Some Sri Lankan banks stopped buying Qatar Riyal QARLKR=R on Tuesday, saying their counterpart banks in Singapore advised them not to accept the currency a day after the Arab world’s biggest powers cut ties with Qatar.

Sri Lanka is expected to produce over 90 percent of its drug requirements by the end of 2018, Health Minister Dr.Rajitha Senaratne said.

A man was shot dead by two gunmen arrived on a motorcycle at Jubilee Mawatha , Mattakkuliya a short while ago, Police said.

The JVP yesterday demanded that the government pay Rs 2.5 million as compensation for each life lost in the recent disasters.

Strict action would be taken against any individual or group, who incited racism via social media, the Police said today.

Conflicts between the Government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the disputed Inland Revenue Bill continues after local authority changed some sections without fund approvals.

President Maithripala Sirisena says as we recall the sorrowful memories of a three decade long, brutal war, it is the responsibility of all to act in a way to prevent recurrence of such disastrous situation in the country.

Diplomats on Thursday condemned violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka and urged the government to uphold minority rights and freedom of religion.

Showery conditions are expected to further develop in the South-western part of the country today.

President Maithripala Sirisena says the people have to face disastrous situations like flooding and landslides because the politicians focus only on preferential vote base instead of development necessities.

As of noon yesterday the death toll, as a result of the natural disasters caused by cyclone ‘Mora’, had risen to 203, according to information provided by the Disaster Management Centre.

The ruling party MPs are to donate their month’s salary for the disaster relief programme launched by the government, Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said yesterday.

Under the new Cabinet reshuffle, four State Ministers and three Deputy Minister were sworn in before President Maithripala Sirisena today (31st May) at the Presidential Secretariat.

Heavy rains, highways buried under landslides and roads submerged under water are hampering efforts to get food, water and medicines to thousands of flood survivors in Sri Lanka, government officials and aid workers said on Tuesday.

President Maithripala Sirisena has taken the necessary measures to suspend the purchase of vehicles for all ministers and MPs until the end of the year, government sources revealed.

Thousands of survivors of devastating floods and landslides in Sri Lanka are at risk of potentially fatal diseases such as dengue fever, charities warned on Monday as the death toll from the disaster continued to rise.