An Australian student in Sri Lanka was raped by a tourist guide in the Southern town of Ambalangoda, reports the Colombo Page.

The student was part of a group of 15 taking part in an educational activity.

The Sri Lankan government spends US $ 66,000 a month hiring Thompson Advisory Group LLC (TAG), a US lobbying firm, reports the Sunday Times.

The body of a 30 year old Tamil man, who went missing earlier this week, was discovered by local fishermen in Pannai sea by Jaffna yesterday, reported the Uthayan.

The Sri Lankan government has announced that almost 60,000 deserters, who left the Sri Lankan Armed Forces after the armed conflict in 2009, are to have warrants issued for their arrest.

Over Rs. 700 million has been cashed out to soldiers from the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in the past year, in the form of grants for those who have their third child, stated the Ministry of Defence.

The announcement was made in parliament as the government responded to questions on how to stop deserters from leaving the military.

The Investment Promotion Minister, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene, submitted a Cabinet memorandum this month,  seeking to overrule current legislations that ban sales of private or crown Sri Lankan land to a foreign national or company.

Arguing that the Finance minister has the power to overrule legislation, Abeywardene is looking to acquire legal exemption for 69 acres of land to allow a Singaporean Company to establish a private university and related infrastructure.

A senior official, who revealed that the government was manipulating GDP growth data, is going to be sacked, reported LBO.

H.S. Wanasinghe, an accounts director at the Department of Census and Statistics, complained to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and an opposition MP that the government was manipulating data, and has now been found guilty of leaking confidential information.

Sri Lanka has declared to have done everything "humanly possible" since July 2012 to implement the National Plan of Action on implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, briefed the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday on 'progress in the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka'.

Weeratunga's explanations come in the wake of international criticism over Sri Lanka's lack of progress.

The parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) Affairs, Mark Simmonds, outlined today, that the FCO was already working to gain the necessary majority at the United Nations Human Rights Council to pass a resolution calling for an international investigation into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka.

Responding to questions regarding the UK position on Sri Lanka’s lack of progress in working towards a credible investigation, Simmonds said,