As protests across the globe continued in response to George Floyd's murder, a viral video of "Parai" drummer, Thirumeni Balamurugan, captured an act of solidarity as the sound of the Parai resonated among protestors in Sydney, Australia. 

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said that an American diplomat who had reportedly refused to take a coronavirus test on arrival at Colombo’s international airport, returned to subsequently be tested and that “action” had been taken against those who let him leave the airport without being tested.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said the diplomat had been allowed to evade testing procedures “due to an unclarified clause related to diplomatic privileges,” according to Economy Next.

Clashes broke out between protestors and Sri Lankan security forces in Colombo earlier today as the police broke up a ‘Black Lives Matter’ demonstration.

Security forces had attempted to stop the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) organised protest, after they obtained a court order yesterday stating it could not be held due to coronavirus concerns.

Australian State MP Hugh McDermott thanked the Tamil Nadu-based politician Seeman for his support, following calls for international recognition of Sri Lanka’s genocide of Tamils.

“I am grateful for your support and the support of approximately 100,000 people who have signed the petition in support of my comments,” said McDermott, in a letter released earlier today. “I have been humbled by the letters, emails and phone calls that I have received.”

The Sri Lankan army has unveiled a gold-plated fence that it constructed around a Buddha statue at the ‘Sri Nagadeepa Viharaya’ in Nainativu in Jaffna this week, as the military continued to construct Buddhist monuments across the Tamil homeland.

Major General Ruwan Wanigasooriya, Commander of the Sri Lankan  Security Forces in Jaffna was present at the unveiling, as soldiers dressed in all-white and gave offerings to Sinhala Buddhist monks.

Former Sri Lankan Finance Minister, Mangala Samaraweera proposed dramatic reforms in response to the economic havoc Sri Lanka is facing, as he warned the "tempest has only just begun".

Samaraweera described how fragile Colombo's position was at present, stating that Sri Lanka was in "a sordid state" and had "lived beyond its means and did not undertake the reforms".

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka was photographed handing over a shipment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to a Sri Lankan military general, who was previously rejected twice from participating in US training programs due to “credible allegations” over his involvement in war crimes.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor claimed that public deposits were still safe in the country, despite fears over the state of Coloma’s already fragile economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as he threatened to take legal action against those spreading “misleading information”.

The Sri Lankan security forces have obtained a court order banning a protest that was due to be held in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Colombo this week.

The protest, organised by the Frontline Socialist Party, was due to be staged near the US Embassy in Colombo. However, Sri Lanka police obtained a court order earlier this morning stating that the protest could not be held, due to coronavirus concerns.

Tamil families of the disappeared in Vavuniya, held a demonstration and paid tribute to the a Tamil father, who died after spending more than a decade searching for his forcibly disappeared son.