Photos: Eeladesam.com

Traders in Tamil Nadu held a protest agaist Britain earlier this week, following British Prime Minister David Cameron reaffirming that the UK would be attending CHOGM in Colombo next month.

A Buddhist organisation in Sri Lanka is reinvigorating their campaign against halal meet by holding protest prayers, reported ColomboPage.

The Bodu Bala Sena is holding the prayer meeting outside a temple in Kandy which houses a tooth relic, purportedly belonging to the Buddha.

The Australian Human Rights Commission found today that asylum seekers were at the risk of being returned to harmful situations in Sri Lanka, under the current government’s ‘enhanced screening process’.

The Commission president, Professor Gillian Triggs, further noted, in their latest report, that Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees did not meet international standards of law.

An Australian gambling tycoon’s plans to build a $400 million resort in Sri Lanka have been delayed after protests by Buddhist leaders and some political parties, reports Reuters.

Human Rights Watch has called upon the Malaysian government to drop charges against an activist for holding a screening of 'No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka'.

Lena Hendry from the group Pusat KOMAS, was held under charges from the the Film Censorship Act after screening the film on the 3rd of July at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Malaysia. HRW reported that the Sri Lankan government communicated with the Malaysian government in an attempt to halt the screening of the film.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch stated,

Two prominent human rights activists in Sri Lanka, who have survived death threats and assassination attempts, called on leaders including David Cameron and the Prince of Wales to boycott a key Commonwealth summit next month.

The Sri Lankan government has again raised its defence to a record Rs253bn ($1.95bn) in 2014, over 4 years after the end of military operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The latest figures were presented in parliament on Monday, and the defence and police budget make up nearly 12% of the government’s total spend of Rs2.54 trillion, which is slightly lower than the Rs2.56 trillion allocated for the current year, according to AFP.

Writing in The Guardian today, the British Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, called on David Cameron to reverse his approach with Sri Lanka.

Elaborating on his demand and providing assurance of the Labour party's intention of supporting the Prime minister, Alexander reiterated that Cameron must:

Sri Lankan Attorney General Palitha Fernando defended the delay in charging the killers of British Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh, stating it was "unethical" to rush the case in any way.

The Attorney General denied there was any political influence over the almost 2 year old murder case, of which one of the killers is a ruling UPFA politician and reported close associate of the Rajapaksa family.

He told Ceylon Today,