Human Rights Watch (HRW) have called on Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe to immediately end the use of the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) which has been used recently to detain anti-government protesters. 

Since taking office, Wickremesinghe has clamped down on protesters by imposing a one month state of emergency and carrying out a series of arrests. 

Ravikaran joined protesters to block the illegal installation of a Buddha statue at the Tamil temple site in June

Buddhist monks have filed a complaint at Mullaitivu police station claiming that former Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Raviakaran, is 'obstructing' Buddhist worship at Kurunthurmalai, the hill-top site of an ancient Tamil temple in the district’s Thannimurippu area.

Locals in Vaharai, Batticaloa protested yesterday to oppose the opening of a prawn farm due to the impact it will have on their livelihoods and the environment. 

Protesters were demanding that the land surveying for the farm must be stopped and called for the farm project to be abandoned entirely. 

An hour into Cobra, I started compiling a list of films where Vikram had played a character who spent the film sporadically ‘murdering’ seemingly random targets - a style of film popularised by Shankar’s 1995 film Indian. The first film that came to mind was Balaji Sakthivel’s Samurai, a pale imitation of the Shankar plot, which besides the soundtrack, was mostly forgettable. Next, there is Shankar’s own, and perhaps the best iteration, 2005 film Anniyan. Finally, the 2009 Susi Ganesan contribution, Kandhasamy, an unintentional so-bad-it’s-good film, where Vikram can be seen as a vigilante serving out his own brand of justice dressed as a chicken. And suddenly, I had a list of films to compare Cobra to. And despite having a bigger budget and wider scope, Cobra may be the worst of the bunch.

Tamil civil society organisations, activists and politicians have repeated their calls for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a joint letter to the Core Group on Sri Lanka. 

In their letter, they expressed their "concerns of continued failure for accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed against the Tamil people." 

The letter calls on the Core Group, comprised of Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the UK and the United States, to "clearly urge UN Security Council to refer Sri Lanka to the ICC."

Ahead of the conservative leadership contest, Britain’s potential next Prime Minister and current foreign secretary, Liz Truss, spoke to British Tamil conservatives and reaffirmed her commitment to reconciliation, justice, and accountability in Sri Lanka.

“I am determined to stand up for human rights and ensure proper reconciliation, justice, and accountability”, Truss stated.

Concluding their visit to Sri Lanka, the International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement on a 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) which will provide the island an estimated $2.9 billion but it is contingent on the cooperation of Sri Lanka’s creditors.

Speaking to the media today, Japanese Foreign Minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, denied reports that Japan would hold a debt restructuring conference for Sri Lanka.

A commemorative event was held earlier this month to mark the 30th anniversary of the Mylanthanai massacre where Sri Lankan soldiers attacked and killed 39 Tamils.

A pooja was performed at the Mylanthanai Vinayagar temple and a minute silence was observed by locals, village development association members and social activists to remember those who were killed in the attack. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly agreed to issue an emergency loan to Sri Lanka but are yet to make a public statement.

The agreement comes as Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in recent history.

The IMF team who have been in Colombo for a week said that they were extending their stay until tomorrow where they will hold a press conference.