Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has postponed the appeal case of a Sri Lankan politician and 3 others who were convicted of murdering a British aid worker and raping his Russian girlfriend at a holiday resort in 2011, to March 5. 

Displaced Tamil families who launched a travelling signature campaign this week reached Vavuniya yesterday before beginning the journey to Colombo today. 

Families of the disappeared from Vavuniya took their signature campaign calling on the United States to intervene and provice international justice for Tamils to Jaffna yesterday. 

Residents in Thirukoneswaram accused Sri Lankan police officers of destroyed a granite Sivalingham statue on Thursday night, which was erected in the iconic Hindu temple just days before the celebration of Maha Sivarathiri. 

In a joint statement, 109 Tamil diaspora organisations worldwide have called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), rejecting the idea that the country should be given more time to implement the co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution. 

<p>The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice&nbsp;detailed the failure of the Sri Lankan government to fulfil the commitment it had made under resolutions 30/1 -34/1 at the UN Human Rights Council, in a&nbsp;report released this week entitled '<em>No will, no war: stalled efforts to deal with the past in Sri Lanka'.</em></p> <p>Whilst there has been modest reforms made by the government, the report highlighted&nbsp;“the overwhelming majority of the commitments made by the government of Sri Lanka remain either mostly or completely unachieved”.</p>

<p>Sri Lanka is to receive the six tranche of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, worth US $ 246.7 million provided it meets IMF conditions, including allowing for exchange rate flexibility without using up foreign reserves.</p> <p>The IMF's deputy division chief for Asia-Pacific,&nbsp;Manuela Goretti acknowledged efforts by Sri Lanka “to bring their economic reform program back on track following the political turmoil of late 2018”.</p> <p>“The economy is gradually stabilising after the weak economic performance in 2018, in the context of external shocks and domestic political uncertainty,” Goretti said.&nbsp;</p>

The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay this week criticised the Sri Lankan government's attempt to further delay the implementation of the co-sponsored UN Resolution 30/1 by talking of a 'truth and reconciliation commission' just days before the UN Human Rights Council was due to convene and review the resolution. 

The judge at Westminster Magistrates Court today concluded the Sri Lankan Brigadier, accused of making a death threat to Tamil protesters in London last year, was not covered by diplomatic immunity whilst making the gesture. 

Fourteen Chinese nationals were arrested in Galle today accused of visa violations.