Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga who has thwarted repeated attempts to finalise a controversial agreement with China on the Hambantota port lost his ministerial portfolio to Mahinda Samarasinghe in the mini Cabinet reshuffle yesterday.

Nine Cabinet Ministers and one State Minister took oaths before President Maithripala Sirisena today (22nd May) following the Cabinet reshuffle held at the Presidential Secretariat.

The GMOA have engaged in a 24-hour long strike, today (22) which commenced at 8.00 am.

General Secretary of the militant monk movement Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera is likely to be arrested today.

Sri Lanka’s president announced on Saturday new investigations into alleged secret detention centres as part of a drive to find tens of thousands of people still missing after the country’s decades-long war.

Today our tri-forces are not just engaged in national security but they are also an integral part of our development and social activities, President Maithripala Sirisena said addressing the eighth National Ranaviru (War Heroes) commemoration yesterday.

Sri Lanka’s central bank will study the growing indebtedness in Tamil-majority north and east, its Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said.

Sri Lanka said on Friday it will demolish an estimated 10,000 illegally built homes and offices in Colombo, a day after a seven-storey wedding hall collapsed, killing one and wounding 23.

The search operation for the victims of the building collapse in Wellawatta is still ongoing, Police say.

The National War Heroes Day marking the eighth anniversary of the end of the country’s 30-year civil war will be held at the War Heroes Memorial near the Parliament Grounds, graced by President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe this evening.

Eight people including a Buddhist Monk who behaved in an unlawful manner during yesterday’s Inter University Students’ Federation(IUSF) protest at Town Hall were arrested, the Police said.

China hopes that Sri Lanka can create a good legal, security and public opinion environment for its investment projects in the Indian Ocean country, Premier Li Keqiang told his visiting Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe.

India and Sri Lanka are expected to finalise the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) agreement by this year’s end with some headway being made during negotiations.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday that he welcomed increased Chinese investment in Sri Lanka’s major infrastructure projects, Chinese state media said.

Sri Lanka has regained a lucrative EU trade concession it lost over concerns about human rights, mainly benefiting its garments export industry, but it will be subject to vigorous monitoring, the European Union said on Tuesday.