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 Attorney General has permitted the CID to summon former head of the state intelligence service senior DIG Chandra Wagista and obtain a statement over a cover-up of evidence in the murder of

Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday told The Island that the SLFP MPs who had attended last week

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) will not allow war heroes to be questioned by the international community under any circumstances as long as the party is a part of the government, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka said.Minister Ranawaka made these observations at the JHU

No one will be able to topple this government prematurely and do not get deceived by false statements made by conspirators, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said on Saturday. Both the President and the Prime Minister were present at the 19th national convention of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in Ampara where they responded to the rally held by the Joint Opposition on March 17, 2016. Prime Minister Wickremasinghe who took the opposition on said no one will be able to stop the development programs of this government.

Bodies of a 32-year-old woman and her child had been found in a well at Periyapei, Palai last night. The Police said the postmortem investigations into the death had revealed that the woman and the child- aged one-and-half-year-old were died due to drowning.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) plans to take disciplinary action against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and 36 other SLFP parliamentarians who attended the Joint Opposition's 'Jana Satana' rally held in Hyde Park on Thursday (17), party sources said. General Secretary of the SLFP Minister Duminda Dissanayake earlier said that the party will take stern disciplinary action against members who contravene the party constitution and attend the rally without the permission from the party.

Western Province (WP) students have emerged as top achievers at the 2015 GCE Ordinary Level Exam, according to results released by the Examinations Department last night. Nine of the top 12 performers are from the WP.S. Sathsarani Hettiarachchi- Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo 5, came 1st in the island. K.K. Samal Punsara- Nalanda College Colombo 10, came 2nd and R. Maleena Rathnayake

A team of German technicians are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka tomorrow (21) to investigate the two unusual explosions at the Biyagama Grid Sub Station and the Kotugoda CEB Grid Sub Station recently, the Power and Renewable Energy Ministry said. Secretary to the Ministry Dr. Suren Batagoda said the transformers were manufactured in Germany and therefore the German team would investigate the unusual occurrence.

President Maithripala Sirisena has reiterated that he will not agree to have foreign judges in the local judicial process after investigating incidents related to the war. Speaking at the Law Conference in Wadduwa, the President said that he has faith in the local judiciary and he feels all that needs to be done is to strengthen the judiciary and ensure it is independent. International human rights groups have been calling on Sri Lanka to invite foreign judges to ensure the domestic process to investigate human rights abuses related to the war are credible.

A Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed as it was landing at the Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia, the country's Southern Regional Emergency Center said today. All people on board have died, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing an official at the emergency center. Flydubai Flight 981 had traveled from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don with 55 people aboard, the emergency center said. State news agency Sputnik reported the airport would be closed until 6 a.m. Moscow time. "We're aware of reports coming out of Russia and our team is currently gathering more details," Boeing Airlines tweeted.

Due to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MPs being divided in their loyalty towards current leader and President Maithripala Sirisena and former leader and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, it is most likely that the party could face a serious split in the coming months, SLFP sources told this newspaper. The source added that the long-simmering crisis in the party has now come to a head, after 36 MPs attended the protest rally organized by the Joint Opposition (JO) at Hyde Park last Thursday (17 March).

Former officers at the helm of the Rakna Lanka Security Firm were responsible for engaging company employees for election work during the last Presidential Election Campaign, former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. He said this giving evidence before the Presidential Commission Investigating Fraud Corruption Abuse of Power State Resources and Privileges on March 17 under questioning by High Court Judge Gihan Kulatunge.

India says it is still studying the draft framework on the Economic and Technology Corporation Agreement (ECTA) with Sri Lanka and will give its response to it soon. The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha told reporters in Kandy today that the ECTA deal was proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he visited India last September. He said that India has been given only the outline of the agreement and proper negotiations have not yet commenced. Opposition political parties in Sri Lanka have raised concerns about the agreement saying it will not benefit Sri Lanka.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to comment on reports he will form a new political party.Speaking to reporters after meeting a group of lawyers, Rajapaksa said that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was given a mandate at the last election to defeat the United National Party (UNP). He said that the large support given to the opposition at the rally held this week in Colombo proved that there was strong opposition to the UNP led Government. When asked if he will be forming a new political party, Rajapaksa refused to comment but said

One of the transformers at the Kotugoda CEB Grid Sub Station in Minuwangoda, has caught fire, our reporter said. He said fire brigades were rushing to the location and that some areas in Negombo had reported a power failure because of the malfunctioning transformer.

Sri Lanka's Minister of Health Dr. Rajitha Senaratne who was in Singapore for nearly a month receiving medical treatment has returned to the country Thursday night, state media reported.The minister was rushed to a private hospital in Colombo on 20 February, following complaints of a chest pain. He was then flown to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital where he reportedly underwent a surgical procedure to clear two blocked valves in his heart. President Maithripala Sirisena on 27 February visited the Minister, who was recovering after the surgery at the Singapore hospital.

In a discreet move, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu have been served a questionnaire that seeks to know their antecedents, passport details and future plans. An NGO is believed to be involved in the survey though refugees apprehend that some other external agency might have initiated the process.

Opposition MP Wimal Weerawansa and five others were today released on a personal bail of Rs.100,000 each when the case, in connection with the protest outside the United Nations Office during a top UN official

A 22-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil, who entered the state illegally through sea, was arrested when he landed at the city police commissioner's office, which he mistook as the Refugee Rehabilitation Commissioner's office. Much to the surprise of the police, D Mohan Das, a native of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka, had even managed to procure a SIM card in Madurai, just a day after his entry here.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday claimed a

Sri Lanka's former Army Commander and current Minister of Regional Development Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today requested President Maithripala Sirisena to take necessary measures to release the person who is imprisoned in connection with the suicide bomb attack on him at the Sri Lanka Army Headquarters in 2006. Addressing a media briefing in Colombo Thursday, the former army commander said if the President can release his attacker and forgive him, then he should also release the LTTE terrorist who tried to kill him in a suicide attack in 2006.

The BBC's website has been hit by an attack which displayed adverts through four separate networks, leading to some visitors' devices being infected with ransomware. Around 13 websites, including the BBC, New York Times and MSN, were targeted by hackers who had taken over a web domain which had formerly displayed legitimate adverts. The criminals took control of the site once the former owners failed to renew their lease.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage today ordered to refer the case related to the murder of former MP Nadaraja Raviraj to the High Court. The Magistrate further noted that sufficient evidence has been collected against the accused persons in connection with the murder, and ordered to file a law suit at the High Court.

A case was filed at the court against seven defendants under four counts of charges including shooting former MP Nadaraja Raviraj and his driver to death at Narahenpita area in 2006.

Sri Lanka's "joint opposition" staged a huge rally in Colombo today. The rally was attended by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was cheered by the thousands of people in the crowds. Although the SLFP earlier this week said that action would be taken against those who attended the rally, 46 MPs participated in the event, including from other parties.

Three members of the same family have been sentenced to death by the Nuwara Eliya High Court for the abduction and rape of a young woman and the murder of another individual. The three accused, aged 35, 32 and 24 years, are brothers, police said. They had been on trial for abducting and raping a young woman and murdering another individual at Alu Oya in Norton Bridge on August 3, 2009.

The EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica who arrived in the country yesterday discussed a wide range of issues, including possible lifting of IUU fishing ban and restoration of GSP+, furthering the continued positive engagement between the two parties, Foreign Affairs ministry said. "The visit is to re-affirm EU support for the Government of Sri Lanka, review ongoing development programmes and to discuss ways and means of further enhancing Sri Lanka

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the work of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on countries like Sri Lanka has helped address the human rights issues in those countries.Ban Ki-moon said this as the as the UN

The Sri Lankan government has received 20,000 application for dual citizenship from Sri Lankan expatriates living overseas, since the government resumed granting dual citizenships in April 2015, according to the Controller General of Immigration. In comparison, the government has received 30,000 applications during the 24 year period dual citizenship was awarded, before its suspension in 2011. The heightened interest to obtain dual citizenship by Sri Lankans living abroad is a testimony on the positive political and economic development of the country, Minister of Internal Affairs S. B. Nawinna said Tuesday at a ceremony held to grant dual citizenships to several expatriates.

Four charred bodies of a family have been found inside a house in Kawdana, Dehiwela this morning. Police Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said the bodies were recovered from the ground floor of the three-storey building. The bodies of a 65-year-old man, his 52-year-old wife, their 13-year-old daughter and a relative