Sri Lanka’s embattled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa struck a defiant tone in his first international interview since anti-government protests started in April, vowing not to step down and pledging not to cut the state’s heavy military expenditure.

As many as 7 Tamil fishermen were admitted into hospital last week, after Sri Lankan navy officers attacked them in Pesalai, Mannar.

The attack happened on Thursday 2 June, as the navy questioned the fishermen whilst they were preparing to head out to sea around 3PM.

Locals participated  in a clean up operation of Mullaitivu beach to mark World Environment Day today. 

Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran, the first Tamil to die in the liberation struggle, was remembered in Jaffna this morning this morning to mark 48 years since his death. 

Sivakumaran was a member of the Tamil Manavar Peravai (or Tamil Student Federation, TSF) and a leading militant in the early armed Tamil struggle. With decades of Sri Lankan state repression and deadly anti-Tamil pogroms already having taken place, Tamil militant movements began to form. 

Food supplies from Tamil Nadu arrived in Vavuniya yesterday as the island’s economic turmoil continues. 

A coastal clean-up operation and tree sapling planting event was held this morning at Mannar Keeri beach ahead of of World Environment Day. 

On Tuesday the chairman of Sri Lanka’s Port Authority, Prasantha Jayamanna, declared that they would be issuing Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to develop Trincomalee Port however poor governance from Colombo has left investors wary.

A new Buddhist vihara is being constructed in Muttur, a majority Tamil speaking area, with the aid of Sri Lanka's army and it's archaeology department. 

The province of Ontario’s lawyers effectively argued to dismantle the legal case filed against Bill 104 – the “Tamil Genocide Education Week Act”, at the Superior Court of Ontario by Tamil Genocide deniers.

It is a well-known fact that the Sri Lankan government is working extremely hard against any efforts undertaken in the struggle for justice for Tamil people in Sri Lanka and around the world. Even today despite facing an economic crisis, triggering political and financial instability, the Sri Lankan government continue to engage in Tamil Genocide denial and distortion.

Protests were held in Jaffna and Kilinochchi yesterday demanding an end to violence against girls and women, in the wake of a spate of violent incidents targeting young females across the island.

The Sri Lankan government will be applying for food bank assistance from international donors, as an economic and political crisis continues to grip the country, leading to severe food and medicine shortages.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has suspended the pardon of Rajapaksa ally and convicted murderer, Duminda Silva, and ordered for his arrest by the Criminal Investigation Department.

The body of a missing 16-year-old girl was recovered from a well in Vavuniya this week.

Earlier in the week, the girl had been reported missing and a search operation had been launched to locate her, leading to her body being discovered.