Preparations have been underway to commemorate the hunger strike of Thileepan, whose fast began 30 years ago on Friday.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence will see the largest portion of budget allocation in 2018 reports dailymirror.lk

The 2018 budget bill will be presented by Sri Lanka’s Finance and Mass Media minister Mangala Samaraweera on November 9.

Another Catholic roadside shrine in Mannar has been attacked and destroyed.

Sri Lanka is one of Asia's most undernourished countries a study commissioned by the Asia Development Bank has found. 

Twenty-two percent of Sri Lanka's population is undernourished, putting it on a par with Pakistan, third only to Afghanistan (26.8%) and Timor Leste (26.9%). 

Just over 15% of India's and 16% of Bangladesh's populations were undernourished. 

The head of the National Freedom Front, Wimal Weerawansa warned the government's Bill on on the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances would "endanger the lives of security forces". 

Five police officers arrested in connection with the killing of two Jaffna university students have been granted bail.

Sri Lankan police shot dead two Tamil students from Jaffna University, 23 year old Nadarasa Kajan and 24 year old Pavunraj Sulaxan, in October 2016.

The United States Marine Corps Forces Pacific has begun a program for Sri Lankan troops on Preventive Medicine and Casualty Care this week.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development echoed calls y the UN human rights chief for the exercise of universal jurisdiction on Sri Lanka and expressed concern over the lack of action towards accountability by the Sri Lankan government.

The Sri Lankan government’s strategy of setting up various reconciliation offices is not the same as full implementation of a UN resolution on accountability said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a statement released on Thursday.

The sentencing in the case of the rape and murder of Punguduthivu schoolgirl Vithiya will take place on September 27th.

The panel of judges made the annoucement after hearing the defence's summary on Wednesday.

The signing of a gazette to operationalise the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has been welcomed by the US, EU and Canada on Wednesday, with calls for “credible commissioners” to be swiftly appointed.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap said the move was an “important step forward” for advancing reconciliation. “A well-funded and robust OMP with independent & well qualified commissioners will give hope to families from all communities who seek answers,” he tweeted.

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A team of senior European Union (EU) officials praised Sri Lanka for making progress in advancing human rights but warned that there was a “lack of concrete progress in key areas” which was needed for continued preferential market access under the GSP Plus.

The United States Senate Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific stated that there was a need to prosecute perpetrators of mass atrocities and DNA analysis of remains in several countries, including Sri Lanka, in a report released last week.

The report, which opposed a 92% cut in US aid to Sri Lanka, said that the committee “recognizes that there is an ongoing need for DNA analysis and identification of exhumed remains”.

The United Kingdom called on the Sri Lankan government to deliver on its commitments laid out in a UN resolution, at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 36^th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Britain said that it welcomed the “recent step towards operationalising the Office of Missing Persons”.

However, it added that “we continue to urge the government to deliver on Resolution 34/1”.