The Sri Lankan rupee ended slightly firmer on Friday as remittances boosted dollar inflows, helping offset the importer dollar demand, traders said.

A parcel containing 28 gold biscuits worth almost Rs 20 million has been found behind a water dispenser at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by an employee of a Duty Free shop.

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and six others including former Chairman and members of the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (LRDC) Director Board were yesterday noticed to appear before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on September 7, over a complaint that the D.A. Rajapaksa Museum and Memorial in Medamulana was allegedly built using LRDC funds amounting to Rs.81.3 million.

Two English amateur rugby players had taken heroin just before their deaths while in Sri Lanka, a court was told Friday as it ordered the arrest of those responsible for selling the narcotics.

The Organized Crimes Prevention Division (OCPD) has informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that further investigations will be carried out regarding the statement of former State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaren regarding the LTTE.

The JVP in Parliament yesterday said that the country had no economic independence as a direct result of the unfeasible large-scale development projects undertaken by the previous Government while alleging that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had received Rs. 198 million from one Chinese company alone in the run up to the 2015 Presidential election.

The Government will go ahead with the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore as it will enhance the Sri Lankan economy and the Agreement over Mattala Airport will be signed, within this year, with the Indian Government, to reduce the economic damage resulting from the continued maintenance of the Airport, State Minister of Finance, Eran Wickremaratne said.

Former Minister and UPFA MP Dayasiri Jayasekera yesterday informed parliament that a plot was being hatched to remove the President through constitutional amendments.

Following an order from the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) during the hearing of the RTI appeal filed by the Airline Pilots’ Guild of Sri Lanka (APGSL), SriLankan Airlines disclosed its top management’s salaries and the cost of personal flying training, borne by the company for its former CEO Suren Ratwatte.

Border guards of the Lviv and Lutsk detachments and the operative and search unit of the Eastern Regional Directorate have detained 13 illegal migrants – from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service has reported.

The current government has a fear of elections, says UPFA MP Dullas Alahapperuma.

EU ambassadors warned Sri Lanka on Monday against ending its 42-year moratorium on capital punishment and said the island risked losing trade concessions if it went ahead.

The Joint Opposition (JO) yesterday said the Government would never implement the death penalty and that the topic had been introduced to divert the attention of the public from pressing issues.

The Criminal Investigation Department investigating the murder of Havelocks rugby player Wasim Thajudeen handed over two more DVDs containing the CCTV footage in connection with the murder to Colombo Additional Magistrate Isuru Nettikumara.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has issued a press release to clarify a statement allegedly done by him via a forged document purporting to be a media release.