Popular Kollywood actor Vijay Sethupathi is facing growing criticism online after announcing that he was “honoured” to play the leading role in a film on the life of controversial Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan.

The United Kingdom said it is “concerned about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka” as a minister spoke on threats faced by human rights defenders on the island earlier today.

Responding to a statement by US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz, which expressed concern over Sri Lanka’s trading relationship with China, China’s Embassy in Sri Lanka has hit back against claiming it was a “despicable attempt to manipulate others” diplomatic relations.

The Sri Lankan government has declared another set of curfews and banned all public gatherings across the island, after a cluster of more than 1,000 positive coronavirus infections this week, with the security forces warning that action would be taken against those that break government orders.

Sri Lankan health authorities confirmed on Wednesday that an outbreak ntered around a garment factory in the capital's suburbs has risen to 1,022 confirmed infections. More than 1,500 people have also reportedly been asked to quarantine at their homes.

Banners were put up in Sinhala only for a recent ministerial visit to Vavuniya, a district in the Tamil-speaking North.

Sri Lankan Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Sathasivam Viyalendiran, who has been accused of selling out his Tamil constituents, has been sworn in as the State Minister Of Backward Rural Areas Development and Promotion of Domestic Animal Husbandry and Minor Economic Crop Cultivation before Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat.

A three-year-old boy and his mother were found dead at a flat in London on Wednesday, with reports that his father killed himself after British police forced entry into the property on Wednesday morning.

Poorna Kaameshwari Sivaraj, 36-years-old, and her son Kailash Kuha Raj, were found dead at the property. 

A light rail project that was to be completed in Colombo with Japanese funding has been cancelled by the Sri Lankan government, as the country's international debt continues to increase. 

The Sri Lankan army intervened against a local Tamil football team in Valvettithurai this week, claiming that their team logo resembles that of the roaring tiger seen in the Tamil Eelam national flag.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz, expressed concern over Sri Lanka’s trading relationship with China emphasising the importance of “free trade and a fair investment climate”.

5 October marks the 33rd remembrance of 12 LTTE cadres who committed suicide after being arrested by the Indian Peace Keeping Force and were in the process of being taken to Colombo for interrogation.