Sep 22 (FT) Colombo Special 3-Judge High Court will today deliver its verdict in the main trial over the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, bringing to a close one of the longest and most closely watched criminal proceedings in the country’s history. The judgement will be delivered by the bench comprising Navaratne Marasinghe, Sujeewa Nissanka, and Ramanathan Kannan. Today’s verdict is separate from more..

Sep 22 (EN) SL’s nation-wide inflation index, as measured by the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) on a year-on-year basis, was 8.1% in August 2026, compared with 7.2% in July 2026, data from the state statistics office showed. The NCPI, an alternative to the widely watched Colombo Consumer Price Index, rose 0.2%, in Aug 2026, registering 223.9, compared to 223.4 in July 2026. Year-on-year inflation of food group increased to 6.6% in Aug 2026 from 4.9% in July 2026. more..

Sep 22 (NW) Seat-belt use helped prevent serious injuries in the multi-vehicle accident on the Southern Expressway between Gelanigama and Dodangoda, according to DIG W.P.J. Senadheera. Senadheera, who is in charge of Police Traffic Management and Road Safety Division, said all the schoolchildren travelling in the bus involved in the crash had been wearing seat belts. Eight children were admitted to the Kalutara Nagoda Hospital following the accident, but none had suffered serious injuries. more..

Sep 22 (FT) National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) has reported around 35 minor land instability incidents over the past three days amid heavy rainfall, warning that the situation could worsen if rains continue. Rainfall over the past three days had exceeded 300 mm, and continued intensity at this level could trigger landslides, rock-falls, subsidence and slope failures. No major incidents had been reported so far, more..

Sep 22 (NW) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa met the family of SL national Sivarasa Anojan, who is reportedly facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia, at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo on Monday. Anojan’s father, Thambiraja Sivarasa, mother, Rasamanickam Yogalakshmi, and brother, Sivarasa Hamsithan, attended the meeting to discuss his situation and efforts to secure his release. During the meeting, Premadasa contacted Saudi ambassador to SL by telephone more..

Sep 22 (NW) SJB MP Prasad Siriwardana has claimed that Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake will face imprisonment after the current govt leaves office in 2030, accusing him of allowing the misuse of public funds and failing to ensure accountability. Siriwardana alleged that the Prez could face legal consequences over a reported cyberattack on Finance Ministry that resulted in loss of $2.5 m in public funds. “Once this govt is removed from power in 2030, Anura will definitely go to jail,” more..

Sep 22 (NW) SL Govt, with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has officially launched the Dambulla–Sigiriya Tourism Sector Development Project under the broader Sustainable Tourism Sector Development Project (STSDP), which also covers Trincomalee. The project was inaugurated yesterday (20). The ADB has extended a USD 30 million loan for the initiative, which will be implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Transport, Highways & Urban Development. more..

Sep 22 (FT) UN Resident Coordinator in SL Marc-André Franche said the country’s legislative process is developed in a closed manner, warning that laws are frequently drafted without adequate technical or public input, in a discussion with Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, a video of which Premadasa has released. Franche said the biggest challenge was not only a matter of democratic process, where laws are developed solely between the Ministry, Legal Draftsman, and Attorney General, more..

Sep 22 (ST) Electricity consumers lost around 32,350 megawatt hours of low-cost energy from the Lakvijaya power plant because the final consignment of an emergency coal procurement arrived eight days late, leaving the plant without coal to burn, as the buffer stock had also run out. This is on top of other losses arising from the 2025-2026 term tender, whereby of the 25 ships ordered from India’s Trident Chemphar, only 19 arrived. more..

Sep 22 (CI) Thumped in T20Is in the south, then Wales, and most-recently Manchester, Sri Lanka have arrived in Durham desperately requiring inspiration. They have lost plenty of matches in 2026, but the last week has seen them suffering a string of cricketing annihilations few SL teams have endured, even on away tours. England won the first match by 119 runs, then ran down SL targets in 12.1, then 9.4 overs. SL are now required to salvage something positive from a format which more..

Sep 22 (Island) The reins of SL’s ODI captaincy will return to Kusal Mendis as the wicketkeeper batter makes his int'l comeback following a lengthy injury lay off. Mendis, a regular across all three formats for much of the last decade, was forced into a rare spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury during the LPL. Injury ruled him out of the home Test series against India and he subsequently missed the T20I leg of the tour of England, with Charith Asalanka taking over the captaincy. more..

Sep 22 (CI) It's a rematch of the 2023 Asian Games final as India meet SL with gold on the line once again. Both sides have comfortably made the final. India brushed aside Japan and Bangladesh in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, while SL did the same against Malaysia and Pakistan. There is plenty of familiarity too, with the sides having met less than ten days ago in the Women's Asia Cup final. India cruised to a 72-run victory that day and will again start as favourites more..

Sep 22 (Island) Australian High Commissioner to SL Matthew Duckworth described Omega Traders’ latest investment in a modern dhal-processing facility as a strong example of how cross-border supply chains can translate into productive investment, local value addition and new business opportunities in SL. The investment, which adds a 150-metric-tonne-per-eight-hour-day processing capacity to Omega Traders’ operations, marks a significant expansion of the company’s more..

Sep 22 (TM) A total of 40,185 teacher vacancies remained unfilled at the end of 2025, but only 425 teachers have been recruited so far this year, with no recruitments made to Provincial schools as at 15 Sept. The figures, provided by the Education Ministry in response to a RTI request, show that 978 of the vacancies were in National schools, while the overwhelming majority – 39,207 – were in Provincial schools. more..

Sep 22 (FT) Disinformation and Civic Space Researcher Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa warned that Sri Lanka is building a wide-reaching surveillance apparatus through a series of laws passed with little consultation and no meaningful safeguards, each reviewed in isolation rather than as part of a whole. Speaking at the launch of the SL Civil Society Organisations (CSO) shadow report to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Mutual Evaluation of SL, held on 17 Sept at the BMICH more..

Sep 22 (FT) New US Ambassador Eric Meyer yesterday emphasised that there is tremendous opportunity for the US and Sri Lanka to achieve more together. This observation he shared via an ‘X’ post was based on conversations with Government and business leaders, young Sri Lankans, exchange alumni, and American citizens in the first few weeks in Sri Lanka. “Our trade, our prosperity, and the security of the Indo-Pacific increasingly connect US and SL. more..

Sep 22 (NW) BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero has appealed for a fresh presidential pardon from Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake, days after the Supreme Court invalidated the pardon granted to him by former Prez Maithripala Sirisena in 2019. Speaking at the launch of his book, Navayay Paha Vikurthiya, in Colombo on Sunday, Gnanasara Thero urged senior Buddhist monks to intervene and more..

Sep 22 (FT) The ViYASA National Business Facilitation Centre (NBFC), established under the Presidential Secretariat to remove administrative and regulatory barriers to investment and industry, opens today. The Centre has been set up on Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s initiative to bring about a positive transformation in the industrial sector. It is expected to provide solutions to issues businesses face when dealing with Govt institutions during start-up and operation, more..

Sep 22 (FT) Dialog Axiata has introduced South Asia’s first 5G MiFi with eSIM capability and Wi-Fi 6 technology, offering a powerful portable internet solution for ultra-fast and reliable connectivity on the move. The launch strengthens Dialog’s leadership in next-generation connectivity, powered by Sri Lanka’s largest and fastest-growing 5G network with over 1,000 live 5G sites across all 25 districts. Designed for professionals, businesses, students, travellers, and families, more..

Sep 22 (FT) Acting High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Kenya Ruvini De Silva, received the Chairman, Vice Chairman and CEO of the Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) at the SL High Commission in Nairobi on 15 September 2026. The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between Sri Lanka and Kenya in the tea sector, an important area of mutual economic interest between the two countries. During the meeting, the Acting High Commissioner briefed the KTGA delegation more..

Sep 22 (FT) The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) recently unveiled a specially branded Airbus A321 Neo aircraft of SriLankan Airlines, liveried with the Sri Lanka Expo 2027 brand identity, to promote Sri Lanka Expo 2027 – the country’s premier international exhibition. The Expo will comprehensively showcase Sri Lanka’s diverse export sectors, including agriculture, industrial manufacturing, export services, innovation, and tourism. more..

Sep 22 (FT) Total vehicle registrations fell 13.8% month-on-month (MoM) to 45,569 units in Aug 2026, the lowest monthly total since Nov 2025’s 43,810 units, as tighter loan-to-value (LTV) limits and an extended import surcharge continued to weigh on demand, HNB Stockbrokers Research said in its Sept 2026 report. Two-wheeler registrations, which make up the bulk of the market, fell 11.9% to 33,613 units, while brand-new car and SUV more..

Sep 22 (Island) International Peace Day was observed on 21 Sept. It finds Sri Lanka with a genuine achievement to record and a demanding test to meet. The UN’s theme this year was Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day. It also honoured the everyday architects of peace—people driving local action and building a lasting peace from the ground up. In the 2026 Global Peace Index, Sri Lanka rose 30 places, from 97th to 67th among 163 countries. more..

Sep 22 (Island) Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne is expected to communicate the Supreme Court (SC) determination on the 22nd Constitutional Amendment (22A) Bill to Parliament shortly. All signs are that it will come as no surprise to legal experts and the discerning public. The process of hearing scores of petitions against 22A came under intense global scrutiny, with the impending SC determination arousing much interest among international jurists. It will be interesting to see more..

Sep 22 (TM) There are some journalists whose work we read and then move on. And there are others whose writing makes us stop, think, and look at the country differently. D.B.S. Jeyaraj, who passed away on 17 May, was one of them. Whenever I saw an article by DBS, as he was widely known, appear in a newspaper, it was the first I read. He was primarily a columnist and political analyst, with a deep knowledge of history of ethnic conflict. However, his columns were not simply analysis or opinion. more..

Sep 22 (TM) Two years after voters made Anura Kumara Dissanayake President, and gave his NPP 159 seats in Parliament a couple of months later, independent analysts mostly land on mixed. They credit the Govt for steadying the economy and for a real anti-corruption push, but say the system change at the heart of its pitch has made little progress. The public is catching up with the analysts. Verité Research's July poll put approval of the Govt at 49.83%, down from 65% in February, more..

Sep 22 (SO) SL’s ancient tank culture stands as one of the world’s remarkable examples of water management, sustaining communities, agriculture and ecosystems for centuries. Today, however, this enduring water heritage faces growing challenges, making its revival and protection more important than ever. In recent past under the Climate Resilient Integrated Water Management Project (Wewgam Pubuduwa) and the Climate Smart Irrigated Agriculture projects more..

Sep 22 (GV) At a school on the outskirts of Colombo, the heat is changing how children experience a school day. For those preparing for their crucial examinations amid many socio-economic hardships, mornings remain manageable but by afternoon concentration becomes increasingly difficult. Malitha, 17, who is preparing for the A’Levels in the coming years, said the heat has intensified considerably during his years at school. His mornings are helped by a working fan but by midday he struggles to concentrate. more..

Sep 22 (ST) Mea culpa. A thousand apologies, as they used to say in the now long-lost British comedy series aired by ITV. Alas, what a loss. Now we have instead Diyawanna Oya follies. That’s a comedy series too. But then we laugh at it for different reasons. But laugh, we do. All the same apologies are necessary for the mistake made last Sunday when we said that our enemies were inside our sovereign territory and not outside, as history has shown. Therefore, there was little need to more..

Sep 22 (DM) Nearly 6 decades ago, the Colombo Wellawatte Tamil Sangam was established as a place where Tamil-speaking people could gather, learn and share their language, literature and culture. Over the years, it became more than a meeting place. It hosted literary gatherings, cultural celebrations and events marking occasions of national significance. Writers and literary figures were honoured there, and generations of more..

Sep 22 (DM) A Sri Lankan passport does not carry with it an exemption from the laws, customs or religious sensitivities of another country. That basic truth appears to have been forgotten in the heated debate surrounding the case of Sri Lankan national Anojan, who is facing judicial proceedings in Saudi Arabia following a social media post reportedly deemed insulting to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. The case has caused concern in Sri Lanka. more..

Sep 22 (DM) The Sri Lankan economy is not an island. We like to think that all will be fine as long as we stabilise our economy and ensure fiscal discipline. However, in reality, economic crises in SL have more often been triggered by external shocks rather than internal problems. And now we are staring at economic and political developments that signal a dangerous world. There are different external shocks that have been in the making, and it is indeed difficult to predict as to which more..