The name of former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is not among the list of names released by the US Government of those who have abandoned US citizenship during the first quarter of 2019 ending March 31.

The current fate of the war heroes is very disheartening, stated the Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka is on the verge of becoming a centre for drug dealing and waste dumping due to the absence of adequate government policies and a solid national programme, Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka warned at a social harmony conference in Negombo on Saturday.

Leaders of the country were acting according to the whims and fancies of external forces and the government should immediately resign and allow those who were capable of governing the county to take over, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith told devotees at St. Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, which was reconsecrated yesterday.

The United States wants a special forces cooperation agreement with Sri Lanka to sidestep bureaucracy and has no intention of setting up a military base in the country, the American ambassador to the island nation said in a television interview.

Postal unions will launch a ‘sick note campaign’ from midnight today to draw the attention of the government to several unresolved issues.

A suspect has been apprehended for being in possession of 203 Kgs of Kerala cannabis in Andiyapuliyankulam in the Mannar district during a raid conducted by the Parayanakulam Police.

The Defender vehicle, which was recently involved in the attack on a van at Kalagedihena, has been found at a residence in Maharagama area, says the Police Media Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara.

The special trial-at-bar today served indictments against Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) owner Arjun Aloysius and several others and granted bail in connection with the Treasury bond scam.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) yesterday informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court that US$100 million had been remitted from Saudi Arabia to build the Batticaloa Campus.

An incident has been reported where officials travelling in two VIP vehicles, allegedly not being allowed to overtake a van, had proceeded to assault a van driver in the Kalagedihena area on the Colombo-Kandy (A1) Road.

The United States Government will not buy, sell, or own any actual land under Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, says the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz.

World Bank Vice President for South Asia Region, Hartwig Schafer said that the World Bank will increase assistance to Sri Lanka under three of its new operations. They include assisting the agriculture sector faced with climatic vagaries, irrigation, renewable energy, climate resilience operations and renovation of tanks in rural areas.