The national ceremony to mark World Habitat Day was held this morning (October 5) at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo under the patronage of Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Police Special Task Force arrested a relative of the suspect known as Nedungoda Nirmala Prasanga, alias “Backhoe Saman,” during an operation on the Kelaniya–Biyagama road within the Peliyagoda Police Division on October 1, 2025.

The bulletproof vehicle provided by the government for the security of former Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been returned, his media spokesperson Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage announced.

Police have arrested a suspect connected to an attempted murder and serious assault that took place near the Dehiwala railway station on July 18, 2025.

A police raid carried out on the night of October 3, 2025, in Mankulam town led to the arrest of four suspects involved in transporting a large stock of illegally imported beedi leaves.

Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised that while the Government has undertaken the task of rebuilding the nation’s collapsed economy, it has also assumed the responsibility of restoring a society that has deteriorated on many fronts.

A hotel said to have been illegally built within the Perumiyankulam tank reserve in Anuradhapura by former North Central Province Governor Mahipala Herath has been demolished.

Sri Lanka Police have launched an investigation against several officials of the Department of Motor Traffic over incidents of vehicle registrations carried out using false information.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised Sri Lanka’s economic progress as discussions are underway in Colombo for the Fifth Review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program.

Neville Wanniarachchi, the chief security officer of former Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been remanded until October 17, 2025, by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.

The chief security officer of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Major Neville Wanniarachchi, has been taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has issued a directive prohibiting traders from providing certain plastic shopping bags free of charge to consumers.

An extraordinary gazette notification has been issued making it mandatory that all goods required to be covered under standard specifications must not be manufactured, packaged, distributed, transported, stored, or sold without the Sri Lanka Standards (SLS) certification.

Drivers and passengers, including those seated in the back seats, are now required to wear seat belts when travelling on expressways in Sri Lanka.

Two Sri Lankans, Associate Professor Saman Ilankoon and PhD researcher Manuja Dayanath, both alumni of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, and currently representing Monash University Malaysia, together with fellow PhD researchers Shafeeq Ahmed Syed Ali and Lourdes Loh Ye Shing (Morgan), have led Monash University to win a prestigious United Nations climate prize.

Sri Lanka Police said several suspects connected to an ongoing investigation have fled with about 100 hand grenades.