^{File photo: Sri Lankan police officers intimidate Tamils who were preparing to mark Maaveerar Naal in 2018.}

A court in Mullaitivu has banned the commemoration of Maaveerar Naal – an annual day of remembrance to mark the lives lost during the Tamil armed struggle – following a request from the Sri Lankan security forces.

Locals in Mullaitivu have demanded the removal of several Sri Lankan military checkpoints, which were reportedly set up to enforce coronavirus related lockdowns but have persisted for months afterwards without any explanation.

A racist Sinhala Buddhist monk threatened officials in Batticaloa this week, as he staged an impromptu protest at the Divisional Secretariat office demanding land be allocated for the construction of a Buddhist shrine.

After 18 months of detention under Sri Lanka's draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, Muslim poet Ahnaf Jazeem, was brought before the High Court in Puttalam on Monday.

The Colombo District Court reissued summons against International Truth and Justice Project's (ITJP) executive director, Yasmin Sooka to be present in court in February 2022, for a civil defamation case filed by State Intelligence Chief Suresh Sallay.

A memorial service was held for the victims of the St James’ Church bombings who were killed by Sri Lankan government airstrikes in the early hours of 13 November 1993. The commemorative event took place at the Church in Gurunagar, Jaffna.

The commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force, Sudarshana Pathirana observed the fall out parade of the No 7 Contingent of the aviation unit before their deployment to the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) at the end of this month, despite ongoing human rights concerns.

Amidst surveillance from the Sri Lankan security forces, a protest was held outside the divisional secretariat in Nedunkeni this week, demonstrating against ongoing Sinhala colonisation in Vavuniya.

The International Cricket Council has announced that Sri Lanka will co-host the 2026 Men's Twenty20 World Cup with India, despite growing alarm over the island's dire human rights record and growing authoritarianism.

Members of British and Scottish parliament, from across the political spectrum, have called on Police Scotland to end its police training program with Sri Lanka and for the British High Commission to heed the "voices of human rights campaigners and those who have either fled from or are still suffering state-driven violence in Sri Lanka".

Responding to former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's call for Sri Lanka to seek financial support from the US-backed International Monetary Fund Government Minister  Vasudeva Nanayakkara maintained that he would rather the government be destroyed than turn to the IMF.

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, G.L. Peiris, met with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister, Dr A.K. Abdul Momen, in Dhaka today and expressed his gratitude to the country for its support at "international fora especially the Human Rights Council and the CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group)".

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, chief of the Tamil National People’s Front, accused the Sri Lankan government of pursuing a plot to alter the demography of the Tamil homeland by confiscating Tamil lands and redrawing the borders of the North-East.  

Sri Lanka's Energy Minister,  Udaya Prabath Gammanpila, has denied concerns that the country will face fuel shortages as he announced that the island's only oil refinery, the Sapugaskanda refinery, would remain closed for 50 days.