Adding to an already burgeoning Cabinet, five new ministers were sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning at the Cabinet reshuffle. (See here).

The grand total now stands at 67 Cabinet ministers, and 97 ministers within a 225 member parliament.

US officials have confirmed that it will move a new resolution on Sri Lanka at the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

"The US has decided to sponsor a procedural resolution at the March 2013 sessions of the UNHRC," James R Moore, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, told reporters in Colombo.

The government has withdrawn over Rs 560 million worth of funds ear marked for development in the TNA controlled Northern Province, reports the Sunday Times.

According to Jaffna's Local Government Assistant Commissioner S Jeyaharan, the directive to withdraw the funds came from the Ministry of Local Government.

The Sri Lankan Air Force’s commercial wing, Heli Tours, has been chosen as the official ‘Air Logistics Operations’ provider for Cairn Sri Lanka’s oil exploration off the coast of Mannar.

Turkey's first ever ambassador to Sri Lanka has stated that his country will have a lot to learn from Colombo on how to combat "terrorism", stating that Sri Lanka is "far ahead" of Turkey on the issue.

With the opening of the Turkish Embassy in Sri Lanka this month, ambassador Iskender Okyay stated in an interview,

A number of factories in Sri Lanka have closed down after the withdrawal of the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) mechanism, which made export to EU members cheaper for Sri Lanka.

The Organising Secretary of the Inter Company Employees Union B.I. Abdeen told the Daily Mirror that 2000 jobs of direct employment had been lost due to the closure of two factories on January 2, 2013 alone.

The United States has refused an application for military training of Sri Lankan Army General, prompting the country's Defence Secretary to slam the decision as "wrong".

Major-General Sudantha Ranasinghe was refused entry into the US for military training, with speculation that it may be on grounds that Ranasinghe is suspected of overseeing human rights violations.

The Sri Lankan Army appeared at the house of TNPF member Selvarajah Kajendran's house in Jaffna and proceeded to enquire about his wherabouts earlier this week.

Publishing from his personal Twitter account on the 24th of January, Kajendran said,

The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has claimed that no civilians at all went missing during the final phase of the armed conflict and that ICRC records tallied with those of the army, reported the Daily Mirror.

“The Board observes that at present, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) principles, applicable to internal war situations have not adequately addressed various complex issues and the existing rules are seemingly applied to state actors only. Further, there are no specific guidelines with regard to the role of international humanitarian agencies in internal war situations. Hence, the Board recommends to formulate new domestic rules, covering internal war situations.”

“With regard to the presence of Military bases in the North and East, the Board observes that the Government has an absolute right to maintain its armed forces anywhere in the Island, according to the country’s strategic and security needs."

Speaking at a function at St Mary’s College in the southern district of Kalutara, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapksa said his government will take measures to uplift the schools in the southern rural areas to eliminate the disparity in education between the Colombo and the rural areas around it.

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pledged to hold talks with the Indian government in order to resolve the fishermen arrests and the crossing of territorial waters.

Addressing the General Fisheries Federation (GFF), Rajapaksa said: