Thousands of Sri Lankan troops battled Monday to get relief supplies to over half a million people displaced by the island's worst flooding for 14 years, which has killed at least 180 people. The military said a lull in torrential monsoon rains allowed it to deploy aircraft, boats and ground troops to evacuate people from flooded areas, deliver essentials and recover bodies. Just over 550,000 people have had to abandon their homes due to the heavy rains, which have brought flooding and landslides to large parts of the island's southwest.

Sri Lanka is regularly hit by flooding at the start of the annual monsoon. But carpenter J. H. Siripala, who lives in one of the areas worst hit, said he had never seen it this bad. "I have lived in this area for 27 years and we have gone through floods, but never experienced this much water," the 62-year told AFP in Kalutara district on the southwest coast as a navy boat carried him to safety. "I thought it was my end," he said as he recalled how the water level suddenly rose on Sunday, covering his head, before he was pulled to safety. Dhanushka Fernando said his house was under eight feet (2.5 metres) of water on Sunday. "We had floods in 2003 but not this much water," the 28-year-old told AFP.

In May 2003, 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful monsoon. The official death toll rose to 180 on Monday after soldiers dug out the bodies of a woman and a child from under tonnes of mud following a landslide in Ratnapura, the island's gem capital. The Disaster Management Centre said another 110 people were missing. Just over 5,500 houses have suffered structural damage or been completely destroyed, according to official figures. A Mi-17 transport helicopter crash landed Monday while trying to deliver food and other essentials to a marooned village in the southern area of Baddegama. But air force spokesman Gihan Seneviratne said there were no casualties.

Military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne said a let-up in the rains had allowed troops to access cut-off villages. Sri Lanka has deployed 1,800 soldiers and 1,100 naval personnel to evacuate people and ferry food and other essentials to affected areas. The paramilitary Civil Defence Force said it was deploying about 2,000 personnel while the police have sent their elite commandos to help. The government said floodwaters were beginning to recede on Monday but some low-lying areas remained heavily inundated. All schools in flood-hit areas, including the capital Colombo, will be closed for a week, it said.

As the rains eased in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and parts of India issued warnings over Cyclone Mora, which is expected to make landfall on Tuesday. Bangladeshi authorities ordered all fishing crews to return to shore and advised people living in the southeastern area of Cox's Bazar to move to higher ground. Sri Lanka has sought international assistance, with India sending two naval ships laden with supplies over the weekend. A third ship was expected this week, officials said. The United Nations said it would donate water containers, water purification tablets and tarpaulins while the World Health Organization will support medical teams in affected areas. Japan had promised portable generators and a team of experts to help with relief work.

The Election Commission (EC) stated that several recognised political parties have had to be set aside from the relevant list due to internal crises within the said parties. According to the official website of the EC, there are 84 recognised political parties in Sri Lanka.

In a scathing rebuttal of allegations by Malcom Cardinal Ranjith regarding the Easter Sunday attacks, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said Cardinal Ranjith either glosses over the responsibility of, or expressly absolves the two parties actually involved in the terrorist strikes.

In its first move for the formation of a broad political alliance, President Ranil Wickremesinghe had a meeting with Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) stalwart Basil Rajapaksa and representatives of other parties and groups, and decided to accelerate political work in view of the presidential election after May Day.

The rice distributed among schools said to be unsuitable for children's co consumption was provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) and not by the government, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha assured today.

Opposition Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara has raised concerns about a growing trend where Sri Lankan retired military personnel are allegedly being exploited in a scheme to send them to serve in the Russian and Ukrainian Armies.

The main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), queried about the actions taken against certain officers in the State Intelligence Service (SIS), who, in certain instances, allegedly blocked the investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) into the Easter Sunday attacks that took place in 2019.

Sri Lanka took minimal steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses, the 2023 report issued by the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour on Sri Lanka's Human Rights Practices has alleged.

A top delegation of the Chinese Communist Party headed by Vice Minister of the International Department, Sun Haiyan met National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the JVP head office today. The delegation included head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao and Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Chen Xiang Yuan.

The head of one of Canada’s largest police forces met with a Sri Lankan inspector general of police who two weeks earlier had been found by the South Asian country’s highest court to have “participated in the torture” of an arrested man.

The Colombo District Court issued an interim injunction preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ebrahim Raisi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe jointly inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP) a short while ago. This project is one of the largest irrigation projects in Sri Lanka following the Mahaweli Development Project

The three-day adournment debate on the Easter Sunday attacks commenced in Parliament today. The adournment debate was moved by SJB MP Niroshan Perera and seconded by SJB MP Kavinda Jayawardane. The debate will be held for three days.

The Sri Lanka Army has decided to appoint a special investigation committee consisting of 07 senior officers chaired by a Major General to probe the accident that occurred during the Diyatalawa Fox Hill Supercross.

Vice Minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Haiyan, is set to arrive in Sri Lanka today for a two-day official visit, as reported by The Thinakaran Newspaper.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that their Consular Affairs Division will be relocated to the new premises at the 16th floor of “Suhurupaya”, Sri Subhuthipura Road, Battaramulla with effect from May 02, 2024.

Two persons have died after police fired at a three-wheeler that was driving in defiance of orders to halt at Millawa in Moragahahena.

A 78-year-old man, Gopal Rao, of Bengaluru, Karnataka, died of a heart attack while he was swimming from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka to the Dhanushkodi islet in Rameswaram, T.N., on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

The National People's Power (NPP) has officially notified the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday that they are prepared to hold the proposed debate between NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on one of the following days: May 7, 9, 13, or 14.

The Catholic Church is planning to present a proposal to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) through several foreign governments and international organizations to initiate an international investigation into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks with a view to mete out justice to the victims of those attacks.

Seven individuals, including a child, lost their lives, and 23 others sustained injuries in a tragic accident at the “Fox Hill Super Cross 2024” racing event in Diyatalawa on Sunday (21). The casualties included four racing event officials serving as flag marshals and civilians who were spectators.