Students at the University of Jaffna were barred from entering the campus premises today, in an apparent attempt by university authorities to prevent them from protesting on Sri Lanka’s ‘Independence Day’.

Students at the campus had arrived but security personnel reportedly blocked them from entering.

Sri Lanka’s president struck a defiant tone in his Independence Day speech this morning, as he hailed past Sinhala Buddhist kings and warned “both local and foreign forces” were “conspiring” against the government, as bombs and drones were showcased in a military parade.

Addressing the event after Sri Lankan soldiers and tanks march before him, Rajapaksa started by praising previous Sinhala rulers who “fought against foreign invaders” and once more spoke of beating an “attempt to divide this country through terrorism”.

Tamil families of the disappeared and activists rallied in Mullivaikkal this morning, to mark Sri Lanka's 74th Independence Day, which is regarded as a 'black day' for the Tamil nation. 

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister and leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) lashed out at protesting Tamil fishermen in Point Pedro and abruptly left with an armed Sri Lankan escort, as tempers flared earlier today.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor apparently backtracked on remarks made by the government’s finance minister today, stating that the crisis-hit island was only seeking “technical assistance” from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as debt repayments continue to pile up.

Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan has written to members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling on them to denounce Sri Lanka’s failure to investigate mass atrocities and that it has “not taken any steps to address the Tamil National Question”.

<p>Sri Lanka’s Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based policy think-tank, has decried the proposed amendments to Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as “grossly inadequate” and demanding an “immediate moratorium on the use of PTA until an acceptable law can be drafted”.</p> <blockquote><p>

Sri Lanka’s worsening economic crisis has left many impoverished people across the island unable to purchase enough food to eat, reports The Telegraph this morning.

“We used to have three meals a day but now we are having to skip dinner because of the little income that we have. This is all because of the increase in prices of essential goods,” said Susila Irangani from Dummalasuriya in Sri Lanka’s northwestern province

“The cost of living is such that we cannot even think of having a balanced meal… How can a family like us survive with the soaring prices of essential items?... Does the government want us to starve and die?”

Responding to the Sri Lankan government’s proposed amendments to the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, the International Commission of Jurists has slammed the government for its “disingenuous reform attempts” and demanded a full repeal of the legislation.

Tamil fishermen in Jaffna have launched protests and roadblocks as tensions with their Indian counterparts boiled over this week, after the death of at least two Eelam Tamils following a reported collision with an Indian vessel.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister has denied that his government purchased weapons from North Korea, in a potential breach of United Nations sanctions, just days after finance minister Basil Rajapaksa reportedly admitted to using ‘black market’ cash to buy arms.

Another Tamil woman who has been searching for her disappeared son for 15 years has passed away in Vavuniya due to an illness.