State Minister of Law and Order Nalin Bandara Jayamaha yesterday (17) claimed in Parliament that the controversial Aava group, operating in the Northern Province, was a gang of teenagers, adding that they have not committed any murder thus far.

State Minister of Disaster Management Palitha Range Bandara yesterday said that he was satisfied with the re-organization taking place within the United National Party (UNP) as it gears itself for the 2020 Presidential Election.

Action will be taken against any minister if found to be protecting underworld leaders, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said Tuesday it is alarmed by the separation of a Sri Lankan refugee family, including a young baby, in Sydney by the Australian government.

Sri Lankan police on Tuesday arrested a father on suspicion of feeding beer to his one-year-old son after being caught on social media, a police spokesman said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday reiterated that the investigations into the encashing of cheques by certain individuals and handing over the money to officials of the Presidential Secretariat on the eve of the 2015 Presidential election has not been halted.

Russia has sought an explanation from Sri Lanka as regards a recent claim by Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera that Russia funded a special propaganda unit backing UPFA/Joint Opposition MP Namal Rajapaksa.

The European Union, along with Canada and Norway, key markets for Sri Lankan exports, have said they oppose plans by the government to resume implementing the death penalty after a moratorium of more than 40 years.

The Colombo High Court has granted former minister Basil Rajapaksa permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The funding for a stretch of Sri Lanka’s Central Expressway project now looks to have been secured, according to foreign media reports.

A list of names comprising 18 prisoners convicted for drug trafficking and sentenced to death was handed over to the Justice Ministry yesterday, Commissioner of Prisons (Administration/Intelligence and Security) H.M.T.N. Upuldeniya told the Daily News yesterday. He said the majority of those inmates were being detained at the Welikada Prison while several have been detained in outstation prisons.

Sri Lanka will on Monday begin sittings of a special high court which has been set up to try high-profile bribery and corruption cases including those against members of the former government, local media reported Sunday.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka Friday denounced President Maithripala Sirisena’s plan to deploy security forces to deal with drug-related crime and said it was a job for the police and not the military.