Only days after gifting the Sri Lankan Navy, the fourth Coast Guard Cutter, the US is seen making a concentrated effort to enhance its defence corporation by funding a capacity-building project to increase port security, despite concerns of rampant militarisation. 

Sri Lanka’s struggling state-owned national carrier announced the launch of a new partnership with Yuvan Shankar Raja, the Indian composer and musician, for his concert in Colombo that took place on Saturday.

“SriLankan Airlines is thrilled to announce our partnership with the legendary South Indian music maestro, Yuvan Shankar Raja!” read a tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The French Government has initiated a joint cooperation with the Kotalawala Defence University (KDU) to set up a maritime security school in the heavily militarised region of Trincomalee, in the Tamil homeland, as part of a broader strategy for maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.

Several SriLankan Airlines flights at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake were delayed while three flights were grounded this week – one due to a reported sighting of a rat onboard – leaving serious questions over the national carrier’s long term future and a government minister issuing a stark ultimatum.

The airline is yet to disclose the reasons for the latest cancellations, however, the national carrier has been hit with a spate of technical issues in recent weeks 

Jeevan Thondaman, the Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development speaking at a media briefing in Colombo told reporters that the challenges encountered by the upcountry Tamil community should extend beyond mere daily wages. He underscored the importance of enhancing their quality of life by addressing various facets such as housing, land, education, health, and infrastructure.

The ongoing protests by Tamil Nadu fishermen in Rameshwaram, calling on the Central government to intervene and secure the release of their fisherfolk from Sri Lankan custody, has entered into its second week of protest.

A senior US official confirmed that Washington will be looking to send yet another vessel to the Sri Lankan navy – its fourth so cutter so far – despite the military’s history of human rights abuses, as ties with Colombo grow even closer.  

The Sri Lankan navy has barred fisherfolk from fishing along the Mathagal Sampilthurai area in Jaffna, warning them that they are banned from fishing close to the coast where a military-run Buddhist vihara is situated. 

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) lawmaker and Rajapaksa ally Angajan Ramanathan called on the Sri Lankan military to release all lands occupied by the Air Force in the North-East, as the occupation of the Tamil homeland continues.

Sri Lanka’s president has formally appointed Deshabandu Tennakoon as the incumbent Inspector General of Police in Sri Lanka, an official who the Supreme Court found had personally participated in torture and whose appointment had not been approved by the state's Constitutional Council.