Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has arrived in Sri Lanka at 1.30 p.m. from Katunayake Bandaranayake International Airport (KBIA) on board an Emirates flight, a source said.

The exhumation of the remains of a star rugby player whose death is now the target of a murder investigation has cast a shadow over former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s comeback bid at Sri Lanka’s general election next week.

If anybody can be described as the ‘face’ of this parliamentary election, it is former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Not only is his likeness displayed on the posters pamphlets and other election material of the candidates of the UPFA, the UNP and the JVP also direct all their attacks at him.

Sri Lanka is likely to regain a lucrative European Union trade concession for garments exports, the government said on Tuesday, five years after the South Asian island nation lost the discount over its failure to address human rights concerns.

Malaysian Police have arrested seven men for investigation into the death of a Sri Lankan man who was allegedly assaulted while attempting to break into an apartment at Kota Kemuning in Shah Alam.

Forty Indian fishermen, who were in the custody of Sri Lankan authorities since June, have been released following orders of courts in Point Pedro and Mannar, both in the Northern Province.

Sri Lanka’s economy should grow by 7 percent this year, up from 4.5 percent last year, while inflation will end the year far below market expectations, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Monday.

Former parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said today he had been summoned by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) on August 12.

Ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen’s body was exhumed a short while ago at Jummah Mosque Cemetery, Dehiwala as per the order of Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris.

Retired Senior DIG Anura Senanayake and several officers who were previously attached to the Presidential Security Division (PSD) are likely to be questioned in connection with Rugby Player Wasim Thajudeen’s death.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday addressed newspaper editors and other media personnel at the Hilton Residencies.

Sri Lanka’s new administration has been billed over half a million rupees for washing clothes of the Prime Minister of the ousted Rajapaksa regime during the last quarter of 2014, Deputy Economic Policy Minister Harsha de Silva said.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that none of the two major political parties can get a majority in Parliament at the general election, but the JVP will not ally with either party to form a government.

Former Sports Minister and UPFA Kandy District Candidate Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that despite the big hue and cry made by the government to bring crooks to book as early as possible, the government over the past six months has failed to find anybody guilty over the alleged financial frauds and other charges levelled against some UPFA politicians.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, once poised to be Sri Lanka’s president for life, is a desperate man these days. At stake is not just his own political future, but that of an entire dynasty and a network of supporters he founded at every level.

The United States has issued a security message to its citizens living or traveling in Sri Lanka, in view of the forthcoming parliamentary polls in the island.