Sri Lanka’s Tourism Promotion Bureau is the sole sponsor of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s general assembly. The sponsorship, worth 100 million rupees, was extended to MTV for the four day event. It’s an unusually large sum for the bureau, which usually only offers 5-10 million rupees for events.

Regional Plantation Companies, whose plantations cover 20% of the island’s agricultural land, are paying discounted rent. Now the companies want their leases extended on similar terms. But industry veterans think the land should partly be sold and partly redistributed to workers.

Sinopec’s Hambantota refinery investment is now on ice. The negotiating committee recommended cancelling the $3.7 billion deal, signed last year during the president’s visit to Beijing. Meanwhile, the FSP and Northern parties snipe from the flanks.

Despite tourist arrivals making large jumps to return to pre-crisis levels, there hasn't been a similar jump in hotel occupancy at Tourism Board registered hotels. Where are all the tourists staying?

Lost this evening? Sit down with two artists — one young and one old — at Barefoot. Berlin radio comes to Colombo, and then, somewhere, an art exhibition. Catch Brandon Ingram’s experimental Ubu,  it's

Police arrested the Homagama Crimes Division OIC on suspicion of involvement in a custodial death. He had been accused of torture at past postings in Trincomalee and Kalutara. Kumara’s post-mortem shows three broken ribs and bleeding in the brain.

University drop-out, Keells stockbroker, McDonald’s burger flipper, Anton Padmasiri is now the founder of Sri Lanka’s fastest start-up exit. He sits down to lunch with The Examiner to tell us his story, including why choosing Sri Lanka was the right decision and what it takes to win in an AI world.

The NPP’s general-secretary has $300,000 in fixed deposits, Sajith has 17 plots of land, and poor AKD has only 1.5 million rupees to his name –– asset declarations are out. Meanwhile, the opposition isn’t paying much attention to the budget. Some are writing letters to console each other.

The spectre of an American holiday is haunting Colombo. This evening, The Cauldron bubbles into an open mic, Fairway promises a buffet spookier than its real estate portfolio, and Water's Edge burns you