Latest Sri Lanka News and Top Stories

A Maldive national who was suspected in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen was arrested last night in Nedimala area by the Emigration and Immigration Department along with Boralesgamuwa police.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been admitted to the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital following a brief illness, the hospital Director said.

President Maithripala Sirisena invited Sri Lankan intellectuals living in Thailand to return to Sri Lanka to provide their service to Motherland as freedom and democracy established in the country.

Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, who was Special Commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa and Ampara districts, says that the rift between him and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran took place in December 2002 when the Tiger chief accused him of “betrayal” of the kind Mahendrarajah alias Mahattaya was accused of in the early 1990s.

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa dismissed former minister Mervyn Silva’s accusations of being involved in the abductions and killings claiming he had not introduced any white van.

Sri Lanka paceman Suranga Lakmal took three quick wickets before Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed a 32-ball 59 to lead Sri Lanka to a tense one-wicket win in a rain-curtailed first one-dayer against West Indies on Sunday.

Eron Ranasinghe alias SF Loku, the main suspect of the killing of Night Club Owner and Karate Champion Wasantha Soyza of Anuradhapura, was arrested by the police today in Chilaw.

The National Police Commission has launched an inquiry into the assault on Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) students by riot police this Thursday (29), said its Secretary N. Ariyadasa Cooray.

President Maithripala Sirisena says he will lead the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to victory at the upcoming Local Government elections.

Police yesterday justified the use of force on Thursday to disperse a group of protesting students of Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA). Nine students including girls suffered head injuries at the hands of the riot police.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, called on Swiss investors to invest in the future investment destination that is Sri Lanka.

MP Wimal Weerawansa said that he will file a Fundamental Rights application against the CID for violating his human rights. He made this observation yesterday at a press conference held in Colombo.

Tough-talking Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran yesterday slammed Sri Lanka’s tax system as “pathetic” and “regressive,” insisting it needed to be boosted through fresh measures and called for reduced stress on State banks placed by loss making State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gayantha Karunathileke yesterday said that he would reveal the statistics on the number of MPs who had applied for licenced firearms and the number of former MPs who had returned the firearms which were given to them while they were in the previous Parliament.

Former SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe has informed that he was abroad and unable to give a statement to the Presidential Commission PRECIFAC this Friday.