Australia announced programs on Wednesday to help control dengue fever in Sri Lanka, where the mosquito-borne disease killed more around 250 people in the first half of this year.

Former Navy Spokesman Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayake, who was further arrested last week over abduction and disappearance of 11 youth, was remanded till August 2 by Fort Magistrate’s Court today.

During Sri Lanka’s May floods, rescue crews in Kiriella, a small town in Rathnapura District, spotted a remarkable sight.

National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday implied relaxing of the telecommunication levy on internet services shortly.

Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said the efforts made by President Maithripala Sirisena to strengthen reconciliation in Sri Lanka are laudable.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the second review of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, which enables the disbursement of about US$ 167.2 million.

Sri Lanka’s economy will rebound in coming months as the island nation begins to rebuild after devastating floods, and it could still expand by 4.5 to 5.0 percent for the full-year, central bank Governor Indrajith Coomaraswamy said on Monday.

Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa Prof. A.K.W. Jayewardene has denied a role in the inhumane killing of dogs and cats at the premises, and instead, blamed a private contractor.

The government officially took over the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) after an agreement signed by the Health Ministry secretary and NFTH Chairman Dr. Neville Fernando before President Maithripala Sirisena a short while ago.

Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Kapila Waidyaratne said that he would not allow national security to be diluted or subdued.

The Government sold US$ 109.82 million (Rs 13,920 million) on Friday (14 July) to the Central Bank, interpretation of CBSL’s Open Market Operations (OMO) press releases showed.

Former Defence Secretary Gotabahya Rajapaksa has stated that he never approved the dismantling of the Kankesanturai (KKS) Cement Factory and cement company and sale of its machinery and equipment as scrap iron.

About 600 Metric Tonnes (MT) out of 700MT of garbage collected in Colombo on a daily basis can be recycled or reused provided the public supported such efforts, Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

The United Nations criticized Sri Lanka on Friday for slow progress in addressing war crimes and past human rights abuses and said the international community was running out of patience.

’Bangladesh will not hesitate to provide whatever the possible assistance or help to Sri Lanka as we have an extremely cordial relationship’, said the Bangladesh Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali when he met with President Maithripala Sirisena.