Addressing an award ceremony at Temple Trees, Rajapaksa asserted that as a lawyer himself he had absolute confidence in the independence of the judiciary.

He went on to say:

Rev. Fr. Praveen OMI was interrogated by Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Department for 7 hours on Tuesday, as the government continues its crack down.

Mahinda Rajapakse's planned visit to Jaffna on the 15th and 16th of January has been cancelled, reports Uthayan.

A delegation of Italian officials arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday to examine investment opportunities on the island.

The governor of the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, Luis Durnwalder, was welcomed by Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakoddy at Bandaranaike International Airport.

The Korean Embassy in Colombo has announced it will provide a soft loan of $290m to Sri Lanka, to be used for renewable energy and infrastructure projects.

Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, has told reporters in Colombo that  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will not be attending the next Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting due be held in Sri Lanka, unless more is done to address human rights violations on the island.

Responding to comments made by the Canadian Minister for Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, during his recent visit, Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister GL Peiris accused him of being "biased and unbalanced".

Former chief cricket writer at The Age (Australia), Trevor Grant has written on his experiences protesting against Sri Lanka and the intimidation tied with it.

See here for full article.

Extracts reproduced below:

"As I was... handing out leaflets to the crowd on the opening day of the Test match, I noticed a... man of Sri Lankan or Indian appearance... taking photographs of me."

"I was curious because it was obvious he wasn't a press photographer... because when I moved towards him, he ran away and tried to hide..."

"My Australian-Tamil friend, Kartheeban Arul, from the Sydney branch of the Tamil Youth Organisation, tells me that this is a regular occurrence whenever Tamils attend a protest in Australia that is directed at the Sri Lankan government. He says the Tamil community is convinced these men work for the Sri Lankan embassy. Their job is to provide identification of Tamil protesters, which is used by government security agents to harass friends and relatives back in Sri Lanka."

Jaffna University will resume its academic activities starting Tuesday according to media reports.

The university was virtually shut down as classes were boycotted for more than a month, with students demanding the release of four Jaffna University students held by the army.

The Higher Education Minister of Sri Lanka, S.B Dissanayake, warned in a meeting with University Chancellor Vasanthy Arasaratnam, that Jaffna University would be closed if academic activities were not resumed this week.

Award winning musician ‘Maya' Mathangi Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., has spoken out against Australia’s policy on asylum seekers calling on the country to do more to help Tamil refugees.

The body of a 68 year old man was found in a well in Marakkaarampalai on Saturday, reports Uthayan.

It is believed to be that of Palaswamy Arunaasalam, who was reported missing after he set off towards Vavuniya on 2nd January.

Applicants for dual citizenship will now have to face an interview panel led by none other than the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, after having their application approved by the Immigration Department.

The panel will also include the Foreign Ministry Secretary Karunatillake Amunugama and Public Administration Secretary PB Abeykoon.

The Japanese government has pledged approximately 23 million Japanese Yen in donations for those affected by the floods. The assistance includes tents, plastic sheets and sleeping pads and will be distributed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

In a statement, the Japanese embassy said: