A school principal found guilty of molesting a student has been handed a ten year prison sentence by the Jaffna High Court.

The then 9-year-old girl was molested by the principal at a Kayts school in 2009.

High court judge M. Ilancheliyan criticised attempts by the accused to victim-blame the child and portray her as promiscuous by implying she had sexual relations with other youths.

An explosion and fire on a bus in Diyatalawa this morning left 19 injured, including Sri Lankan army personnel. 

The army commander informed the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe the incident was caused by a hand grenade. 

"The Army denies any terrorist involvement in the incident. Police investigations are in progress," the army's website stated. 

The European Union's mission to Sri Lanka on Wednesday urged the government to honour its commitments to the Office of Missing Persons and transitional justice mechanisms. 

Amid calls from UK parliamentarians for his expulsion, Sri Lanka's UK defence attache, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, will return to Colombo for "consultations" the army spokesperson, told reporters today. 

Brigadier Fernando was filmed on February 4 making a throat slitting gesture at Tamils protesting outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London. 

The former president Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday accused the president, Maithripala Sirisena of protecting the UNP leader and prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, following the UNP's election defeat at the local government polls. 

Speaking to reporters, Mr Rajapaksa reiterated his call for the position of Opposition Leader to be given to the UPFA. 

The Sri Lankan government failed to provide Tamil or English translations of reports on the treasury bond scandal and of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate into serious acts of fraud and corruption (PRECIFAC), leading to a postponement of the scheduled debates.

Families of the disappeared in Kilinochchi marked today one year of continuous protests calling on the government to release information on the whereabouts of their missing loved ones. 

Civil society groups across the North-East have called for action in a joint statement, marking one year of protests by families of the disappeared. 

^{Photograph: Sri Lankan troops prepare for deployment to Lebanon earllier this month.}

The United Nations has confirmed that it has out “on hold” the deployment of a Sri Lankan commander who was set to lead troops as a peacekeeper in Lebanon, after concerns over his involvement in war crimes.

The Sri Lankan military declared that it had completed the construction of the walls of a Buddhist vihara in Amparai, as the army continued its involvement in consolidating Sinhala Buddhist presence in the North-East.

The Sri Lankan government is attempting to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act in time for the start of the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, the Sunday Times reports.

Tamil families of the disappeared have seen out almost a year protesting on the roadsides of various towns, in search of answers about their disappeared family members.

Work at Sri Lanka's ministries has ground to a halt as the country's political turmoil continues, the Sunday Times reports. 

The country's unity government was thrown into crisis this month after the country's local government elections delivered a bruising defeat to both main parties of the coalitions, and a victory to the newly established party of the former president, the SLPP. 

The SLFP has decided to quit the national unity government, the party spokesperson, MP Thilanga Sumathipala told reporters on Sunday night. 

The announcement came following a meeting between senior UPFA members, including senior figures within the SLFP, and the president, Maithripala Sirisena.