Sun, Aug 9, 2026
12 headlines
SRI LANKA DAILY NEWS DIGEST — Sunday, August 9, 2026
TOP STORY: GRADE 5 SCHOLARSHIP EXAM TOMORROW
The 2026 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination will be held tomorrow at 2,723 examination centres nationwide, with 294,089 candidates expected to sit, the Examinations Department said.
GOVERNANCE AND POLICY
The Mahanayake theras of the three Chapters have written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressing concerns over the proposed extension of the retirement age of judges. The Malwathu Chapter's Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sri Sumagala Thera confirmed the letter to civil organisation leaders who met him yesterday.
The government plans to begin issuing e-Passports within less than a year, conforming to International Civil Aviation Organisation standards, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONNECTIVITY
India has handed over another consignment of Bailey Bridges weighing more than 250 metric tonnes to Sri Lanka, continuing its assistance programme.
SriLankan Airlines has resumed its Colombo–Kuwait route, operating six services a week.
DEMINING MILESTONE
Award-winning actor Rosamund Pike, Ambassador to the Mines Advisory Group, visits Sri Lanka this week as the country marks the clearance of one million landmines over the past 17 years.
MEDIA FREEDOM
The Sri Lanka-based Free Media Movement has called on Pakistan to halt what it describes as state-driven violations of media freedom, citing new restrictive laws and administrative obstacles imposed on international media organisations and their journalists.
SPORT
Galle Gallants won their first Lanka Premier League title, beating Jaffna Kings by five wickets in a low-scoring final at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
In football, Jorge Messi, father of Lionel Messi, has died at 68 after a period of ill health, according to Argentine media.
INTERNATIONAL
A US federal appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of a 400-million-dollar ballroom on the site of the demolished White House East Wing, a setback in a case testing presidential authority.
The district of Summerland, British Columbia, declared a state of emergency early Saturday as a fast-moving wildfire swept through western Canada, forcing thousands to evacuate.
SCIENCE
Researchers are fitting sharks off the US East Coast with sensors to gather ocean data, aiming to improve forecasts of hurricane intensity before landfall.