Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has rejected the resignation of Justice Minister, and long-time ally, Ali Sabry who has expressed disappointment over the establishment of a Presidential Task Force headed by the notorious extremist monk, and ex-convict, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara.

Sabry has told reports that his resignation now “is in a sort of limbo”.

As Sri Lanka faces a major economic crisis, Vice President for the World Bank’s South Asian division, Hartwig Schafer concludes his six-day visit of the island pledging support “to invest in people to power the country towards a green, resilient and inclusive recovery”.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for an end to Instagram’s censorship of the Tamil Guardian and for Facebook to be “more transparent”, after the news website had its account disabled last month.

Hundreds of Tamil Canadians took part in a car rally through the streets of Toronto this week, as they demanded justice for genocide and called on Canada to ensure that a genocide investigation is pursued by the UN Human Rights Council.

Tamil politicians joined locals in Mandaithivu and Pungudutivu yesterday as they halted attempts by Sri Lankan government officials from the survey department to acquire land for the navy.

The protest came after officials from the survey department announced that public owned lands would be acquired in three places under the Velanai Divisional Secretariat - Pungudutivu, Mankupam and Allaipiddy - for the Sri Lankan navy.

Hundreds of families have been displaced by coastal flooding, which has severely disrupted the livelihoods of villages in Vidataltivu, Mannar. 

Seawater flooded homes and damaged fishing boats following heavy rain, early Sunday morning. As many as 1,200 people from 352 families are reported to have been affected by the flooding.

The Batticaloa High Court rejected the bail petition of the wife of the alleged ringleader of the Easter Sunday attack, Zahran Hashim, on Monday. 

Tamil farmers in Mannar recently expressed their disgruntlement with Sri Lankan government officials whose decisions to allow cattle grazing in farmlands has adversely impacted those dependent on agriculture. 

Former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and secretary-general of the Global Campus of Human Rights, Professor Manfred Nowark, has urged Holyrood to launch an inquiry into allegations of Sri Lankan police brutality against Tamil refugees who fled the island for Scotland.

Tamils joined a larger protest against climate change in London yesterday, as they called for climate justice and an end to crimes against humanity committed by Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Amnesty International has called on the Singaporean government to cease the planned execution of Tamil Malaysian national, Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam who has been charged with carrying drugs in 2009. 

The execution which is scheduled to take place on 10 November has drawn criticism from numerous human rights organisations. 

Responding to the trilateral security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, has slammed the agreement claiming that it was “opening the Pandora’s Box of the arms race, and undermining peace and stability in the Pacific and Indian Ocean”.