At least 7 Sinhala journalists were beaten by Sri Lankan security officers during a protest near the president’s residence yesterday, as reports of the assaults broke out on Friday.

"They ganged up and beat me up when I had fallen on the ground," said Sumedha Sanjeewa a freelance video journalist who was subsequently arrested by Sri Lankan authorities. He said officers in uniform and civilian clothing had assaulted him.

Tamil and Muslim bystanders who did not take in yesterday’s protest were amongst those detained by Sri Lankan security forces last night, according to a lawyer who visited the Mirihana police station this morning.

As many as 45 people were arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces, as a protests near the president’s residence flared into clashes last night.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has characterized protests that took place in response to the ongoing economic crisis as “extremist”, whilst another government minister claimed that “terrorists” were behind the demonstration.

The government went on to state that the “majority of the perpetrators” have been detained, with at least 45 arrests reported so far.

Yesterday, anti-government protestors stormed the capital, Colombo, amidst the island’s worst economic crisis. The demonstrations gained international attention with several prominent global media stations covering the events which saw a clash between demonstrators and the Sri Lankan Military.

A curfew has been imposed across parts of Colombo as the military is called to squash anti-government protests. 

Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis in decades with routine power outages and shortages of essential items impacting the whole island.

Today the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) announced that it would impose a 13-hour power outage across many parts of the island, as diesel fuel ran out, severely impacting power generation across many plants. However, a list released by the Public Utilities Commission detailed 191 areas across the country where power cuts would not be implemented, the President's House being one of them. 

Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister discussed Sri Lanka’s economic crisis with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi today, where he proposed sending food and medicines to Tamils in the North-East of Sri Lanka as an economic crisis rages on the island.

Meeting with Modi in Delhi, MK Stalin handed over a memorandum which detailed the financial crisis in Sri Lanka and warned that more Tamils may flee the island because of it.

The 124^th birthday of SJV Chelvanayagam, fondly remembered as Thanthai Chelva, was commemorated in Mannar today, as Tamils gathered to pay tribute to the man known as the father of Tamil nationalism.

Local Tamil politicians were amongst those who gathered at the statue of the late Tamil leader in Mannar, as they garlanded it and held a moment of silence to remember Chelvanayagam.

Responding to increasing complaints about power cuts across Sri Lanka and dismal internet speeds, the minister for sports, and son of Prime Minister Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa claimed on Twitter “I understand the frustration”.

As Sri Lanka’s economic woes continue to worsen and protests erupt across the country, Sri Lanka’s public security minister, Sarath Weerasekera took to Twitter to propose a bill criminalising the defacement of the Sri Lankan lion national flag.

“You are supposed to love & protect the country known as your 'Motherland' as one's own mother […] Insulting our flag is equivalent to insulting ur own mother,” wrote Weerasekera.

Western sanctions have forced Sri Lanka’s national airlines to suspend flights to Russia due to difficulties in international financial transactions and western insurers refusing to cover for flights to Russia.