A Pakistani national who pleaded guilty to possessing and smuggling 361 Rs.500 Indian currency notes was today sentenced to two-year-rigorous imprisonment suspended for seven years by the Colombo High Court.

French President Emmanuel Macron, during his meeting with the Sri Lankan counterpart, is reported to have said that his country will strive to engage China for a common agreement on Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring.

An American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti, according to a Christian aid charity she worked for.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he does not reject the idea of peace talks on Ukraine.

Four people are missing after a military helicopter crashed off the coast of Queensland in Australia.

At least five people are understood to have been injured after missiles hit two buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Soldiers in the West African country of Niger have announced a coup on national TV.

They said they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed the nation's borders.

A court in Brussels has found six men guilty of terrorist murder, more than seven years after suicide bomb attacks killed 32 people at the city's airport and a metro station in March 2016.

Britain has added a number of construction roles to its “shortage occupation list”, allowing the building industry to bring in staff from abroad including Sri Lanka more easily to help employers struggling to fill positions.