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A 16-year-old school girl has died after drowning in Balangoda. Reports reveal that the incident occurred when the student had gone to bathe at the Randola Gorokgahakandura Falls in Balangoda. The deceased student, who was a resident of the area, had gone to bathe at the waterfall with a group of friends at the time of the accident. Police stated that the girl’s body was found about an hour after the incident occurred. The post-mortem investigation is scheduled to be carried out today (11).  - By Derana

Newly-elected President Maithripala Sirisena today invited all political parties in parliament to unite in forming a national unity government. “I invite all political parties in parliament to join the all-party government to create good governance and drive the country towards expected aspirations,” he said, delivering his first address to the nation. He also pledged that the unlimited powers vested with the Executive Presidency will be transferred to the Parliament, Cabinet and Judiciary. The President addressed the nation from the Paththirippuwa (the Octagon) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) in Kandy. Sirisena stated that the first step of his new government would be to eradicate poverty from the country and also pledged to promote religious coexistence and communal harmony in the country by ensuring the freedom and rights of every religion. He further said that the new government would take every measure to also eradicate ...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Beruwala area a short while ago, President’s Media Division confirmed. He is scheduled to ascertain the current situation in the area first hand after unrest in the last few days. 

India’s next Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to invite all heads of governments of SAARC countries including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his swearing-in ceremony on May 26. Modi apparently wants to send out through this invitation a “very strong signal of a neighbour-friendly new government “, BJP sources say. Modi conveyed this wish of his to President Pranab Mukherjee when he met him on Tuesday. The President seemingly welcomed it as a ‘good idea’ and has passed this on to the ministry of external affairs which is now examining the proposal, sources in Rastrapati Bhavan said here. There is no recent precedent for inviting foreign heads of governments when an Indian prime minister has been sworn in, but Modi has a penchant for doing the most unusual. SAARC nations include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Modi apparently wants to send out through this invitation a “very strong signal of a neighbour-friendly n...

India’s ambassador urged Sri Lanka’s government on Friday to expedite power sharing with ethnic minority Tamils after a recent United Nations resolution authorized an international war crimes investigation. Ambassador Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha said early talks between the government and the main ethnic Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, are a “key imperative” and urged the government to create conditions that would lead to a resumption of the dialogue. The party is seeking wider regional autonomy in Tamil-majority areas ravaged by the civil war, which ended in 2009 with the government’s defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels. The rebels fought for an independent Tamil state. The talks stalled in 2011 when the government said it wanted issues of greater local autonomy to be discussed by a parliamentary committee, instead of in talks with the Tamil alliance. The party now controls the provincial council in the northern region after winning a majority of seats in an election last year. Sinha’...

The UN’s top rights official began her visit to Sri Lanka Sunday by brushing aside criticism that she overstepped her brief and vowing to raise human rights concerns with Colombo. Navi Pillay, who has previously called for a war crimes investigation against Sri Lanka, said she was only holding it to human rights standards agreed to by all nations. “I am not writing my own statute. I am looking at the (human rights) framework that was also developed by Sri Lanka,” she told reporters as she began her first meeting with local UN staff in Colombo. “If I raise criticism, it is on whether they (Sri Lanka) comply with those standards,” she added. “I have not come to criticise. I have come to raise human rights concerns.” Her week-long mission will include talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse and visits to the former war zones in the north and east. A pro-government group said it will hold a demonstration outside the UN offices in Colombo on Monday to protest at Pilla...

A person was arrested for allegedly selling alcohol illegally in the Viharamawatha area in Mount Lavinia while police seized a large stock of alcohol from the suspect during the raid. Police were able to seize 21 bottles of alcohol and 167 (500ml) bottles of beer. The suspect is a 20 year old resident of Baragama while he is scheduled to be presented before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court today (June 24).

The federal court in Virginia where the Justice Department has decided to charge Edward Snowden with leaking secrets about U.S. surveillance programs has a long track record of hearing cases related not only to national security cases but also to cyber crime. The United States filed a criminal complaint including charges under a U.S. espionage law against Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The charges are the government's first step in an effort to arrest and extradite Snowden from Hong Kong, where he is in hiding, to try him in the United States. Snowden has acknowledged leaking secrets about classified U.S. surveillance programs to the Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper. On Saturday, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said Snowden had divulged information to the newspaper showing how computers in Hong Kong and China had been targeted. On Friday, the Guardian ...

A one-year-old child died after accidentally being run over by his father’s jeep in Pansala Pokuna Road, Tangalle.  The child’s father was reversing the vehicle which he had accidentally run over his son.  Police said the child, who was critically wounded in the incident, was immediately rushed to the Tangalle Hospital, however succumbed to injuries soon after. Tangalle Police are conducting further investigations. 

Police today said that there is no attempt to arrest parliamentarians of the United National Party (UNP) in connection with the CID’s ongoing investigations regarding the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, speaking in Parliament recently, had said that there is an attempt to arrest several UNP MPs who had attended in a workshop coordinated by the non-profit organisation. However, Police Spokesman SP Buddhika Siriwardena stated that there is no attempt or need to arrest any UNP MPs and that the investigation is to determine whether the Friedrich Naumann Foundation had exceeded legal boundaries in operating within the country.  The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had recorded a statement from Sagarika Delgoda, the Friedrich Naumann Sri Lanka representative, regarding the organization’s operation in the country, he said in a statement today.  The Opposition Leader had claimed there is an attempt to arrest UNP MPs who participated in the wor...

A group of persons including two leaders of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) have been arrested by Mannar Police today over a commemoration ceremony. The General Secretary of the TNPF, S. Gajendran and National Organizer, S. Manivannan are said to be among the group of around 15 party members arrested.  They were arrested regarding a ceremony organized today to commemorate the deaths of Tamils during the war in Sri Lanka, TNPF leader and former MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam told Ada Derana. He stated that the arrests were made at around 4.00pm today (18) and that they are currently in Mannar Police custody.

A worldwide gang of criminals stole $US45 million in a matter of hours by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards and then draining ATM machines in many countries, including in Sri Lanka, US federal prosecutors said. Seven people were under arrest on Thursday in the US in connection with the case, which prosecutors said involved thousands of thefts from ATMs using bogus magnetic swipe cards carrying information from Middle Eastern banks. The fraudsters moved with astounding speed to loot financial institutions around the world, working in cells including one in New York, Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch said. She called it “a massive 21st-century bank heist”. One of the suspects was caught on surveillance cameras, his backpack increasingly loaded down with cash, authorities said. Others took photos of themselves with giant wads of bills as they made their way up and down Manhattan. Here’s how it worked: Hackers got into bank databases, eliminated withdrawal limits...

Sakvithi Ranasinghe who was allegedly involved in large scale financial frauds has been released on bail today by the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court,  reporter said.  He was released on a cash bail of Rs 500,000 and two personal bails of Rs 5 million. Magistrate Ajith M. Masinghe also ordered him to appear before the Criminal Investigations Department once a month.   Sakvithi is accused of swindling over 9000 million rupees in a fraudulent investment scam through his Sakvithi Group of Companies.

Four established political parties registered at the Elections Secretariat have been cancelled, the Elections Commissioner said today. Accordingly the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front(EDLF), National Unity Alliance(NUA), People’s Front of Liberation Tigers(PFLT) and United National Alternative Front(UNAF) will not be recognized as established political parties, the Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya added. The EDLF, NUA and the PFLT ceased to be recognized since January 31, 2013 while the UNAF was effective since January 21.

The JHU today claimed that the report submitted to the Cabinet by the Health Secretary ignores the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), following the completion of its final report on the investigation and evaluation of the Chronic Kidney Disease in Sri Lanka. Although the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies pesticides and fertilizers containing Arsenic as prime causes for diseases, a report prepared disregarding these dangers was presented to the Cabinet by the Health Secretary without even consulting with the Health Minister, JHU MP Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thero said. Ven. Rathana Thero said that the WHO was tasked with asserting pesticides contain Arsenic and that the organization has clearly revealed that they contain Arsenic. The Thero therefore inquired as to why a report created on Arsenic submitted to the Cabinet without even being shown to the Health Minister in order to protect companies,. The WHO report identi...

Consultant psychiatrist Dr. DVJ Harishchandra has passed away at the Kalubowila Hospital this morning. Dr. Harischandra is also a celebrated author, his famous books include ‘Psychiatric Aspects of Jataka Stories’. 

Nine students were injured and hospitalized following a clash between two student groups at the Institute of Advanced Technical Education in Labuduwa, Galle. A clash between students from the engineering faculty and management faculty had taken place at around 9.25am today, police said. Management students had reportedly attacked a group of engineering students at the lecture hall of the management faculty building following an argument. 

The son of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has allegedly assaulted the son of a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) at the Passikudah Beach in Batticaloa. The DIG’s son who had suffered critical injuries following the clash has been admitted to the Batticaloa Hospital, police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody said. It is said that the victim and his mother were sea bathing at Passikudah last evening when the clash had taken place while the cause for the brawl has not been revealed yet. Kalkuda Police is conducting investigations in to the incident. 

President’s Chief of Staff, Gamini Senarath was appointed as the Chairman of the People ’ s Bank, the Ministry of Finance confirmed.