Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel Update – 27 July 2026: The Indian High Commission has announced that free visas are once again being issued to Sri Lankan pilgrims travelling to India. In a statement, the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka said it has reinstated the scheme for issuing free (fee-waived) visas to groups […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel One of the lingering questions to Sri Lanka’s public sector right now than whether the duty-free vehicle permit scheme will ever come back. Into this long-running debate, dropped a card bearing the News 1st logo, quoting Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa as saying the 2027 budget would let doctors import […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel For a country still climbing out of economic collapse, it was a flattering headline: Deputy Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply, T.B. Sarath said international bodies including the World Bank had certified Sri Lanka as South Asia’s fastest-growing economy, ahead of India and Pakistan. Mainstream and social media carried […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel It looked like a rare piece of good news for anyone driving into the capital: a video, dressed up as a fresh announcement, claimed the Colombo Municipal Council had suspended all parking fees in the city with immediate effect and told motorists to stop paying. It spread quickly, and left […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel A striking line raced across Sri Lankan social media: a third of the money the country borrowed from the International Monetary Fund had been stolen, some posts went further and accused the government of pocketing it. The charge was explosive, and the figure sounded precise enough to believe. We traced […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had been expected to travel to France in mid-July 2026. As that date neared, a post spread across social media claiming France had rejected the President’s visa outright, and had done so over the Negombo Prison deaths, an alleged central bank fraud, a fraudulent passport tender […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel On the day of the Negombo Prison clash, a number of inmates climbed onto the roof in protest, and a photograph of one of the women grabbed the attention of many netizens and spread rapidly online. Around that image grew a heartbreaking story: that she was a gifted student who […]
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Social media posts claim to show Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland becoming startled after seeing his reflection in a restaurant mirror. The clip gained significant traction during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, often presented as a genuine candid moment. The humorous clip quickly accumulated millions of views during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with many users […]
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Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel As the deadly Negombo Prison tragedy continued to dominate the news, contested claims spread across social media in its wake. One of them alleged that Katuwellegama Suresh, the inmate named in reports as the person who orchestrated the clash and since moved to Boossa Prison, had been killed inside that […]
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Following Argentina’s dramatic comeback victory over Egypt in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, social media users began circulating claims that Egypt had “banned Lionel Messi from entering the country.” The claim spread rapidly across Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Threads, and other social media platforms, often presented as breaking news […]
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