The international community should demand Sri Lanka to investigate enforced disappearances and prosecute those responsible writes journalist J S Tissainayagam in a piece for Asian Correspondent.

“Sri Lanka’s responses to questions on accountability for rights violations at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November were evasive and packed with clichés,” said Mr Tissainayagam.

The Sri Lankan state’s failure to release coastal land in Trincomalee has meant that many of the district’s fishing communities remain displaced and struggle to carry out their livelihood.

Representatives of Tamil fishing communities across the district met to discuss the ongoing challenges at a meeting of the Trincomalee District Fishing Association on Saturday.

Residents of several villages stated that their homes and livelihood lands remained occupied by the state, including Soodaikuda, Ilankanthai, Veeramanagar, 10th Kurichi and Thirukadalur.

Three Sri Lankan fishing trawlers were released by Indian authorities on Saturday, the navy media unit reported. 

The release of the trawlers, which were confiscated for allegedly crossing into Indian waters, comes amid ongoing tensions between the two states over the issue of fishermen straying across the Interational Maritime Boundary Line. 

On Friday, Sri Lankan authorities released 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen who had been detained for two months for allegedly poaching.  

Sri Lankan ministers are to submit a renewed proposal on Tuesday for construct two power plants in Trincomalee and Norochcholai, Puttalam. 

A Joint Cabinet Memorandum was submitted by minister of special assignments, Sarath Amunugama and the minister of power and renewable energies, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.

According to the proposal the plants are to be "clean coal" power plants with "minimal environmental damage", the Sunday Times reported.  

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Russia has suspended tea imports from Sri Lanka from December 18 onwards, after Khapra beetles were found in a consignment.  

The ban has prompted three ministers, the minister of plantations, Navin Dissanayake, the industry and commerce minister, Rishad Bathiudeen and the minister of science, technology and research, Susil Premajayantha, to visit Moscow urgently in order to seek a removal of the ban. 

The Australian government confirmed it had excluded offshore detention facilities in the islands of Manus and Nauru in its obligation to prevent the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people in detention, following the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) this week. 

The move has been widely criticised by human rights groups who have long cited ongoing allegations of torture of asylum seekers detained within the facilities, which include a number of Tamils who have fled Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lankan authorities today released 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen after two months in detention, reports PTI. 

The men were arrested in October by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly fishing in the island's waters. 

The release of the men was ordered by a court in Jaffna. The men are to be handed over to the Indian coast guard on Sunday. 

A lawsuit has been filed in Haiti against the UN and peacekeeping soldiers by mothers of 'peacekeeper babies' seeking child support and paternity payments, the Guardian reports. 

The legal team for 10 mothers who are struggling financially with raising children allegedly fathered by UN peacekeepers stationed in Haiti, have argued they were sexually exploited. 

Peacekeeping troops from Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Argentina and Uruguay have been implicated. 

The law suit was brought by the human rights group, Bureau Des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). 

Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday announced the government would continue to subsidise essential items until April 2018 due to the high price of staples such as rice and coconuts. 

The Sri Lankan government announced a decision to import 100,000 metric tons of rice per month until the Tamil and Sinhala New Year in April, as shortages continue to impact on the market.

ColomboPage reports that though Sri Lanka's annular rice requirement is about 2.4 million metric tons a shortage has led to at least 30 percent of that requirement having to be imported.