A group of Sri Lankan parliamentarians missed the opening day of an Inter-faith conference in South Korea after one MP left her passport in the Seoul International airport toilet and the delegation was not allowed entry into the country. The group of 17 MPs had arrived in Seoul to attend the International Conference of Parliamentarians for Peace, an event sponsored by the Universal Peace Federation run by the widow of the late Rev. Sun Moon. On arrival, Matale District Parliamentarian Rohini Wijeratne used the facilities at the airport and forgetfully left her passport there.

Bail Applications were filed at Colombo High Court on behalf of five individuals including Yoshitha Rajapaksa, arrested for alleged involvement in money laundering at Carlton Sports Network.Through the bail applications, the lawyers of the five suspects have challenged the decision by the Kaduwela Magistrate to deny bail to them. The applications will be taken up for support on February 17. Yoshitha Rajapaksa and the others were arrested on January 30.

President Maithripala Sirisena today left for Germany for a two-day state visit. During the two-day visit aimed at boosting trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, the President will be having discussions with the President of Germany, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, German Minister of Economic Affairs and some representatives of the German Parliament. The Presidential delegation comprises 25 members.

The area around the cellblock in the Colombo Remand Prison where Yoshitha Rajapaksa and three others are detained on charges of money laundering has been declared a restricted area.Only the two jailers on duty are authorised to enter J block of the prison where the suspects are detained. The suspects are kept under 24 hours surveillance by the jailers.One jailer has been assigned to be present whenever Yoshitha Rajapaksa is taken out to meet visitors. All the suspects have been ordered not to leave the area without informing the jailers on duty, according to sources. These restrictions have been placed on them after a mobile phone was found in a cell near Yoshitha's, prisons officers said.

The ideological and political rift between the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran and the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government in Colombo appears to be widening, with Wigneswaran

The Disciplinary Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will initiate action against 30 MPs for violating party discipline. The SLFP Central Committee, when it met on Friday, decided to delegate full authority to the Disciplinary Committee of the party to take action against MPs breaching party discipline, irrespective of their positions in the party.

Reginald Cooray took oaths as the new Governor of the Northern Province before President Maithripala Sirisena today. Cooray will assume duties on the 16th of this month. Cooray succeeds HMGS Palihakkara, who had completed his term in office.

Democratic Party leader Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has sought the post of Kotte chief organizer of the United National Party. However, senior UNP members have reportedly opposed this move. The UNP is said to be willing to give Fonseka the organizer post for Ambalangoda, UNP sources said. Senior UNP members however have told the UNP leadership not to give him an organizer post.

President Maithripala Sirisena said that he is the one who saved former President Mahinda Rajapaksa from being sent to the electric chair. He said that former President Rajapaksa claimed that if he (Maithripala) became the President of the country, he (Mahinda) would be send to the electric chair over alleged war crimes. "But my government was able to save him from being sent to the electric chair,

Colombo Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage on Friday turned down a request from lawyers for a former LTTE strongman Emil Kanthan alias Anton Chamil Lakshmi Kannan to revoke the open warrant for his arrest. The Magistrate turned down the request after the CID objected to the lifting of the warrant which has been issued for his immediate arrest on arrival at any port or airport in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil S Wickremesinghe on Friday made it clear that his government was not averse to international participation in investigating the alleged war crimes in his country, but said "final judgment will be made by the internal judicial system." Wickremesinghe who was in Guruvayur to offer prayers at the famous Sree Krishna Temple made these observations while talking to reporters.

Aimed at designing a reconciliation mechanism in the post-civil war Sri Lanka, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Friday appealed to the victims on both sides of the divide to participate in a consultation process. A task force, comprising 11 citizens, has been constituted with Manouri Muttetuwegama, a senior advocate, as chairperson. It came into existence formally on Friday with Mr. Samaraweera launching its website.

State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene refuted claims made by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the UNHRC resolution would make provision to arrest Sri Lankan military forces personnel and that the government was also assisting the UNHRC to achieve this.

All investigations conducted by the Board of Inquiry of the Navy on Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa has been temporarily halted due to his arrest on allegations of money laundering, Navy Spokesperson, Captain Akram Alavi said.The Navy appointed a Board of Inquiry to probe several issues including Rajapaksa

Speculation is rife in political circles as to which prominent MP or State official of the previous regime will next be incarcerated.The speculation has been triggered by the fact that the infamous 'S' ward of the Welikada Prison in which former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and late actor turned politician Vijaya Kumaratunga were detained is being hurriedly renovated.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Sri Lanka next week for a joint

Pablo de Greiff, the UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, has said that Sri Lanka should not be hasty in trying to meet its commitments to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in regard to issues of transitional justice.

Foreign Affairs minister Mangala Samarweera today officially launched the website for public consultation for the design of reconciliation mechanisms at the District Secretariat office in Jaffna.In keeping up with the resolution passed at the Human Rights Council last year, the government assured earlier that truth seeking mechanism including a accountability model would be setupped following the public consultation. The website can be accessed in three languages at http://www.scrm.gov.lk

Ex-president and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa said today he hoped the SLFP MPs and ministers, who had joined the government, would soon make up their mind as to which side they belonged.

A bill seeking a total ban on the destructive fishing method known as

The US has decided to give a grant of USD 500,000 to organisations in Sri Lanka that will promote investigative journalism and build the capacity of journalists in the country. The objective of such a massive grant, the State Department said, is to increase the capacity of Sri Lankan media and strengthened investigative journalism. The grant would not be given to journalists directly but to the organisations which can work with them to help meet this objective. As such, the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor has sought proposals from organisations for activities that focus on building the capacity of journalists to provide quality, impartial reporting across a variety of media platforms with a special emphasis on investigative journalism.

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) today said that it had not taken a final decision to purchase aircraft from India, Pakistan or any other country. SLAF Spokesman Group Captain Chandima Alwis said they were still carrying out feasibility studies to make a decision on purchasing multirole fighter aircraft to replace its MiG and Kfir fleet.

The Sri Lankan government

Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-remanded by the Kaduwela Magistrate today. Rajapaksa, former Sri Lanka cricket board secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and three others were remanded when they were produced in court today. The owners and top management of the Carlton Sports Network (CSN) including Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Nishantha Ranatunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa

Sri Lanka Navy said it has assisted the Coast Guard on Wednesday to arrest twelve Indian fishermen for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and poaching in island's waters. The fishermen were arrested along with two fishing trawlers while they were fishing in the Sri Lankan waters northwest of Thalaimannar on 10th February 2016. The arrested fishermen were brought to Thalaimannar and handed over to the officials of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Thalaimannar) for onward action.

Jayantha Jayasuriya, President

Sri Lanka has reportedly shown interest in purchasing Light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas from India. Light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas is the multi-role light fighter that is in development with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and recently showcased its acrobatic skills successfully at Bahrain International Airshow 2016, a first such display outside India. Though the aircraft has been in development for some years now, India

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says the idea of a Hybrid Court to investigate Sri Lanka is still alive, especially following the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra