Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called for the strengthening of the police force at a ceremony in Colombo today.

Residents of Padiyathalawa protested on Friday over the Sri Lankan government's plans to hand over land in Binthenna to a Singaporean company, Adaderana reported. 

Over 62,500 acres of land is to be handed over to Gazelle Ventures, which is based in Singapore. 

According to the paper monks, farmers and trade union members took part in the rally. 
 

Updated 1120 GMT

The DUP MP, Ian Paisley Jr accepted holidays worth £100,000 from the Sri Lankan government while helping securing trade deals for the state, however, never disclosed the trips in the Commons register of interests, the Telegraph reported. 

Sri Lanka’s former military commander General Jagath Jayasuriya stands accused of overseeing a litany of crimes during the island’s armed conflict. The charges are grave. The lawyer who filed the case, renowned prosecutor Carlos Castresana Fernandez, said the evidence is more abundant than against Argentine General Jorge Rafael Videla and Chilean General Augusto Pinochet. However, Jayasuriya’s hasty retreat to Sri Lanka, where the government has offered him staunch protection from prosecution, serves as a stark reminder that the island remains a haven of impunity.

The European Union's monitoring mission for GSP plus met with families of the disappeared in Kilinochchi on Thursday.

Families of the disappeared have slammed the Sri Lankan government and TNA leadership for ignoring their demands, on the 200th day of their protest in Kilinochchi, stating that they did not expect the Sri Lankan government to ever deliver justice.

“The government is not even slightly concerned about our struggle,” the association for relatives of the disappeared said in a statement, pointing out that five mothers had died since the protest started.

In her submission to the Congress Subcommittee on Asia-Pacific’s hearing on US influence in South Asia, the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State, Alice Wells on Thursday reiterated the need for Sri Lanka to implement a credible mechanism to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes and fulfil the commitments outlined in the UN Human Rights Council resolution co-sponsored by both countries.

Sri Lanka's new Inland Revenue Bill was passed in parliament today with 100 voting in favour of it and 41 against. 

The initial bill had to be revised after the country's Supreme Court ruled that certain aspects were at odds with the constitution. 

Welcoming the bill, Sri Lanka's finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera said it was founded on four points - “burden proportionate to ability to pay, certainty, convenience and efficiency of collection”. He urged everyone to pay as much income tax as possible if they loved their country. 

The Eastern Provincial Council has called for the UN and the international community to intervene to end the genocide of Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar state.

The Council will forward a special resolution passed unanimously by members on Thursday, calling on the Sri Lankan president and prime minister to urge countries to intervene.

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has received 13 petitions against the proposed 20th Amendment, the Speaker Karu Jayasuriya told parliament on Wednesday, Ceylon Today reported. 

The Amendment seeks to hold all provincial council elections on one day, and has led to the postponement of elections in provinces such as the Eastern Province. 

It has been widely criticised by councils, as well as election monitoring bodies.