The Bar Associations in the North-East have called off their ongoing strike but will continue to stage their protest to highlight the eroding independence of the judiciary and the lack of safety for judicial workers on the island, after a judge was forced to flee last month.

The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) has raised “serious concerns” over the Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill, two pieces of legislation that are currently being considered in Sri Lanka’s parliament.

The UN Human Rights Office warned that both bills “give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can impose restrictions on human rights, not in line with international human rights law”.

Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted its report into the fleeing of a Tamil judge who faced death threats on the island, and claimed that “there was no threat to life” in its conclusion.

Mullaitivu District Judge T. Saravanarajah resigned from his posts and fled the island due to death threats and mounting pressure from the Sri Lankan government last month.

Sri Lanka has reportedly reached a deal with China’s Exim Bank to restructure $4.2bn of debt, as it looks to release the second tranche of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package that was withheld last month.

The island was plunged into an economic crisis last year and defaulted on billions of dollars of foreign debt, forcing it to reach out to the global financial body for assistance.

The 36th anniversary of the Kokkuvil Pirambadi massacre, when over fifty Tamil civilians were shot dead or crushed with an armoured vehicle by Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF), was commemorated in Jaffna on Thursday.

The massacre is claimed to be the first of many by Indian troops during their occupation of the Tamil homeland in the late eighties.

During the event, a lamp was lit, and flowers were offered to remember the lives lost in the massacre.

Muttiah Arumugam, an Eelam Tamil father who had tirelessly searched for his forcibly disappeared son, has tragically passed away in Vavuniya never knowing what happened to his child.

Mannar Diocese Bishop Emmanuel Fernando Andagai has raised the alarm to protect the natural resources of Mannar district and called for immediate action to prevent the exploitation and destruction of the region's natural treasures under the guise of development.

Emphasising the collective responsibility to preserve the earth for future generations, the bishop said "this earth is a common house for all of us to live in. Therefore, as we have received these rich and prosperous natural resources from our ancestors, we have an obligation to hand them over to our future leaders.”

Just days after Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs ministry called for a ceasefire as violence escalated in Israel and Palestine, Ranil Wickremesinghe came out and condemned the Hamas assault.

Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry had originally not placed blame on either party but called for an “immediate halt to violence” and reaffirmed its support for a "two-state solution".

In a new statement, Wickremesinghe however “condemned the recent Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the loss of numerous civilian lives”.

The first female martyr in the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle, 2nd Lt. Maalathy, was commemorated in Jaffna on Tuesday.

The event was led by the women's wing of the Tamil National People's Front.

This year marks 36 years since Maalathy fell in battle against the Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF), at the age of 20.

In a vigil held on Tuesday evening at Adampan, the 36th anniversary of the sacrifice of 2nd Lt Maalathy, the first woman fighter in the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle, was observed. Born in Mannar in 1967, Maalathy's life and legacy were commemorated at her residence as family, friends, and fellow activists gathered to pay tribute.