The US Senate has approved the nomination of veteran US diplomat Julie Chung to be the next Ambassador to Sri Lanka.

Nine Muslim prisoners who were transferred from Batticaloa to Badulla prison in 2019, have been brutally assaulted inside the premises of the prison earlier this month, leaving many requiring hospitalisation.

A protest was held in Mullaitivu today, demanding justice after a 13-year-old Tamil girl was found dead last week.

The child, who has been identified as 13-year-old Yogarasa Nidarshana, was discovered in a dilapidated plot of land just a few hundred meters from her family home.

According to an autopsy carried out on her body, her body had signs of injuries to her genitals. It also revealed that she was approximately 2 months pregnant at the time.

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has written to India’s External Affairs Minister, as protests were launched in Rameswaram today, after the Sri Lankan navy seized at least eight boats and arrested 55 fishermen on the charge of poaching.

During a graduation ceremony, students at the University of Colombo refused to accept their degree certificates from the newly appointed University Chancellor, and Rajapaksa-aligned, Buddhist monk Muruththettuwe Ananda.

Responding to a joint letter signed by seven UN Special Rapporteurs calling for a moratorium on the use of Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act; the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has dismissed the statement as "factually incorrect" and noting that they were only provided 48 hours to comment.

Responding to the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, Fitch Rating agency has downgraded the country’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CC’, from ‘CCC’, a move that reflects the dire state of Colombo's finances.

“The downgrade reflects our view of an increased probability of a default event in coming months in light of Sri Lanka's worsening external liquidity position, underscored by a drop in foreign-exchange reserves set against high external debt payments and limited financing inflows. The severity of financial stress is illustrated by elevated government-bond yields and downward pressure on the currency” the report notes.

Several UN experts have written to Sri Lanka's President urging for an immediate moratorium on the continued use of Sri Lanka's draconian "Prevention of Terrorism Act" (PTA) until the legislation is brought in line with international legal obligations.

A Pillaiyar statue was found vandalised in Amparai this morning, after it was reportedly damaged by a group of unknown persons on Thursday night.

A coronavirus-positive tourist carrying the Omicron variant visited night clubs on at least two nights whilst on holiday in Sri Lanka, before departing the country said Public Health Inspectors (PHI) Union leader Upul Rohana, with fears of a possible outbreak growing.

Rohana was citing “unofficial accounts” of the tourist who he claimed had visited the country, adding “We have not yet been informed about these Omicron patients by any of the health authorities”.

The Sri Lankan government has ordered the closure of at least three overseas missions, in a desperate bid to cut down on government expenditure in the face of an economic crisis and mounting international debts.

More than 80% of all hotels and canteens across the island will be forced to close from tomorrow, claimed the Chief of the All Island Canteen Owners' Association (AICOA), as a domestic gas fuel shortage and soaring food prices leaves the island in the midst of a worsening food crisis.

Asela Sampath told the Daily Mirror that the shortage of domestic Liquid Petroleum (LP) gas and rising vegetable prices had left many canteen owners across the island facing a stark choice.

Sri Lanka soldiers serving with the United Nations mission in Lebanon were awarded with medals last month, as they continued to be deployed with the global body despite calls for Sri Lankan troops to be banned.