It was not right to give Sri Lanka more time to address the issue of accountability over the alleged war crimes committed during the civil war, Northern Province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran said today. The Sri Lankan government has sought two more years from the UN Human Rights Council to deliver on the accountability mechanism. Wigneswaran said "the UN must see first what good the government has done so far". "Without doing that and granting time for some political reason does not see correct to me," the Tamil leader said.

The northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka are the traditional homeland of the ethnic Tamil people where an almost three-decade-long separatist war was fought by the LTTE which ended in 2009 during the tenure of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Highlighting the issues not addressed by the government, Wigneswaran said missing persons' relatives were still to receive justice. "Allowing the missing persons' protest for 28 days was wrong. The report on the missing has not been published so far. The government is in the mentality of safeguarding the military men linked to the disappearances," Wigneswaran said.

The northern provincial council last week had resolved that the government had not taken adequate measures to fully implement the Resolution 30/1 that it co-sponsored at the UNHRC Session in September 2015, especially with regard to the accountability, establishment of a Commission for truth, reconciliation; nonrecurrence of oppression, return of lands to its rightful civilian owners and an office of reparation.

The council calls upon the UNHRC and the International Community to ask Sri Lanka to agree to an International accountability mechanism, ratify the Rome Statute as recommended by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) Report of September 2015 and offer the Tamils a political solution with the Mediation of the UN. Earlier this month, the UNHRC had criticised Sri Lanka's "slow" progress in addressing its wartime past and reiterated its earlier call for hybrid court of international and local judges to investigate allegations of rights violations.

The Tamils insist on having foreign judges and investigators claiming lack of confidence in the local judiciary. According to the UN, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces during Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the conflict.

Final preparations are underway for the Presidential elections tomorrow to elect the 9th Executive President of the country. Ballot boxes are being dispatched to polling stations along with election officers to 13,421 polling centres across the country.

Founder of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and former Minister Basil Rajapaksa left for Dubai from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this morning, the airport Duty Manager said. He left for Dubai on Emirates Airlines (EK-649) at 03.05 a.m.

The scrutiny of answer scripts for the 2024 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination has been suspended due to the ongoing investigations into the leak of the first paper in Anuradhapura, Education Ministry Secretary J.M. Thilaka Jayasundara said.

The Commonwealth Election Monitoring delegation, led by former President of Seychelles, Danny Faure, met President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat this morning, the President's Media Division (PMD) said. The delegation discussed the progress of their current tour, including their deployment plan around the country.

A 45-year-old man was shot and killed this morning near the Nedimala Cricket Ground in Dehiwala by two unidentified men on a motorcycle.

The Sri Lankan Mission in Lebanon has issued a safety alert for Sri Lankans residing in the country following a series of blasts targeting Hezbollah militants' communication devices, resulting in numerous casualties.

The National Security Council, chaired by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, held a meeting today (19) at the Presidential Secretariat to discuss preparations for the 2024 Presidential election.

Canada announced Wednesday it was slashing international student permits next year, and tightening foreign worker rules to further bring down the number of temporary residents in the country.

Three persons, including the invigilator, who were on duty at the examination centre of the Rathmale Thissa Maha Vidyalaya in Anuradhapura were to be suspended over the leakage of a Grade 5 Scholarship Examination question paper, North Central Provincial Education Director S.M.W. Samarakoon said.

The Examinations Department and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have launched an investigation into concerns raised over the first paper of the recently held Grade 5 Scholarship examination.

Sri Lanka has reached agreements with external commercial creditors to restructure approximately USD 17.5 bn of external debt, achieving a 40.3% Net Present Value (NPV) concession, the President’s Media Division said.

The Education Ministry today announced the closure of all schools tomorrow (20) as requested by the Election Commission. The schools will reopen on Monday (23).

The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) has announced a trade union action tomorrow (18), targeting hospitals across the country, GMOA spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said.

Six teachers, including a school principal in an examination centre in Anuradhapura, who had allegedly shared the first question paper of the Grade Five scholarship examination using a mobile phone, were taken into custody by the officials of the Examinations Department.

Over the past 76 years, politics in the country has turned into a massive business, causing widespread hardships, Presidential candidate Janaka Rathnayaka said.

SJB presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa, addressing a rally, pledged to provide targeted fuel subsidies to essential workers, including farmers, fishermen, three-wheeler drivers and school van/bus operators.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the presidential candidate of the National People’s Power (NPP), has pledged to completely remove VAT on essential sectors such as food, education, and healthcare.

PAFFREL has received reports from the Nuwara Eliya area over a group distributing boxes of matches featuring a Presidential candidate's picture and election symbol on either side. Executive Director of PAFFREL, Rohana Hettiarachchi, said he has informed the Assistant Commissioner of Elections for the Nuwara Eliya district about this issue.

The Public Security Ministry said that there are currently no plans to impose a curfew on election day and that all security measures are in place, with the armed forces on standby if necessary.

NPP MP Vijitha Herath hinted that the Prime Minister could be a female in a National People's Power (NPP) government. Speaking at a meeting in Minuwangoda, he said after the victory on September 21, a new Cabinet will be appointed with the powers vested with the President under Article 47.3 of the Constitution and parliament will be dissolved.