A Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Melbourne, Australia, that was bound for Colombo was forced to U-turn, following technical difficulties.

Former commander of Sri Lanka's notorious Special Task Force, Nimal Lewke, has pledged his support to Sri Lanka's main opposition party the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), led by Sajith Premadsa, making him the fourth high-ranking defence personnel to join the party. 

He is joined by the ranks of Daya Sandagiri a former Navy Commander, Daya Ratnayake, a former Army Commander, and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who has long been a stalwart support of the SJB. The local press reports that Nimal Lewke obtained the party membership from leader Sajith Premadasa today. Lewke had previously pledged his alliance to the SJB in 2016.

^{(Pic courtesy: Glassdoor)} 

The plight of Eelam Tamils who are languishing in makeshift camps in Diego Garcia has remained the same, even after the United Nations refugee agency said the remote British territory in the Indian Ocean is "not a suitable location" for migrants to be held long-term, and as reports of sexual assault after being sent to Rwanda for medical treatment emerge.

K Manikandan seems to be carving a niche for himself by sensibly selecting well-written and unique indie scripts, which has found him on a deserved hot streak in the industry. Coming off the success of yesteryear’s rom-com darling ‘Good Night,’ Manikandan’s latest release is ‘Lover,’ a romantic drama directed by debutante Prabhuram Vyas. The film also stars Sri Gouri Priya, whose work in the first episode of Modern Love: Chennai ‘Lalagunda Bommaigal’ proved her capability to perform. These two stars shoulder the painful romantic drama deftly between them. 

Nine years since her last film, Aishwarya Rajinikanth returns with ‘Lal Salaam,’ a film that unsuccessfully melds numerous genres. It stars Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth and the director’s father Rajinikanth in an extended cameo. 

“As a political party we strongly opposed the Indo-Lanka Accord decades ago, and dedicated our initiatives to safeguarding Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, at the cost of many lives," said Vijitha Herath of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led National People’s Power (NPP). "This stance has not changed and will not change,” he told reporters in Colombo. 

Canada’s Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said he would look to prosecute Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and appoint lawyers to pursue charges against accused war criminals in international criminal courts.

Giving interviews to two Tamil media outlets in recent months, Poilievre said his plan includes "Magnitsky sanctions to specifically target guilty members of the Rajapaksa regime for their role in the genocide”.

Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry said his government would "express its displeasure with the British government" against the protest held by Tamils in London, at a time when Sri Lanka was holding its 76th Independence Day Celebrations and Tamils worldwide marked it as a 'Black Day'.

Tamil journalist Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy, who was killed by a Sri Lankan artillery barrage inside the ‘No Fire Zone’ in February 2009, was remembered by the Tamil National People's Front.

The TNPF held a remembrance event in their Jaffna office today to mark 15 years since his death. 

Murugathasan Varnakulasingham, the 26 year old who self-immolated in protest outside the United Nations in Geneva over the inaction of the international community in the face of the 2009 genocide of Tamils, was remembered in London today. 

This week marks 28 years since the Kumarapuram Massacre took place in Trincomalee, where the Sri Lankan military killed 26 Tamil civilians and gang-raped a 15-year-old girl. 

There has been much consternation in recent weeks as the Sri Lankan government passed the Online Safety Bill, a new piece of legislation that essentially allows the state to police and prosecute what individuals and organisations post online. There have been remarks from the United Nations human rights office, diplomats from various Western countries and a host of NGOs – all of whom have expressed concern over the risks to freedom of expression on the island. In the Tamil North-East, however, those concerns have long been a reality. Left unabated and unchallenged by the international community for years, that climate of repression has solidified and is now being rolled out across the island.