Sri Lankan AI News Summary.

SRI LANKA DAILY NEWS DIGEST — Friday, October 9, 2026 ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE DOMINATES Parliament approved the Anti-Corruption Amendment Bill with amendments today, as the government pressed its case that its prosecutions are lawful rather than vindictive. Transport, Highways and Urban Development Minister Bimal Rathnayake tabled a 10-page document detailing 50 corruption, fraud and criminal cases involving former ministers, politicians, members of the Rajapaksa family and senior state officials, rejecting claims of political revenge. Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala told the House that 16 former ministers and three former state ministers have been convicted in CIABOC cases since the NPP took office. Separately, the Central Crime Investigation Bureau froze properties worth over Rs. 100 million — including a gym, a tourist bungalow and a luxury apartment — suspected of being bought with drug trafficking proceeds. The Financial Crimes Investigation Division also secured the remand of Mohammed Athif over Rs. 7.5 billion in telegraphic transfers; investigators say he controlled 17 companies through nominal directors and attempted to destroy documents. PRESIDENT ON TAX RELIEF AND PRISON LAW President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the government aims to cut VAT rates within two to three years to ease the public's tax burden. At a special meeting with the Maha Sangha, he declined to order any bypassing of prison laws for individuals, saying unsuitable provisions should be amended through proper legal process; a committee will be appointed to study new regulations for monks produced in court. Relatedly, a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court seeks to bar prison authorities from producing BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera in prison attire at court appearances. ECONOMY Four years after reserves fell below $400 million, analysts say Sri Lanka has stabilised but now needs a genuine growth strategy rather than stabilisation alone, with attention turning to the country's place in the regional economic architecture. A Central Bank survey found market participants increasingly confident in domestic financial stability, with global macroeconomic headwinds now rated the single biggest perceived threat. FOREIGN AFFAIRS Sri Lanka and Lithuania signed an MoU on political cooperation during the first high-level Lithuanian state visit, marking 30 years of diplomatic relations. India's Supreme Court, hearing petitions over the "unconstitutional ceding" of Katchatheevu, told the centre that Tamil Nadu fishermen must be sensitised against entering Sri Lankan waters. Globally, tanker traffic faces heightened attack risk after Iran warned it would block unauthorised routes through the Strait of Hormuz. SPORT Kusal Mendis is Sri Lanka's 19th Test captain after Dhananjaya de Silva stepped down with immediate effect, ending a two-year tenure. Sri Lanka Women's Under-19s beat Bangladesh by six wickets, powered by Sanjana Kavindi's career-best unbeaten 90 off 59 balls. COURTS AND SOCIETY Buddhist monk Naotunne Vijitha was jailed for 13 years and two months in Australia for sexually abusing six young girls at his Melbourne temple, the judge calling it a betrayal of trust. The National Institute of Mental Health has begun training prison officers and health workers to identify and refer mental health conditions in institutional settings. Canadian poet Anne Carson won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature for work the Swedish Academy called a bold, inventive dialogue with the classical tradition.