Sri Lanka's state minister of defence, Ruwan Wijewardene yesterday denied the numerous credible reports of the military's use of cluster bombs and chemical weapons against Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, and rejected the need for an international investigation into the matter. 

“We are capable of conducting our own probe into allegations such as these, but there is no such need,” Wijewardene told parliament. 

<p>The Sri Lankan army’s new chief of staff&nbsp; risks arrests “every time he travels abroad” warned the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), in a press release that called for him to be indicted for crimes against humanity.</p> <p>Major General Shavendra Silva, who oversaw the Sri Lankan army’s 58 Division in 2009 and the killing of tens of thousands of Tamils, sparked outrage after he was appointed as the military’s new chief of staff.</p>

The killing of eleven Tamils by Sri Lankan police officers at the 1974 World Tamil Research Conference in Jaffna was remembered today. 

Residents and former members of the Northern Provincial Council gathered 45 years on by the memorial in Jaffna town, erected in memory of the victims of the massacre. 

Residents in Alampil, Mullaitivu protested today against the Sri Lankan army's attempt to survey land in the area, including land on which the Alampil Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetery) is sited. 

Though the Sri Lankan military is already illegally occupying the area, land owners fear the survey will lead to the formal transfer of the land to the military. 

<p>Following weeks of political crisis and falling rupee, which dropped to record levels, the Sri Lankan prime minister today announced a plan to obtain US$ 1.9 billion from 'international sources' to stabilise the currency.&nbsp;</p> <p>The bulk of this will be obtained from international money markets, Ranil Wickremesinghe said, whilst, US$ 500 million will obtained from Chinese and Japanese bonds, and US$ 400 million from the Central Bank of India via a SAARC currency swap.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Indian officials visited Jaffna on Monday to check on the status of an India-funded cultural centre being built in the town.</p> <p>A team led by Deputy High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Shilpak Ambule visited the site alongside officials from the Consulate in Jaffna as well as the district government agent N Vethanayagam, and municipal commissioner Jeyaseelan.</p> <p>Work on the centre, situated opposite the iconic Jaffna Public Library, started in 2017 and is due to be completed by the end of March this year.</p>

<p>Sri Lanka's finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera is to travel to Washington tomorrow with the aim of getting the next stage of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) External Fund Facility (EFF).&nbsp;</p> <p>The visit comes after weeks of Sri Lanka's political crisis left the country with a falling rupee and halting of international funding.&nbsp;</p> <p>“A key objective will be to negotiate the trajectory of continued fiscal consolidation while accommodating policies to support growth and strengthen the social safety net,” Sri Lanka's Finance and Mass Media Ministry said in a statement.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/Image/pictures/2019/North-East/190109%20mother%20of%20disappeared%20Vijayaluxmi%20Shanmugarajah.jpg"></p> <p>Another mother of the disappeared has passed way on Monday due to ill health, still in search for her son, who disappeared after surrendering to the army.&nbsp;</p> <p>Vijayaluxmi Shamugaraja, aged 68, from Thevipuram, Mullaitivu had been searching for her son, Shanmugaraja Arjun, who surrendered to the army in May 2009, at Valaincharmadam.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Two Tamil men and a woman have been arrested in relation to the military search conducted in Vavuniya last week.&nbsp;</p> <p>A Tamil youth from Nedunkeni, Karthik and a 20 year old man from Alamkulam, Jegatheeswaran Kajendran, and a 35 year old woman from Puthukkulam, Tharshiny Srikanth were arrested on Sunday.&nbsp;</p> <p>Kajendran is accused of possessing a locally made hunting gun.&nbsp;</p> <p>Srikanth was arrested when police officers arrived at her house searching for her husband. When she told them she did not know where her husband was, officers took her and her 10 year old daughter to the station.&nbsp;</p>

Dutch soldiers, alongside troops from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Maldives and Pakistan, are amongst those currently undergoing a course on “Asymmetric Warfare”, conducted by the Sri Lankan navy in Trincomalee this week.

The twelve-week-long training will see the soldiers receive “maximum exposure of SLN’s hard-earned Asymmetric Warfare experience,” boasted an official Sri Lankan military website.