspected Islamist-inspired attacker stabbed a policeman close to Britain’s parliament.



India donates water bowsers to help drought affected people

Government of India donated eight water bowsers to supply water to the people in drought affected areas. Donations were officially handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat



Indian fishermen urge Swaraj to take legal action against Sri Lanka

India should initiate legal proceedings against Sri Lanka in connection with the alleged killing of an Indian fisherman in that country, a delegation of Tamil Nadu fishermen demanded today during a meeting with External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.