Colombo roads flooded

Many roads in Colombo including Horton Place, Wijerama Road, Bauddhaloka Mawatha and Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha were flooded during the torrential rains causing heavy traffic.

Ministry has vehicles but can’t be used: Dayasiri

State Minister of Industries Dayasiri Jayasekera said today that none of the vehicles at his ministry, while new, can be used and that he hoped to get at least one vehicle from the Presidential Secretariat.

Mickey Arthur set to be appointed as Sri Lanka head coach

Mickey Arthur, who has previously coached South Africa, Australia and Pakistan, is set to take up the next assignment in his coaching career, as head coach of Sri Lanka, ahead of their upcoming two-Test series in Pakistan.

Walapane quarry licence suspended: Nuwara Eliya GA

The licence of the Walapane quarry had been suspended following the Walapane landslide tragedy, (GA) Rohana Pushpakumara said.

UK’s Conservative Party clarifies its stance on Sri Lanka

Clarifying the UK’s Conservative Party’s stance with regard to its reference to Sri Lanka in its election manifesto, senior party officials said the reference is applicable only to the Middle East but not to Cyprus or Sri Lanka.

MP Ranjit de Soysa passes away

UPFA Ratnapura district parliamentarian Ranjit de Soysa passed away this morning at the age of 57 while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Singapore.

Unofficial travel ban slapped on Swiss Embassy employee, formalised

Following the Daily Mirror’s exclusive report yesterday, stating that the alleged victim of the Swiss Embassy detention case had been slapped with an ’unofficial travel ban’, this ban has now been formalised by the Colombo Chief Magistrate who yesterday temporarily barred her from leaving the country till Dec.9.

Govt. to freshly engage with Singapore over Arjuna Mahendran’s extradition

Sri Lanka’s new interim government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will continue to request Singapore to extradite former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran over his links to the Central Bank Bond Scam, Cabinet Spokesperson, Ramesh Pathirana told the Daily Mirror.

Gampaha District leadership changes soon?

Changes to the United National Party (UNP) district leadership are on the cards with current Badulla District MP Harin Fernando expected to be appointed as Gampaha District Leader, party sources said.

Court of Appeal: CC to meet on Dec.12 to consider nominee

The Constitutional Council (CC) is to meet on December 12 to consider a name submitted by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the appointment as a judge of the Court of Appeal.

Blocking appointment of academic staff: VCs

The university vice-chancellors have complained to Higher Education Minister Bandula Gunawardane yesterday that a certain lady official at the Finance Ministry was blocking the approval for appointing employees to their academic staff in keeping with the recommended cadre.

Campaign to be launched on Friday: Harin

United National Party (UNP) MP Harin Fernando said those who wanted the party’s former deputy leader Sajith Premadasa to be appointed as party leader and leader of the opposition would launch a campaign on Friday, December 6, 2019, to re-build Mr. Premadasa’s political future.

SL migrant ship MV Sun Sea dismantled in Canada

An infamous cargo ship once filled with asylum seekers has been dismantled on Nanaimo’s waterfront (east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada) and trucked away.

Swiss envoy has no right to detain SL worker: PHU

The Swiss Ambassador in Sri Lanka has no right to keep a Sri Lankan employee inside the Embassy on the basis that local employees do not enjoy diplomatic privileges, the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) said today.

Tamil Tigers acquitted in Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Court has ruled that the Tamil Tigers are not a criminal organisation and has acquitted 12 people of charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

Inclement weather leaves five dead, over 15,500 affected

The prevailing adverse weather conditions have so far claimed five lives countrywide leaving 15,568 people from 4,546 families affected, Disaster Management Center (DMC) said today.

Proroguing Parliament may cause several problems: UNP

Some United National Party (UNP) MPs today claimed that proroguing Parliament till January 3, 2020 was bound to create several issues and also suspicion about political deals.

Reports kept secret at COPE Secretariat: Handunnetti

Reports of the forensic audit on the Central Bank bond scam will be kept at the COPE Secretariat as a confidential report until the next COPE Committee is established, former COPE Chairman, MP Sunil Handunnetti said today.

Priyankara Jayarathna released from two lawsuits

Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Tilakaratne today released former civil aviation minister Priyankara Jayaratne from two cases filed on bribery charges.

Temporary travel ban on Swiss Embassy staffer

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court today issued a temporary travel ban on the Swiss Embassy employee who was allegedly threatened by a group of unidentified men until December 9.

Refuse tea worth Rs. 3.5mn seized

Two containers full of refuse tea valued at Rs. 3.5 million had been raided today at the Colombo Port, Customs Additional Director General and Media Spokesman Sunil Jayaratne said.

One lane from Andiambalama to BIA closed on Saturday

One lane of the road from Andiambalama to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) would be closed from 6 p.m. on Saturday till midnight due to the laying of pipelines under the Katana Water Supply Project, airport officials said.

Will support to resolve matter, but still can’t question employee on health grounds: Switzerland

Switzerland has said it would support Sri Lanka in all measures to investigate and resolve the Swiss Embassy employee matter by due process of law but that the concerned employee still cannot be questioned on health grounds.

Pujith, Hemasiri further remanded

IGP Pujith Jayasundera and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were further remanded until December 17 by Colombo Additional Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage today.

Ranil says did not maintain files on ministers

UNP leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said he was not involved in preparing files on the conduct of ministers in the former government.

President suspends purchase of vehicles for ministries, state firms

The President’s Office has suspended the purchase of new vehicles for ministries and institutes under ministries, government sources said.

UNP pledges support to 19A revision

UNP Senior Vice President Lakshman Kiriella told a press conference held yesterday that his party would support the government to revise the 19th Amendment to the Constitution if there were shortcomings, but would not repeal it.

PCoI final report submitted to BC, AG’s Dept.

Secretary to former President Maithripala Sirisena, Udaya R. Seneviratne submitted the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on large-scale corruption allegations taken place in State institutions during 2015-2018 to the Attorney General’s Department and Bribery Commission, sources from the commission informed Daily Mirror.

Some officials may have forged docs to cover up failure led to Easter attack: PCoI to Gota

The Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday attacks has told President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he had reasons to believe that certain officials had prepared forged documents in order to cover the failure led to the terror attacks.

Alleged victim slapped with ’unofficial’ overseas travel ban

Following the controversy surrounding the alleged detention of an employee attached to the Swiss Embassy in Colombo, Daily Mirror learns an ’unofficial alert’ had been issued at the airport to prevent the victim from leaving the country till the end of investigations.