May 31 (AD) Three police officers, who were on duty at the restaurant in Soysapura, Moratuwa when it came under a gunfire attack, have been interdicted over the incident. The Police Spokesperson, Superintendent of Police Jaliya Senaratne said the interdicted officers –one sergeant and two constables – were charged with neglect of duty. The restaurant in question first came under an attack by an unidentified group of persons wielding swords during curfew hours on May 19. more..

May 31 (AD) Senior Officer of TID revealed Zahran Hashim’s list of reasons for choosing SL as the location of the attack, to PCoI probing the bombings that took place on Easter Sunday 2019. Some of the reasons cited, in previously unreleased video footage of the bombers, was revenge for the Christchurch mosque shooting in NZ in March 2019 alleged insult to the Islamic faith and in the hope the attack could inspire more..

May 31 (TM) Member of the Election Commission (EC) Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole said he was unaware as to why the Government Printer had been instructed to print ballot papers. “Since there was no clear date set for the election, I feel it is a bit premature to order the printing of ballot papers. What if the nominations are cancelled and need to be recalled? There are many possibilities, so must wait and see how the Supreme Court (SC) rules,” he told The Sunday Morning. more..

May 31 (TM) Public Health Inspectors’ Union of SL (PHIUSL) on Friday (29) stated that they do not approve of the impractical health guidelines that were issued in light of the country resuming public activities during its gradual exit from the existing restrictions for Covid-19. “We view these guidelines to be superficial and completely impractical. Some of the guidelines that are included will create a divide between the general public and the PHIs (public health inspectors), more..

May 31 (ST) Sri Lanka has been inundated with requests to open Special Deposit Accounts (SDAs) declared by the govt in April with everyone from foreign monthly wage earners to high net worth individuals cashing in, in a mad rush to invest. Many bankers are hoping that this won’t be a funnel for inventive black money moguls to pump in fresh sums into the economy through these no questions asked accounts. more..

May 31 (Island) Disputing what Opposition parties have described as a haphazard repatriation process, govt says that it would continue to bring back Sri Lankans who wanted to return from the countries they were based in, but the process would be phased out. Minister Bandula Gunawardena told a news conference on Thursday, that all precautions were being taken, which included the testing of those returning because of the Coronavirus scare and quarantining them for stipulated period. more..

May 31 (AD) With 07 more individuals testing positive for COVID-19 last night (30), Sri Lanka has reported a total of 62 coronavirus infections within yesterday. The last 07 infected persons have been identified as persons who arrived in the country from Qatar. Thereby, the total count of coronavirus cases detected in Sri Lanka is at 1,620 cases. A total of 829 active cases are under medical care at selected hospitals across the island, as per the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry. more..

May 31 (ST) Last Tuesday, the five-judge Supreme Court bench was in session hearing arguments over fundamental rights petitions on the conduct of parliamentary elections and related issues when the unexpected happened. From an upper ceiling window, a white pigeon, usually regarded as a symbol of peace, fell on the floor, ahead of the justices’ table. Additional Solicitor General Indika de Silva, was on her feet more..