A vigil was held in Jaffna on Sunday marking 10 years since the Sencholai massacre, where 53 schoolgirls and 3 teachers were killed by a Sri Lankan air force bombing raid.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena has pointed fingers at the former regime for the current economic crisis that the government is facing.

Colombo is facing a spiralling balance of payments crisis, with reported figures revealing over 95% of all government revenue is spent on repaying existing loans.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena stated that security at Jaffna University would be maintained, as he met with staff and the parents of those involved in a clash between Sinhalese and Tamil students in Colombo on earlier this month.

The acquittal of 24 Sri Lankan army corporals over the rape and murder of Tamil civilians in 1996 has been criticised by the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) as “entrenching impunity” on the island.

Former Tamil refugees who were saved by a local Canadian fishing boat 30 years ago, returned to the site of their dramatic rescue this week, as they remembered their perilous journey fleeing Sri Lanka.

Destroyed memorials of Tamils who were killed during their liberation struggle against Sri Lanka's government must be rebuilt said members of the Tamil public at a zonal hearing of the government’s public Consultation Task Force on reconciliation in Vadamarachi, Jaffna.

Tamils around the world today remember the 10th anniversary of the massacre of 53 school girls by the Sri Lankan air force. 

On August 14th, 2006 four Sri Lankan air force jets flew over the Vanni and dropped sixteen bombs were dropped over the Sencholai children's home for orphans, killing 53 school girls and 3 teachers. 

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg concluded a two day visit to Sri Lanka this week, where she met with government officials and Tamil politicians, as part of moves to strengthen ties with the Sri Lankan government. 

US Ambasador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap writes on his country's deep connections with Jaffna, ahead of the US Air Force’s Operation Pacific Angel visit to the the region.

The first American missionaries arrived in Jaffna in 1813, when the Rev. Samuel Newell founded the first American schools in Thellipalai. Those schools were the first of hundreds of schools and medical centers that provided for the people of northern Sri Lanka.  Continuing this deep connection between our two nations, this week Jaffna is welcoming the U.S. Air Force’s Operation Pacific Angel, which will renovate schools and provide medical services for nearby communities.

Sri Lankan parliamentarian Jayantha Samaraweera called for the pardon of a Sri Lankan soldier convicted for massacring 8 Tamils, 16 years ago.

Tamil political prisoners locked in Sri Lankan jails launched a hunger strike this week, as they continued to call for their immediate release from detention.

Approximately 99 prisoners started their hunger strike earlier this week reports Colombo Gazette, demanding that they either be released or formally charged.

The Sri Lankan government has blocked the sale of land to China in the Colombo Port City project, as it agreed a new set of terms with Beijing on Friday.

The new agreement will see an expansion of the project, which was initially worth over $1.4 billion. A district is set to be built within the port city which will be renamed the Colombo International Financial City.

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena, rejected what he described as 'allegations' that the new government was considering removal Buddhism's prominent place in the country's constitution. An article published on the president's official media site, said Mr Sirisena "rejected the allegations made by the narrow extremist political groups by spreading false propaganda that the new government is preparing to remove the clause on Buddhism in the Constitution."

The Sri Lankan government continues to give Buddhism the most prominent place, with police and local government officials appearing 'to act in concert with Buddhist nationalists'.

'For example, police continued to cite outdated government circulars restricting the construction of religious facilities in attempts to force churches to cease operations,' the report said, although acknowledging that such instances had reduced under the present government.