The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sri Lanka and Finland to establish a Political Consultation Mechanism aimed at further strengthening bilateral relations.
Sri Lanka and Finland established official diplomatic relations in 1954, and the two countries will mark the 72nd anniversary of diplomatic ties this year. Over the decades, relations have evolved into an active partnership, underpinned by cooperation in political, economic, social, cultural and educational spheres, as well as strong people-to-people links.
The proposed MoU seeks to enhance collaboration in political, economic, educational, environmental, consular and cultural sectors, while providing a structured framework for regular exchanges of views on regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
Accordingly, Cabinet approval was granted for the resolution presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism to sign the MoU establishing the Political Consultation Mechanism between Sri Lanka and Finland.
One month extension given to submit constructive proposals to two draft Bills
By Saman Indrajith
Minister of Justice and National Integration Harshana Nanayakkara, on Tuesday, told Parliament that the proposed Bills to repeal the Rent Act and introduce a new Protection of Occupants law would not adversely impact individuals or businesses engaged in renting out residential properties.
Responding to concerns raised by NDF MP Ravi Karunanayake over the proposed legislation, the Minister said both Bills had been drafted by a panel of experts and due legal and procedural processes had been followed.
The minister said the two draft Bills had been gazetted on 18 Sept., 2025, and opened for public consultation from 04 Nov., 2025 to 15 Jan., 2026. During that period, the draft legislation had been published on the official website of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration and in Sinhala, Tamil and English newspapers inviting public comments, he added.
Nanayakkara said only two formal submissions had been received during the initial consultation period, rejecting claims that the proposed laws were being introduced without transparency.
“This is not legislation being brought in through the backdoor. Our intention is to introduce the best possible laws for the people of this country,” he said, urging all stakeholders, irrespective of political affiliation, to submit constructive proposals.
The Minister also told the House that the Ministry had received a letter, dated January 29, 2026, from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka seeking an opportunity to present its views on the proposed Bills.
In view of requests from several parties, he said the government had decided to extend the public consultation period by a further month from 03 Feb., 2026.
Nanayakkara said that once written submissions were received, they would be examined by a committee, headed by the Additional Secretary (Legal) of the Ministry, which would evaluate the recommendations, observations and proposals before finalising the draft legislation.
Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani Prime Minister, has said Pakistan’s decision to boycott the game against India at the men’s T20 World Cup 2026 was a show of solidarity with Bangladesh, after their removal from the tournament.. It is the first time any official from either the Pakistan state or the PCB has publicly touched upon the reasons for the boycott.
“We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Sharif told members of his cabinet on Wednesday. “We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision.”
The Pakistan government put out a post on Sunday saying that while the team would participate in the T20 World Cup, it would not take the field in the February 15 group game against India. The post, which came after a week in which Pakistan’s participation in the tournament had become uncertain, did not give any reason for the decision.
The PCB has not spoken publicly on the matter, but the ICC issued a response a few hours after the X post, in which it said it hoped “that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”
It is not known whether the PCB has officially notified the ICC, or whether there has been any contact between the two bodies. The ICC had said that it “expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.”
The Prime Minister’s comments confirm, however, that the boycott decision is linked to what the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi – the interior minister in Sharif’s government – called the ICC’s double standards in excluding Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh were replaced in the world event after their government refused to let the team travel to India, where they were based for their games. The government, citing security concerns, wanted Bangladesh to play their games instead in Sri Lanka, the co-hosts for the event, and where Pakistan will play all their games.
The ICC Board voted 14-2 in favour of replacing Bangladesh with Scotland rather than rescheduling their games in Sri Lanka – the PCB were one of the two votes against the decision, along with the BCB.
“You can’t have double standards,” Naqvi said after the decision and cited India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in 2025. “You can’t say for one country [India] they can do whatever they want and for the others to have to do the complete opposite. That’s why we’ve taken this stand, and made clear Bangladesh have had an injustice done to them. They should play in the World Cup, they are a major stakeholder in cricket.”
Will Jacks led the way before Jacob Bethell sealed the deal with a career-best haul of 4 for 11, as England closed out a 3-0 series win over Sri Lanka with a remarkable spin strangle on a turning track at Pallekele.
Their defence of a sub-par target of 129 was their lowest in T20I history, and in the end they did it with room to spare, as Bethell rounded up the tail with all four of his wickets coming from his final eight balls, including the winning moment – a skied slog from Maheesh Theekshana to Liam Dawson at short third.
The performance, and the hard-fought nature of it, confirmed that England will head to next week’s T20 World Cup with confidence high, after a three-match series that has drawn on all facets of their game, with bat and ball alike.
On this occasion, they were indebted to a battling half-century from Sam Curran, whose nous at the back-end of the innings revived a performance that had been flat-lining at 60 for 6 in the 11th over. Dushmantha Chameera was the main man of Sri Lanka’s bowling display, with his own career-best figures of 5 for 24, but Curran’s 58 from 48 balls proved the ultimate difference between the teams.
England started their day on the back foot when Phil Salt succumbed to a back spasm while warming up. Though Ben Duckett is, on the face of it, a like-for-like replacement at the top of the order, his form of late has been far removed from the buccaneer who began last year as a first-choice pick across formats. After missing much of the tour with a finger injury, he fell for a first-ball lbw, as Chameera pinned him on the back foot and extracted three reds on review (2 for 1).
Bethell is another whose poise with the bat has been lacking a touch on this trip, certainly compared to that magnificent Ashes hundred at Sydney. He failed to pick Matheesha Pathirana’s slower ball, and snicked a wild drive to the keeper for 3, before Tom Banton was done all ends up by Dunith Wellalage. Though he’s probably still done enough to earn a World Cup starting berth after his matchwinning fifty on Sunday, Banton was this time lured into a huge wipe through the line, only for the ball to dip and grip, and clip the top of his leg bail for a run-a-ball 7.
England were a ropey 28 for 3 after five overs when their captain arrived at the crease. Harry Brook knows only one response to adversity, and it doesn’t involve him backing down to rebuild. When it works, it’s magnificent; this, on the other hand, was somewhat predictable. Pathirana returned for a second over, and once again that sticky slower ball came up trumps. Brook was through his shot twice over before the ball arrived, and Janith Liyanage in the covers collected the simplest of lobbed slogs.
Jos Buttler endured through the chaos, though his own stay could hardly be described as serene. He so nearly lost his leg stump while inside-edging England’s first boundary (in the third over) off Pathirana, and the same bowler then skinned his off stump for good measure with the final ball of the powerplay. Buttler shrugged off that indignity to club Wellalage over extra cover for England’s first six, but then Theekshana bowled him through the gate for 25.
Pace off the ball was clearly the way to go, as Jacks discovered before England could pull out of their nosedive. Chameera’s second over induced a flimsy plink to midwicket, with the batter once again too far through his stroke, and at 60 for 6 in the 11th over, it was time for England’s fabled depth to come to the party.
In a measure of his lack of opportunity at this level, Curran’s 58 from 48 balls was his highest T20I score, and only his second fifty. However, anyone who witnessed his play-off-sealing half-century for Sydney Sixers last month, let alone his title-winning 74 not out for Desert Vipers in the ILT20 can vouch for his current form with the bat.
His response to England’s adversity was a pugnacious rearguard, studded with six fours and a six over long-on. He found a doughty ally in Dawson, who held up his end for 14 from 20 balls, and as they pieced together a 47-run stand in seven overs, England briefly harboured hopes of a 140-plus total.
Chameera, however, had other ideas. Dawson slapped another slower ball to long-on, before Jamie Overton was outfoxed by a trio of legcutters – his second was caught at long-on but had to be parried back into play by Wellalage, but the third did the needful, via a slog to point.
And, with Curran in his sights for the final over of the innings, he landed his wide yorkers with conviction, inducing a slice to deep third to seal his career-best figures, and keep England to their lowest total in T20Is against Sri Lanka.
Luke Wood made his presence felt in his first outing of the series. He prised out Kamil Mishara for a duck in his first over and so nearly made it two in two when Pathum Nissanka swatted him to deep square leg, only for Bethell’s attempted relay catch to end up on the wrong side of the ropes.
That let-off was the cue for a brief explosion from Nissanka – he struck two more sixes in his next four balls, but when he skewed a leading edge off Dawson to cover for 23 from 11, the stage was set for Adil Rashid entered the attack with his familiar ragging turn.
Pavan Rathnayake had no response to a wonderful googly that did him in flight to rip into his leg stump, and one ball later, Kusal Mendis top-edged Jacks straight to short backward square to depart for a run-a-ball 26.
At 62 for 4 in the 10th, Sri Lanka were now in a scrap. Though Dawson’s third over was picked off for a boundary apiece, Jacks’ leaping offbreaks proved the perfect foil to Rashid’s habitual class. After pinning Kamindu Mendis on the back leg for 14, Jacks should have made it two lbws in his third over, but England opted not to review an appeal against Wellalage that would have been hitting leg.
In the end, it didn’t matter. With 32 runs to defend from 30 balls, Jacks closed out a fine spell of 3 for 14 with the crucial scalp of Liyanage, whose slog-sweep picked out Bethell at deep midwicket. And then, after nudging a priceless boundary down through deep third, Wellalage launched into a slog-sweep off Bethell, under-edged into his leg, and Buttler scrambled round from behind the stumps to cling onto a brilliant, opportunistic catch.
It was the moment for England to move in for the kill. Bethell claimed his second in three balls as Chameera poked nervously to cover for a duck, then effectively sealed the contest with his third in the over – a beauty that dipped and straightened from round the wicket to leave Dasun Shanaka stranded as Buttler whipped off the bails. He returned with 14 to defend in his final over, and by then it was no longer in doubt.
Brief scores: England 128 for 9 in 20 overs (Joss Buttler 25, Sam Curran 58, Liam Dawson 14; Dushmantha Chameera 5-24, Matheesha Pathirana 2-27,Dunith Wellalage 1-28, Maheesh Theekshana 1-16) beatSri Lanka 116 in 19.3 overs (Pathum Nissanka 23, Kusal Mendis 26, Pavan Rathnayake 13, Kamindu Mendis 14, Janith Liyanage 17; Luke Wood 1-13, Liam Dawson 1-25, Adil Rashid 1-25, Jacob Bethell 4-11, Will Jacks 3-14) by 12 runs
The Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court yesterday (02) further remanded 10 persons, including four Buddhist monks, arrested on 19 January, 2026, for allegedly placing a Buddha statue in the coastal reservation, on 16 January.
All of them were re-remanded till 09 February, pending further investigations.
They were first arrested on 19 January, then remanded till 28 January and 02 February. They have been accused of violating the Coast Conservation Act by placing a Buddha statue on a land belonging to the Trincomalee Bodhiraja Temple.
The suspects have appealed against the Magistrate’s Court decision. The case was heard on 22 January before a Bench comprising the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya, and Justice K. Priyantha Fernando.
Manohara de Silva, PC, and President’s Counsel Uditha Igalahewa, PC, appearing for the petitioners, urged the Court to take up the matter urgently, describing it as a case of exceptional importance.
Out of the 10 remanded, Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thera launched a hunger strike in the Trincomalee Prison but it was later called off.
With five wins in five games for both Australia U-19 and England U-19 at the 2026 edition of the U-19 World Cup the first semi-final will be heartbreak for one of these sides.
Australia, under Oliver Peake’s captaincy, have enjoyed a dominant campaign and are looking to defend their title. They topped their group in the first round with three wins and then beat South Africa and West Indies to finish atop their Super Sixes group.
England, too, cruised through their group spotlessly – including posting 404 against Scotland – and then beat Bangladesh and New Zealand in the next round. However, an inferior net run-rate to India saw them finish second in the Super Sixes.
But England do have an advantage. Their last two wins were in Bulawayo, the venue for the semi-final, while it will be Australia’s first game here. The winner will face one of India or Afghanistan in the final.
Form guide
Australia WWWWW (last five games, most recent first) England WWWWW
Players to watch
Hampshire’s Ben Mayes looks almost impossible to catch on the run scorers’ chart and will therefore play an important role for England at No. 3. His 191 against Scotland is the tournament’s second-highest individual score, and he also has an unbeaten 77 against Zimbabwe and 53 against New Zealand.
Australia opener Nitesh Samuel has been dismissed just twice in five innings. He started the tournament with unbeaten scores of 77 and 60 against Ireland and Japan and ended the Super Eight with 56 against West Indies. The captain Oliver Peake also returned to form with a century against West Indies.
Among the bowlers, Australia’s new-ball pair of Charles Lachmund and Will Byrom have been menacing. Byrom’s five-wicket haul skittled Sri Lanka for 58 while Lachmund led the effort in wrapping up South Africa for 118. England seamer Manny Lumsden is also one to watch out for. He is averaging 9.30 with the ball.
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, killed all seven astronauts on board, but disturbing details later emerged suggesting some may have survived the initial breakup.
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