Dec 7 (ST) When Prez Anura Dissanayake convened an emergency Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, there were two matters he said those in govt should focus on urgently. One was getting aid across to those worst affected by Cyclone Ditwah, and the other was countering opposition allegations that the govt had ignored warnings of the incoming natural disaster, thus leading to the heavy loss of lives. more..

Dec 7 (AD) The death toll due to the adverse weather conditions experienced in the country over the past few days has climbed to 618 as at 8 p.m. today (6), according to the DMC. It confirmed that another 209 individuals remain missing as search operations continue. Extreme weather has impacted all 25 districts of the island, affecting a total of 2,078,436 people from 583,030 families. The districts of Gampaha (362,664), Puttalam (347,211) & Colombo (328,846) are the worst affected. more..

Dec 7 (EN) Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority has re-opened all major roads after Cyclone Ditwah, and the Kandy – Colombo road is open in the daytime from Dec 5, Director General Wimal Kandamby said. Cyclone Ditwah had blocked 256 major roads in 298 places and 40 bridges were damaged. Some roads were impassable due to flood inundation, but there were also rock falls, trees falling and landslides, he said. By December 05, 252 locations had been cleared, Kandamby said. more..

Dec 7 (ST) The govt is to set up a statutory body to handle a special fund, starting with a Rs 500 billion supplementary estimate to be passed in Parliament next month to undertake a rebuilding plan after cyclone Ditwah left more than 600 dead, 213 missing and over 75,000 houses fully or partially damaged. The govt will pass a new law setting up the statutory body to oversee rebuilding of infrastructure, housing construction, more..

Dec 7 (ST) From January 1 next year, public sector employees will no longer be granted no-pay leave to work elsewhere, as was allowed under a 2022 Cabinet decision, according to a new circular. Public Administration Ministry Secretary Aloka Bandara said the Cabinet has approved a proposal to cancel the five-year leave option, which was used by many to seek alternate employment either locally or overseas. A circular ending the special leave was issued this week. more..

Dec 7 (Island) World Health Organization (WHO) SL has issued fresh public health guidance on the safe handling of dead animals in the aftermath of widespread flooding, warning that carcasses pose significant health risks. According to the advisory, animals may die from drowning, disease or injury during disasters, and improper handling of their remains can contaminate food and water sources and trigger outbreaks. WHO has urged the public not to touch, collect or consume dead fish more..

Dec 7 (NW) A ship carrying emergency relief from the Govt of Tamil Nadu is en route to Sri Lanka to assist communities affected by Cyclone Ditwah and the subsequent floods and landslides. The vessel, loaded with 950 metric tons of essential supplies, left the Port of Tuticorin today carrying food items and clothing meant for distribution to disaster-hit families across Sri Lanka. The aid shipment has been dispatched under the direction of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin. more..

Dec 7 (TM) Amid the devastating floods that have swept across SL, the Ministry of Trade, Commerce & Food Security has assured that there is currently no critical shortage of essential goods in the country. According to the DMC’s Rapid Needs Assessment as of Tuesday, approximately 1.5 million people reside in districts classified as having moderate to high food insecurity risk. Floods have caused severe crop losses, disrupted inland fisheries and shrimp farming, and damaged fishing vessels more..

Dec 7 (NW) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised that a unified operational mechanism, which goes beyond the normal state administration, is required to restore public life after a disaster. Prez stated this while participating in the Kandy District Coordinating Committee meeting held at the Kandy District Secretariat this morning (06). During the meeting, the President separately reviewed the progress of rapid programmes more..

Dec 7 (EN) SL’s foreign reserves dropped to US$ 6,083 million by end Nov 2025, dropping 256 million over a year, amid rate cuts and attempts to related the nation. Reserves dropped US$ 133 million over the month. SL has not been able build reserves on a gross basis since Oct 2024, a few weeks after inflationary open market operations were aggressively deployed against monetary stability, printing around 100 billion rupees in what critics say was creditable imitation of a floor system more..

Dec 7 (SO) A new bridge will replace the damaged Peradeniya railway bridge, said Railways General Manager. 158-year-old railway bridge spanning over 300 metres across the Mahaweli river suffered extensive damage due to the Ditwah Cyclone. “We will assess the condition of the bridge in a more scientific manner in collaboration with the Uni of Peradeniya and the CECB following the cleaning up of the debris under the bridge. Till the clean-up is complete, we cannot start the assessment,” more..

Dec 7 (TM) National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) recommended that Ministry of Health ask donors to obtain prior approval before donating pharmaceutical supplies, in order to avoid wastage of donated items that are either not needed or already available within the country. NMRA Chairman Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama said that supplies from Bangladesh and Myanmar had been received by the authority and that they were in the process of being assessed for necessity more..

Dec 7 (SO) A top official of the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) said that early landslide warnings had helped hundreds of people to save their lives during the severe weather triggered by Cyclone Ditwah. The official said timely alerts issued via the DMC and Divisional Secretariats prompted many families in high-risk zones to leave their homes before the slopes collapsed. The NBRO had issued Level 1 (Yellow), Level 2 (Amber) and Level 3 (Red) alerts from Nov 17, more..

Dec 7 (SO) As the country continues clearing the debris and re-opening roads, thousands of children remain in limbo — waiting for school to reopen, waiting eagerly for their homes to be rebuilt, and in some heartbreaking cases, waiting with bated breath for their parents who may never return. Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj said 275,000 children have been displaced by the landslides and floods unleashed by cyclone Ditwah, more..

Dec 7 (DM) In the wake of the natural disaster that took place in Sri Lanka last week, the tea industry was hit hard and may take months to recover to normal as machinery that has been destroyed has to be sent abroad to repair and damage to roads may affect the distribution of tea exports, according to an official from the Colombo Tea Traders Association. Lushantha De Silva, Chairman of the Colombo Tea Traders Association said that ‘There are 30 companies that export tea, more..

Dec 7 (DM) The govt is under fire for its alleged failure to mitigate and manage the impact of Cyclone Ditwah, despite prior warnings from relevant agencies. By Nov 25, the Dept of Meteorology and the Irrigation Department had given prior notice in this regard. Still, the govt has allegedly failed in taking pre-emptive action. The Dept of Meteorology is under the Ministry of Defence, whereas the Disaster Management Centre falls under the purview of Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake. more..

Dec 7 (DM) SL Institute of National Tourist Guide Lecturers (SLINTGL) has issued an emotional appeal to the public, urging citizens to go beyond standard hospitality by greeting every tourist with a warm Ayubowan or offering simple gestures like a king coconut or banana, to help the industry rebound from recent weather setbacks. SLINTGL President emphasised that a collective, grassroots effort to make visitors feel safe and welcomed is now critical for the national economy. more..

Dec 7 (ST) SL’s national Women’s Singles champion Ranithma Liyanage delivered one of the finest performances of her young career after claiming the silver medal at the Welsh Int'l Open 2025 held at the Sport Wales National Centre in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The world No.113 shuttler, who is sponsored by McLarens Group, put together four straight wins before narrowly missing out on the title in a gripping three-game final. Ranithma opened her campaign with a commanding 21-8, 21-11 victory more..

Dec 7 (TM) The hope of finding more survivors is fading as SL enters the second week after Cyclone Ditwah triggered widespread floods and landslides, leaving hundreds dead, hundreds more missing, and thousands displaced. Rescue and evacuation operations by the armed forces, supported by residents, continue, but authorities warn that the chances of finding additional survivors are diminishing. Death toll has reached 618, more..

Dec 7 (Island) A high-level delegation from the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) visited the JVP headquarters in Pelawatta, Battaramulla, on Wednesday (03) as part of an observation tour aimed at strengthening party-to-party cooperation. The group included Kang Shuai, Deputy Director-General of the Information Centre of the CPC Int'l Department; Jiang Wen, Associate Professor at the Party School of the Beijing Municipal Committee; and more..

Dec 7 (CT) Sri Lanka is poised to host the SAFF Championship next year, according to a reliable source within the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL). The insider revealed that while discussions are still ongoing, SL has now emerged as the leading candidate to stage South Asia’s most prestigious football tournament. “There are talks going on regarding the host of the prestigious event, and SL has emerged as the front runner to host the event completely,” the source said, more..

Dec 7 (ST) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed that the installation of floodlights at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), one of the three venues selected to host next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, will be completed by January 15. Sri Lanka will co-host the tournament with India from February. SSC has been named alongside the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium as the three Sri Lanka venues for the event. SSC will stage five matches, more..

Dec 7 (Island) There’s a glut of riveting Test cricket going on around the world, the kind that warms most fans hearts. Joe Root has finally bagged his maiden hundred in Australia after a 12-year vigil – meaning Matthew Hayden no longer has to stroll around the MCG in nothing but his cowboy hat. The big man had vowed to walk naked in Melbourne if Root didn’t reach three figures this Ashes. Elsewhere, the West Indies are digging in to save a game against New Zealand, while more..

Dec 7 (ST) A delegation from the Int'l Dept of the Communist Party of China (CPC) visited the JVP main office in Pelawatte on Monday, but there was no show by party General Secretary Tilvin Silva to greet them. Instead, Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala was at hand to greet them. The Chinese delegation included the Deputy Director General of the Information Center of the CPC’s Int'l Dept, Kang Shuai; Assistant Professor at the Beijing more..

Dec 7 (Island) SL has always lived with the moods of the monsoon. For generations, people have grown used to seasonal rhythms of rain, wind and sunshine. Yet what the country has witnessed in recent months feels different. The storms have been stronger, the rainfall more intense, the destruction more widespread and the recovery more painful. The nation has been battered by floods, landslides and hurricane force winds that arrived with little warning; left thousands struggling to rebuild their lives. more..

Dec 7 (ST) My dear Mother Lanka, I am writing to you at a time when you are in agony, reeling from the effects of the worst natural disaster you ever suffered. The 2004 tsunami may have killed 35,000 people and the ’78 cyclone nearly a 1,000 but they didn’t leave a countrywide trail of destruction that was this widespread. The initial shock of devastation and death across all 25 districts of the country have now sunk in, in some instances quite literally. Since then, we have witnessed a variety of more..

Dec 7 (Island) An AI-generated video of two rats engaged in a fierce fight, with a clowder of amused cats watching them, is doing the rounds in the digital space. It does not carry any caption interpreting the absurd scene, but, we believe, it can be used to describe the post-disaster situation in SL. The govt and the Opposition are at each other’s throat, oblivious to the danger they as well as the people are in. Cyclone Ditwah may be gone, but the possibility of another spate of extreme more..

Dec 7 (ST) Like a thief at night, Cyclone Ditwah came and devastated countless homes and property to the tune of billions, leaving a trail of destruction rarely seen before in living memory. It was quick; it was savage. It left 611 dead, 213 still missing—and still counting. The difference, however, was that it didn’t come stealthily unannounced. It telegraphed its arrival, ringing all the bells. Cyclonic havoc had already hit parts of Indonesia (Aceh province) and southern Thailand more..

Dec 7 (CT) SL has known disasters before. The island still carries the psychic scar of the 2004 tsunami, the shock of Easter 2019, and the long economic collapse that followed the pandemic years. Yet even against that battered historical canvas, the devastation unleashed by Cyclone Ditwah has carved out a moment of rare national rupture. This was not a tragedy confined to a coastline or a river basin. It was a catastrophe that swept across more..

Dec 7 (GV) Just forty eight hours after Cyclone Ditwah unleashed its worst flooding, SL revealed a fracture in its collective conscience. On one screen, families salvaged their belongings from the mud, their grief broadcast live as communities stitched together survival. On another, a trending post debated the best Black Friday deals, untouched by the devastation. This was not malice but something more insidious: a protective tone deafness. For many outside the flood zones, more..

Dec 7 (TM) Sri Lanka stands today not merely in the wake of another natural disaster, but amidst a damning indictment of State failure – one that has unfolded in real time, in panoramic view, with no room for excuses. The unprecedented floods and landslides that tore through cities, towns, and villages have left behind a trail of devastation that will cost billions to repair: shattered bridges, washed-out roads, crippled rail lines, collapsed riverbanks, broken dams, ruined irrigation channels, more..