Dec 25 (FT) With the IMF approving the $ 206 million Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), SL has formally assured the IMF that it will preserve fiscal discipline and maintain an open trade and payments regime while responding to the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah, as concerns mount over the sustainability of the country’s economic recovery. World Bank has estimated initial damage from the disaster at around $4.1 b more..

Dec 25 (IL) Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith called on all to celebrate Christmas in giving, sharing, and avoiding all forms of extravagance. Issuing a message the Cardinal said:”Once again, we are celebrating Christmas, and it is a most joyful occasion on which we remember the birth of Jesus Christ in the history of mankind. Therefore, this is a joyful occasion, but at the same time, I would like to ask you to reflect deeply about the meaning of this Christmas event. more..

Dec 25 (CT) Five suspects, along with a multi-day fishing vessel carrying more than 193 kg of heroin and crystal methamphetamine (ice), were taken into custody by the Navy in the deep sea off the southern coast during the early hours yesterday. A boat seized by the Navy and brought to the Dikowita Fisheries Harbour was found to contain nearly 172 kg of ice, valued at over Rs 2 billion, Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara said. An additional 21 kg of heroin was also recovered from the vessel. more..

Dec 25 (CT) Despite a high-level meeting involving top port, customs and govt officials, container congestion at the Port of Colombo remains unresolved, with nearly 13,000 containers awaiting clearance across all terminals, according to Ceylon Association of Shipping Agents (CASA). More than 13,000 import containers remain stacked at the Port of Colombo, with the majority concentrated at Colombo Int'l Container more..

Dec 25 (NW) Christians around the world joyfully commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ with deep devotion today (25), marking the sacred celebration of Christmas. This year, the people of Sri Lanka observe Christmas at a decisive moment in our national journey, having faced an extremely challenging natural disaster as a nation and while striving with determination to overcome its hardships and rise again. The true meaning of Christmas is love, peace, joy, sharing and sacrifice. more..

Dec 25 (AD) Notorious underworld figure Kudu Roshan has been arrested. The suspect was taken into custody by a team of officers from the CID at his residence in Mattakkuliya. A 9mm pistol and three live rounds of ammunition were recovered from the suspect’s possession, police stated. The CID is carrying out further investigations into the matter. Meanwhile, another suspect who aided and abetted the shooting and killing of a manager of a commercial establishment more..

Dec 25 (NW) The dawn of Christmas 2025 arrives while we still carry in our hearts the painful experiences our nation endured in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, which severely affected SL. As a result of this cyclone, we lost much lives, property, livelihoods, and the hopes of our own people in our own country. Above all, what remains deeply etched in our hearts are the tears and suffering of those who lost everything they had. Christmas, celebrated with great reverence to commemorate the birth of more..

Dec 25 (NW) As the month of December dawns, Christian devotees prepare to celebrate Christmas. The message of peace that echoed from Bethlehem with the birth of the infant Jesus continues to be honoured and revered by Christians across the world. However, this year, the month of December has arrived not with the usual joy and festivity. It comes amid the sorrow, pain, and quiet anguish of thousands of our people affected by a natural disaster that has shaken the entire nation. more..

Dec 25 (FT) Minister Nalinda Jayatissa pressed the Constitutional Council to move swiftly on appointing a new Auditor General, warning that continued delays were undermining confidence in key State institutions and risking systemic damage to public finance oversight. He said the Govt was keen to see a permanent AG appointed without further delay, noting that Prez had already proposed four suitably qualified candidates for the post. more..

Dec 25 (AD) The general public has been urged to exercise caution when using unknown water bodies during the festive season. According to Community Physician Dr. Samitha Sirithunga, water sources in several parts of the country have been structurally changed, contaminated or diluted owing to recent adverse weather conditions. He said due to recent floods and landslides, the conditions and stability of water sources have changed & therefore the public should be mindful when using such places. more..

Dec 25 (AD) PM Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Ministry of Education, together with UNICEF, will take necessary steps to renovate schools that can be restored quickly and to relocate schools located in high-risk areas to safer locations, following an assessment of schools affected by Cyclone Ditwah. PM made these remarks after inspecting the Meegahakiula National School in the Badulla District, which was damaged by Cyclone Ditwah, on Dec 24, according to PM’s Media Division. more..

Dec 25 (EN) Each year R M Jayatilleke, his son and group of other villagers haul several truck loads Christmas trees from Bandarawela, in the Badulla district to Colombo. This year however hist district was among the worst hit by Cyclone Ditwah. “The road were cleared we had no problem coming to Colombo from Bandarawela,” he said. “But some other areas were badly hit.” Christmas trees which are erected in Christian and other homes and decorate during season are species of more..

Dec 25 (DN) Viren Nettasinghe and Ranithma Liyanage successfully defended their open men’s and women’s titles at the 73rd National Badminton C'ships, which concluded at S. Thomas’ Gymnasium yesterday. Viren, SL’s youngest Olympic badminton representative, relied on his experience to overcome Rasindu Hendahewa in a 50-minute two-set men’s final, highlight of the tournament. Rasindu took an early lead in the first set, but Viren quickly drew level at 6-all and controlled the rest of the set, more..

Dec 25 (Island) Former SL head coach Mickey Arthur has voiced disappointment over remarks made by Chairman of Selectors Pramodya Wickramasinghe, who last week claimed that Arthur was reluctant to include a young Pathum Nissanka during SL’s tour of the Caribbean in 2021. In his first media briefing, Wickramasinghe said it was he who pushed for Nissanka’s inclusion despite Arthur’s reservations. more..

Dec 25 (NW) Minister of Education, PM Harini Amarasuriya, says the programme to provide sanitary napkins to schoolgirls, launched in 2024 by the Ministry of Education as a national initiative targeting schoolgirls in rural, estate, and economically disadvantaged areas, will continue to be implemented in 2026. PM said in a statement that the programme covers more than one million schoolgirls above Grade 6 across schools islandwide, with a allocation of Rs. 1.44 b. more..

Dec 25 (FT) Central Bank yesterday said it has slapped a Rs. 9.5 million combined fine on two non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), two banks, one casino, and a jewellery company for non-compliance of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA). Regulator for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) collected penalties of Rs. 2 million from LOLC Finance, Rs. 1 million from Fintrex Finance, more..

Dec 25 (FT) The Ne-Yo live in SL concert scheduled to be held on 28 Dec has been postponed, the event organisers Brown Boy Presents announced yesterday. In a brief statement via social media, the organisers said the decision was taken due to unforeseen circumstances and factors beyond their control. The concert was to take place at the Sugathadasa Outdoor Stadium in Colombo. Brown Boy Presents also informed ticket holders that refunds will be processed through PickMe more..

Dec 25 (FT) Beijing Capital Airlines is set to commence direct flight operations between Beijing and Colombo from 31 Jan 2026. China is the fourth largest tourism market for SL. The development follows a recent discussion between SL’s Ambassador to China Majintha Jayesinghe and Beijing Capital Airlines President Liu Jun where plans to introduce the new air link were taken up. Chinese tourist arrivals amounted to 121,671 in the first eleven months of the year, slightly down more..

Dec 25 (ST) A growing debate has emerged over the blanket withholding of several antibiotic medications from an Indian pharmaceutical company in Gujarat this week, over suspicions of one non-antibiotic medication being contaminated. This is as many in health circles also reiterated the need for SL to have its own accredited state-of-the-art laboratory to test medications coming into the country, in the light of drug failures more..

Dec 25 (FT) Pakistan on Tuesday successfully organised the privatisation process of the national flag carrier, selling it at PKR 135 billion (approx. $ 483 million) to a consortium led by a local investment company. The ceremony to privatise Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was held in Islamabad, where all three pre-qualified parties, including Lucky Cement, private airline Airblue, and investment firm Arif Habib, deposited their sealed bids into a transparent box. more..

Dec 25 (TM) As Sri Lankans welcome another Christmas, the festive season is celebrated in a sombre mood. The last six years have not been kind to the island nation, and just when things seemed to be getting back to normal, Mother Nature reminded us that human impact on the fragile environment of the Blue Planet will be revisited on us in terrible ways. Cyclone Ditwah has left SL battered and bruised in ways many didn’t imagine possible. A World Bank report – more..

Dec 25 (FT) Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka on 22 Dec. Arriving on the island in Ditwah’s wake and as the personal envoy of Prime Minister Modi, his visit is more than a diplomatic formality. It is a substantive reaffirmation of a Sri Lanka–India partnership built on the bedrock of strategic reliability. As Sri Lankans, we must all extend our sincere appreciation for the speed and scale of India’s response to the devastation of Cyclone Ditwah. more..

Dec 25 (Island) Christmas has dawned while SL is reeling from the cumulative impact of multiple disasters which snuffed out hundreds of lives and destroyed many homes and livelihoods. It is a time of hope. Its ethos, which emphasises hope, compassion and giving, could not be more relevant in these difficult times when the task of looking after a large number of disaster victims and helping rebuild their shattered lives has become a top national priority. Santa came here the other more..

Dec 25 (TM) Cyclone Ditwah struck SL in late November, and it left a trail of destruction across the island with over 600 lives lost, around 10% of the population affected, and infrastructure, farmlands, and tea estates heavily damaged. With rebuilding costs estimated at up to $ 7 billion, the storm posed the country’s biggest test since its 2022 economic collapse. Yet, while the humanitarian cost has been grave, analysts now suggest that more..

Dec 25 (ST) Over the past 25 years, China’s GDP has surged from just above US$1 trillion to more than $18 trillion. No other major economy in the world has matched China’s scale and speed of growth during the first quarter of the 21st century. But China has a problem! One of the serious challenges that China has to deal with was its own stubborn demographic and structural rigidities involving critical growth and development implications. It would be better for us in SL more..

Dec 25 (CT) Cyclone Ditwah was not merely a climatic event; it was a stark economic and social rupture that exposed the deep vulnerabilities embedded within Sri Lanka’s labour market. ILO’s recent brief offered a sobering assessment of the disaster’s reach, estimating that up to 374,000 workers were affected by the flooding and landslides that followed the cyclone’s landfall on 26 Nov. This figure alone illustrated how closely livelihoods in SL remained tied to climate-sensitive sectors, more..

Dec 25 (FT) Securities and Exchange Commission of SL (SEC) has granted a deferment of the suspension of trading in the shares of Softlogic Holdings, which was scheduled to take effect on 31 Dec 2025. The SEC has extended the deferment until 31 Aug 2026. Softlogic’s securities were transferred to the Watch List on 28 Nov 2023, 25 April 2024, and 16 December 2024, following the inclusion of an emphasis of matter on going concern in the independent auditors’ reports for more..

Dec 25 (DM) Landslides are not a new phenomenon for people in Aranayaka, a town in Kegalle District. In 2016, following the Samasara Kanda landslide, at least a 100 people succumbed to injuries while over 150,000 people were impacted. But this time, as many as 68 landslides have been triggered in this district since the Lower Kadugannawa incident, displacing many people and forcing them to look for alternative places to settle. Studies indicate that the 2016 landslide occurred in more..

Dec 25 (Island) Peace on Earth to all people of good-will is the perennial and the pristine song of Joy and hope aired in every nook and corner during every Christmas season commemorating the Birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. In his own day, Jesus of Nazareth was himself a wonderful instrument of peace and reconciliation in his own homeland of Palestine. He was open to all classes of people, whatever their ethnicity, race, more..

Dec 25 (GV) Important events in the Christian calendar are to be regurlarly reviewed if they are to impact on the lives of people and communities. This is certainly true of Christmas. Years ago a modest rural community did exactly this, urging a pre-Christmas probe of the events around Jesus’ birth. From the outset, the wise men aroused curiosity. Who were these visitors? Were they Jews? No. were they Christians? Of course not. As they probed the text, the representative character of more..

Dec 25 (CT) This cursory missive is prompted by the painfully comical sight of our Deputy Mister of Tourism performing something comparable to a Baila Jig with a group of foreign tourists celebrating the restoration of a minuscule part of the hill country railway tracks severely damaged in the recent disaster. The question we must ask today is should we restore the hill country train track at all? If so, at what cost and who should pay for it. The Railways was the iron arm of the British Empire. more..