Sri Lanka has enforced a series of hours long powercuts this week as the island grapples with a fuel shortage amidst it's deepening economic crisis. 

The Ceylon Electricity Board imposed a four and half hour long power cut yesterday with two hour long powercuts on the previous days to ration the country's fuel supply. 

Mariyanayakam Kanikkaiyamma, 72, was found beaten to death in her home in Jaffna on Tuesday. 

Initial investigations by Jaffna police have revealed that a young man, who had come to work at her house, attacked her with flower pots and fled with her gold jewellery. 

An investigation into the murder is ongoing. 

Locals in Wattavalai held a protest to condemn a Buddhist monk for abusing a child in Templestow garden the previous day. 

The Buddhist monk, of the Haiti garden vihara, has been arrested following a complaint filed by the victim's father at the Wattavalai police station. 

“Ever since the 13th Amendment was passed 34 years ago, the Tamils have rejected it in total,” said Tamil parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam as he warned Tamil leaders against voting for a new constitution in Sri Lanka that may include it, labelling the move a “death knell”.

Ponnambalam’s party, the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), has firmly opposed recent moves by other Tamil parties calling on India to ensure the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, in an interview with the Tamil Guardian.

Sri Lankan Minister, Ramesh Pathirana, claimed that the government was open to turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout if the need arises as they have in the past.

This statement follows repeated statements from Sri Lankan lawmaker, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, who insisted that Sri Lanka would not turn to the IMF. Responding to a plea for this from former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's, Nanayakkara went so far as to state:

British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, met with Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK, Saroja Sirisena, to discuss “shared issues of security and migration”.

At least three Tamil political prisoners have launched a hunger strike inside of Jaffna prison today, as their families joined them in protest outside the Northern Province Governor's office, demanding they all be released from Sri Lankan detention.

Sri Lankan Foreign minister claims the country has taken "substantial steps" with a view to "accountability restorative justice and meaningful reconciliation", a week after the Tamil families of the disappeared marked five years of continuous protest. 

Tamil youth in Nayaru, Mullaitivu district, began to receive training in water-related disaster management as part of a program funded by USAID, America’s agency for international development. 

The two-day training session kicked off on Tuesday in the Nayaru naval base with inauguration by Mullaitivu district Government Agent K.Vimalanathan. The program is being implemented by a local organisation called Sarvodaya. 

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa hailed his government’s relationship with Russia in a letter sent to Vladmir Putin, as both leaders marked the 65^th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

In a letter to Russian president Putin sent just three days ago, the war crimes-accused Rajapaksa sent his “warm greetings and sincere felicitations”.

“The abiding friendship and vibrant relations between Sri Lanka and Russia are time-tested, and mutually rewarding,” Rajapaksa stated.