US troops are to begin “combined humanitarian assistance and disaster relief” with the Sri Lankan military next week, as part of an annual joint exercise.

‘Pacific Angel 2018’ is scheduled to take place in and around Anuradhapura from August 13^th – 18^th, reports the US Indo-Pacific Command website.

Sri Lanka’s ‘Joint Opposition’ (JO) has vowed to continue its fight to oust the TNA leader from the post of Leader of the Opposition, Daily Mirror reports.

Commenting on Parliamentary Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s announcement that the TNA and ITAK leader R. Sampanthan would remain in the post, JO parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardene said the “speaker’s ruling is not a defeat and it has not ended our struggle.”

Another MP, Chandima Weerakody, said the TNA and the JVP could not be considered as opposition parties as they both support the government.

Jaffna-based journalist Uthayarasa Shalin has been summoned to Colombo by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) along with five other residents of a Jaffna suburb.

The summons are in relation to the display of a map of the Tamil homeland during a Hindu temple festival in Aanaikkottai, Jaffna.

Locals in Eravur, Batticaloa protested on Thursday against the a bottle water factory being built in Periyapullumalai.

Protesters expressed concern that the company would take excessive amounts of water from Batticaloa's local water supplies. 

The Sri Lankan police have arrested at least four more people in the middle of the night, who were involved in the ongoing protest against illegal fishing by Sinhala fishermen in Mullaitivu. 

The Karaithuraipattu Divisional Council (Prathesa Sabai) member Mariyanayagam Thommaipillai, as well as three protesters, Vincent D Paul Arulnathan, Gerrard Rayan and Thileepan have been arrested. 

Yesterday the Northern Provincial Council member, T. Ravikaran, has been arrested and later released on bail. 

The Bodu Bala Sena has requested the Sri Lanka president, Maithripala Sirisena to pardon the group's leader Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, who was sentenced this week to 19 years rigorous imprisonment to be served in six years for contempt of court. 

Speaking at a press briefing in Colombo On Thursday, the BBS general secretary, Sihala Ravaya Magalkandey Sudatta said Mr Gnanasara should be released due to his 'ill health'. 

Mr Gnansara, who is currently admitted at Jayewardenepura hospital, was ordered to be arrested by the court. 

Twenty-seven Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on Thursday, the PTI reports. 

The fishermen, from Nagapattinam, Thondi and Pudukottai were arrested for allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters. 

The Sri Lankan navy has impounded four fishing boats, Pudukottai Assistant Director of Fisheries Kumaresen said. 

The arrest is the latest in a series of arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy, despite ongoing talks by both governments on the issue. 

India's Central Government has rejected a proposal by Tamil Nadu for the release of seven people convicted over the assassination of the then prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. 

In a letter that was formally accepted by the Supreme Court on Friday, the Centre said the case "an unparalleled act in the annals of crimes committed in this country". 

"The brutal act brought the Indian democratic process to a grinding halt inasmuch as the general elections to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies in some States had to be postponed,” the letter added. 

Tamil Nadu had launched the request for the release of those convicted in March 2016. 

Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition said it would be filing legal action against the country's Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, arguing that it was illegal. 

“Government has claimed that a gazette notification containing a list of items for which tax and duty will be removed was issued, but such a document cannot be found. Therefore the FTA is illegal,” the Joint Opposition MP, Bandula Gunawardene was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

The United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education that will see US Peace Corps come and teach English on the island.