The 52 Division of the Sri Lankan army marked its 22^nd anniversary with a blood donation drive in Jaffna last month.

A military ceremony was held at a school in Jaffna last month, to mark the opening of toilets built by Sri Lankan soldiers.

A Sri Lankan government minister said LGBT rights and the right to have an abortion would not be allowed in Sri Lanka, and claimed to have reassurances that they would not be introduced from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Tourism and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga said that both he and the prime minister would ensure such rights would not be introduced.

Colombo Gazette reported the minister as stating that on abortion rights, “even if the cabinet considers it, both he and the Prime Minister will strongly oppose it”. He confirmed the new constitution would also not introduce any LGBT rights.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called for the strengthening of the police force at a ceremony in Colombo today.

Residents of Padiyathalawa protested on Friday over the Sri Lankan government's plans to hand over land in Binthenna to a Singaporean company, Adaderana reported. 

Over 62,500 acres of land is to be handed over to Gazelle Ventures, which is based in Singapore. 

According to the paper monks, farmers and trade union members took part in the rally. 
 

Updated 1120 GMT

The DUP MP, Ian Paisley Jr accepted holidays worth £100,000 from the Sri Lankan government while helping securing trade deals for the state, however, never disclosed the trips in the Commons register of interests, the Telegraph reported. 

Sri Lanka’s former military commander General Jagath Jayasuriya stands accused of overseeing a litany of crimes during the island’s armed conflict. The charges are grave. The lawyer who filed the case, renowned prosecutor Carlos Castresana Fernandez, said the evidence is more abundant than against Argentine General Jorge Rafael Videla and Chilean General Augusto Pinochet. However, Jayasuriya’s hasty retreat to Sri Lanka, where the government has offered him staunch protection from prosecution, serves as a stark reminder that the island remains a haven of impunity.

The European Union's monitoring mission for GSP plus met with families of the disappeared in Kilinochchi on Thursday.

Families of the disappeared have slammed the Sri Lankan government and TNA leadership for ignoring their demands, on the 200th day of their protest in Kilinochchi, stating that they did not expect the Sri Lankan government to ever deliver justice.

“The government is not even slightly concerned about our struggle,” the association for relatives of the disappeared said in a statement, pointing out that five mothers had died since the protest started.

In her submission to the Congress Subcommittee on Asia-Pacific’s hearing on US influence in South Asia, the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State, Alice Wells on Thursday reiterated the need for Sri Lanka to implement a credible mechanism to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes and fulfil the commitments outlined in the UN Human Rights Council resolution co-sponsored by both countries.