^{Mannar farmers queuing for fuel} 

After a host of fierce opposition from within the government, Sri Lanka has reportedly begun talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it continues to suffer from its worst financial crisis in years.

Sri Lanka’s state minister, and close Rajapaksa ally, Lohan Ratwatte has been gifted another profile as state minister of Warehouse Facilities, Container Yards, Port Supply Facilities and Boats and Shipping Industry Development.

As one of the worst financial crises seen in Sri Lanka continues to looms over the island, they are now also facing the closing down of hundreds of bakeries across the nation due to the scarceness of cooking gas.

Deputy head of the European Union in Sri Lanka Thorsten Bargfrede launched a “dispute intake box” with the Sri Lanka ministry of justice amidst widespread protests across Sri Lanka by Tamil families of the disappeared demanding to know the fate of their loved ones. 

Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa spoke over the phone with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar earlier today and they agreed to a visit by the former to New Delhi in the latter half of March. 

As reports of a Russian airstrike on a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine begin to surface, we take a look at what international law states on the targeting of hospitals and on when they have been hit in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa met with a senior Russian official in Colombo this week, as his cash-stricken government looked to Moscow for a US$ 300 million Credit Line even as international sanctions continued to grow.

Rajapaksa met with a Russian trade delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexey Gruzdev, who handed him a list of “proposals for Sri Lanka”. The two countries, both accused of war crimes, have been seeking to grow ties between them.

The meeting comes as Sri Lanka’s envoy in Moscow Janitha Liyanage confirmed that her government has sought a US$ 300 million Credit Line from Russia to purchase crude oil, gas and coal.

A new publication from Amnesty International highlights the “deteriorating human rights situation” in which state authorities have harassed, intimidated, and violated the civil liberties of families of the disappeared, who have been failed by Sri Lankan mechanisms on promises of delivering justice.

At least 27 Sri Lankan nationals currently in Ukraine have refused to return back to the island, claiming they would rather stay in the conflict-stricken country than go back to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister G L Peiris told reporters this morning the nationals still in Ukraine “have indicated to us that as of now, they do not wish to leave Ukraine,” despite the ongoing Russian military offensive.

Sri Lanka claimed to have “overwhelming support” at the United Nations Human Rights Council today, despite wide-ranging condemnation and concern from a host of member states and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In a statement released by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier today, it claimed to have “received overwhelming support from countries of the Global South who expressed support for the Government’s significant efforts towards reconciliation”.

Sri Lanka's inflation hits a 13-year high at 15.1 per cent in February, as the economic crisis continues to grip the island. 

Amidst the 49^th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, met with Tamil National Alliance representatives (TNA) R Sampanthan and MA Sumanthiran to discuss “the need for a political solution, accountability & justice for all Sri Lankans”.

Her meeting follows a scathing report by the UN High Commissioner for human rights which slammed Sri Lanka for its failure to produce accountability and increasing militarisation. Her report called for sanctions on senior Sri Lankan officials implicated in war crimes and to pursue alternative avenues for international accountability.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Sri Lanka's authorities to immediately drop the "clearly spurious charges" against Tamil journalist Murugupillai Kokulathasan, who was released on bail yesterday after spending over 470 days in detention.