As the Buddhist festival of Vesak is observed on Saturday, Sri Lanka’s traditional lantern market, which usually flourishes during this period, has found itself under competition from a new rival; the Chinese.

Cheaper, readymade and easier to store, demand for Chinese-made lanterns has taken off in Sri Lanka, leaving the domestic market in the lurch.

The recent influx of the foreign goods has led to traditional lantern traders calling for the Sri Lankan government to intervene and protect them against their Chinese rivals.

Commenting on recently taken photographs of waving the Sri Lankan flag with UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the TNA R. Sampanthan defended his actions to Charles Haviland, BBC correspondent for Sri Lanka.

According to tweets posted by Haviland on Saturday, Sampanthan dismissed concerns regarding his actions stating that it was the national flag.

Haviland's tweets have been reproduced below:

Walter D. Givhan, US State Department official on political-military affairs reviewed demining efforts in the North-East over the past week.

Discussing the situation with local NGOs, Givhan reviewed the challenges faced and ongoing support needed.

During his visit to the island, Givhan also visit senior military officials in Colombo, incluing, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Army Commander General Jagath Jayasuriya and Navy Commander Vice Admiral D.W.A.S. Dissanayake.

The annual press freedom report from US-based NGO Freedom House, has found that media freedom in Sri Lanka has fallen, with the country continuing to be classed as “Not Free”.

Sri Lanka remains ranked just one place above Afghanistan in the Asia-Pacific rankings and behind states such as Iraq in the global rankings. Classified as “Not Free”, Sri Lanka joins countries such as China, Iran, North Korea and Somalia.

See the full rankings here.

As voting gets underway to decide London’s next mayor in the UK on Thursday, Sri Lanka has come out to condemn both leading candidates in the election.

The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka has claimed that both candidates have “made strong rival pitches for the support of the pro-LTTE organizations".

Sampanthan joins Ranil and raises his national flag. Photograph TamilMirror.lk

Over 700 activists attended Amnesty International's annual 'Get on the Bus for Human Rights' event in New York on Friday, calling for justice, accountability, and an end to human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Tibet.

Activists called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the Trinco-5 killings of Ragihar Manoharan and his fellow four students in Trincomalee on 2nd January 2006.

J.S. Tissainayagam, a former Sunday Times journalist imprisoned by the Sri Lankan government in 2008, spoke at this year's event, detailing the Sri Lankan government's failure to deliver justice and his own ordeal during detention.

Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Australian government to raise the issue of asylum seekers being tortured, when Immigration Minister Chris Bowen visits the Sri Lanka later this week.

With Australia “working closely” with Sri Lanka regarding asylum seekers fleeing the country, the Minister is set to visit Sri Lanka from May 2nd to 4th.