A two minute silence will be observed from 9:25 AM to 9:27 AM today (December 26) islandwide, as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the tsunami disaster that hit the coastal belt of Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004.

The train services from Kandy have been suspended as the Kandy railway station is flooded due to heavy rains, the Department of Railways announced.

It is appropriate to recall the appeal of His Holiness Pope Francis for a humble Christmas this year, with the savings from reduced spending on gifts to be donated to the needy and value humanity, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in his Christmas message.

The Government of Sri Lanka will consider further easing existing import restrictions, State Minister for Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.

Bill Gates, the founder of world renowned Microsoft Inc. is to be invited to Sri Lanka, a spokesman from the President’s office said today (December 24).

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially launched this week a five-year project in Sri Lanka and the Maldives to reduce environmental plastics.

Professor Ashu Marasinghe has resigned as the Presidential Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs with immediate effect.

Sri Lanka’s military is holding a Christmas carnival at the seafront site of an anti-government protest that forced the country’s previous president to flee and quit office earlier this year.

Some 27 migrants from Bangladesh, Eritrea, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were apprehended by Arab border security officials when they attempted to cross the border illegally and sneak into Hungary, hiding inside two trucks loaded with textile fabrics and metal bars yesterday.

Convener of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Wasantha Mudalige, who is currently in remand custody was hospitalized today (December 23).

A 39-year-old man was shot dead in the area of Kotugoda in Seeduwa this morning (December 23).

11 people were injured in a road accident that took place between Baddegama and Kurundugahahetekma interchanges on the Southern Expressway.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed that everyone should unite to fulfil their moral responsibility for the country, sidelining the traditional political system of trying to grab power at the next election by palming off all the responsibilities on the government.

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka donated Rs. 5 million to the Defence Ministry on Wednesday (December 21) towards the development of the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

The Government of Sri Lanka has declared a special public holiday on Monday (December 26), the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs said.