Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena earlier today, where the two discussed expanding relations between Tehran and Colombo.

“There is no obstacle in the way of expanding ties between the two countries,” said Mr Sirisena, after the two met.

Mr Zarif also met with Karu Jayasuriya, the Speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament, during his visit.

He is due to fly to Singapore next, where he will sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The Chinese government donated a frigate to Sri Lanka and four new patrol boats to Philippines last week. 

The donation of the frigate was confirmed by Colonel Xu Jianwei, China's military attaché at its Colombo embassy, however details of it were not disclosed. 

China is also understood to provide "training" to the Sri Lankan military and build an auditorium at the military academy, Colonel Xu was quoted by the Colombo Gazette as saying. 

New Zealand has blacklisted a Sri Lankan company over organised visa fraud. 

The finance company provided false information for students about their finances, allowing them to secure a visa to the country. 

"Immigration New Zealand are going to manually review the 895 applications that came from Sri Lankan students through the Mumbai office in 2017," Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway was quoted as saying by the New Zealand Herald newspaper.

"They're going to see which of those involved this particular finance company."

The Sri Lankan president has set up a task force to 'accelerate development projects' in the North-East. 

Speaking at the task force's first session, Mr Sirisena reportedly stressed that the programme should be delivered in a "systematic and efficient manner to provide the people in the region with immediate benefits". 

The United States said it will continue to “support Sri Lanka as it fulfills its commitments” to a United Nations resolution calling for an accountability mechanism with foreign judges to examine violations of international law committed during the armed conflict.

Representatives of Sri Lanka’s President visited Karunanidhi in hospital on Monday, the ANI news agency reports.

Maithripala Sirisena’s representatives were reported to have handed over a letter from the president to the current Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president, M K Stalin.

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth will be making an official visit to Sri Lanka this week, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

This will be Patricia Scotland QC’s first visit to Sri Lanka since she assumed the Office of Secretary-General in April 2016.

The Secretary-General will meet with TNA leader, R. Sampanthan, as well as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, among several other ministers.

Tensions between local fishermen and Sinhalese continue to mount in Vadamarachchi East after a Tamil fisherman’s boat was burnt on Sunday night, following a similar attack on the boat of a Tamil fisherman from the same area last week.

A Northern Provincial Centre of the Ministry of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages was opened off the A9 road in Kilinochchi today with much fanfare. 

The event was criticised by locals however, who questioned how the office could aid reconciliation and national integration whilst the military still remained. 

The office of a Grama sevaka in Jaffna district was attacked today, just days after he gave information to the police about gang activity and sword attacks in the area. 

Rajathurai Yesuthasan, the GS for Vannar Pannai North-East J/100 division was attacked by a group of 8 men who arrived on four motorbikes.