Investigations into all complaints of missing persons in three districts - Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu - will be concluded before the end of March, according to a top official from the President-appointed commission to probe missing persons. The five-member investigative team of the Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons (PCICMP) will commence its probe into over 1,600 cases of missing persons in the three districts from 25 March.

The commissioners, who are now conducting their investigations in Jaffna, will commence their six-day visit to Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu from 26 March. Confronted by over 23,000 complaints of enforced disappearances, of which over 18,000 complaints were lodged by civilians and over 5,000 by relatives of security force personnel, the PCICMP is mandated to investigate cases of missing persons from 1983 to 2009.

Five highly experienced police officers will carry out their investigations under the supervision of a retired High Court judge. Investigations into missing persons in the remaining districts

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe paid his last respects to former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today. He also met Indian Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi at Singh's residence.

A Sri Lankan woman with health issues caused a plane to make an emergency landing at the Erbil International Airport on Wednesday. She died in the Kurdish capital hours later, according to Sri Lanka’s honorary consul.

Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake expressed interest in joining BRICS in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the republic's ambassador to Moscow Pakir Amza told RIA Novosti.

While the Government has pledged to initiate a fresh investigation into the murder of rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, it has yet to reach out to the Thajudeen family or their lawyer regarding the ongoing cases and the promised new probe, The Daily Morning learnt.

The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board revealed that floods in November damaged approximately 80,000 acres of farmland. According to the Board, crop damage assessments were completed in Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, and Mannar, with compensation pending final reports.

Sri Lanka has welcomed its 2 millionth tourist who arrived from Bangkok this year, at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), after a five-year gap. This marks the fourth time in history that annual tourist arrivals have surpassed 2 million, with previous instances occurring in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved drafting a new bill to combat illegal and unregulated poaching in Sri Lankan waters, replacing the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 2 of 1996.

Sri Lanka Police has suspended its annual transfer orders for 2025 for six months. The suspension was based on a directive from Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya on 24 December.

The National People's Power (NPP) is to contest the upcoming Local Government (LG) and Provincial Council (PC) Elections under its current structure, with the groups currently aligned with them.

The government is yet to assign vehicles to the MPs of the new Parliament though it has taken a policy decision to do so. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Daily Mirror yesterday that the government is currently in the process of auctioning luxury vehicles. He said most of the MPs were using their own vehicles at the moment.