<p>The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena today called for a cross party conference to discuss a way forward to the island's ongoing political crisis.&nbsp;</p> <p>The conference is expected to be held tomorrow at the Presidential Secreteriat.&nbsp;</p> <p>It is not known which parties will send representatives.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sri Lanka has been at a state of political turmoil for several weeks following the president's sacking of the prime minister last month and the appointment of the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new premier.</p>

<p>Schools in the Northern Province were closed on Friday due to adverse weather conditions caused by the cyclonic storm ‘Gaja’.</p> <p>Although Sri Lanka’s meteorology department predicted that the storm would move away from the island this evening, the North-East, particularly the Jaffna peninsula, has been hit by severe rains and windy conditions.</p> <p>Fisherman were advised not to venture into the sea, from Trincomalee in the East, to Kankesanthurai in the North, and Mannar in the North-West.</p> <p>The storm is reported to have caused over twenty deaths in coastal Tamil Nadu.</p>

The United National Party (UNP) has urged Facebook not to disclose user data to the ‘illegal’ administration of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena citing concerns that data would be misused by the government.

Amidst Sri Lanka’s ongoing political crisis over Sirisena’s attempts to instate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, the Sirisena administration “continues to tighten control of traditional media”, the UNP said in a letter to Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

<p>Senior US policy figure Samantha power called for “ramped up international pressure” on Sri Lanka this week, amidst violence in parliament between lawmakers.</p> <p>Stating that the proposed prime minister appointee Mahinda Rajapaksa stands “credibly accused of war crimes,” Power noted that “institutions in SL are bending but not breaking”.</p> <p>“Ramped up international pressure is key,” she added.</p> <p>In a tweet on Thursday, Power went on to state that the continued chaos in parliament was a “a crisis of President Sirisena’s own making”.</p>

<p>The MDMK leader, Vaiko on Thursday rejected an order from the Chennai High Court instructing the burning of over 1700 copies of a book, compiling the speeches of the Tamil nationalist, Pazha Nedumaran.&nbsp;</p> <p>“The comments made by Justice V. Muralidharan in his judgment dismissing the appeal are quite strong. They also shake the very base of the freedom of expression,” Vaiko was quoted by <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/vaiko-opposes-hcs-ord…">The Hindu</a> as saying.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Senior officials from the United States, India, Australia and Japan met in Singapore yesterday to discuss the Indo-Pacific region, with the political crisis in Sri Lanka firmly on the agenda.&nbsp;</p> <p>US officials underscored the importance of "encouragement of an outcome to political developments in Sri Lanka consistent with democratic principles" during the meeting, the State Department said in a statement.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The UPFA MP Susil Premajayantha accused the TNA MP M A Sumanthiran of producing the parliamentary disarray which he said, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe directed.&nbsp;</p> <p>"MP Sumanthiran is the producer of the series of these events, and its director is the UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, while Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is only an actor in it," Premajayantha told reporters at a press conference this afternoon following a second day of violence within the parliamentary complex.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Current Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena’s schemes “are blowing up in his face” writes The Economist on Thursday, as political turmoil in Colombo continues with violence inside parliament this week.</p> <p>Sri Lanka still “has no clear government” the piece continued, stating it was in a “constitutional quandary” and that the island’s “bureaucracy fell into near paralysis”.</p> <p>The Economist concluded by saying,</p> <blockquote><p>

<p>Sri Lanka's business chambers has urged an end to the political crisis warning of economic downfall otherwise.&nbsp;</p> <p>"We are deeply concerned about the current political situation in the country. It is our view that the executive and the elected representatives have a duty to ensure that decisions are taken with regard for due process and the Rule of Law," a joint statement by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka, Joint Apparel Association Forum and Women's Chamber of Industry and Commerce wrote.&nbsp;</p> <p>"The events of the last few weeks have resulted in absolute instability which is a situation that Sri Lanka simply cannot afford. This will no doubt hinder development and have a significantly adverse impact on the social and economic trajectory of our country. It is observed that the entire administration of this country has come to a standstill and the public officers are paralyzed being unable to discharge their functions. The ultimate victims are the people of our country.</p> <p>We recently witnessed the most unacceptable and abusive behavior displayed in the Chamber of the Sri Lanka Parliament. The conduct of some of the elected representatives was both shameful and an embarrassment to our country.<br> &nbsp;</p>

<p>Britain’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka criticised the “deplorable behaviour” of Sri Lankan lawmakers as a second day of violence engulfed the chamber on Friday.</p> <p>“Today Sri Lankans have again seen deplorable behaviour by some MPs, unbecoming of them and of their noble institution,” said James Dauris in a tweet following Friday’s violence.</p> <p>“No parliament can perform its role when its own members stop it from doing so.”</p> <p>The British statement comes amidst a deepening political crisis in Sri Lanka which has left Colombo in political turmoil.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>