The United National Party has pledged jobs to unemployed graduates in Jaffna if they voted for the party in upcoming elections, reports Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times. 

Sri Lanka’s State Minister for Education Vijayakala Maheswaran has reportedly been registering details of unemployed graduates and others who are seeking government jobs at her office at Palaly Road.

Sinhala speaking men dressed in civil uniform photographed Tamil lawyers who appeared at the Chavakachcheri Magistrate Court earlier today, in an apparent act of intimidation as the Navatkuli Disappearances habeas corpus inquiry was underway.

One of the men was then seen getting into a car belonging to the Deputy Solicitor General representing the Sri Lankan army, said Senior Lecturer & Head of Jaffna University’s Department of Law, Kumaravadivel Guruparan on Twitter.

Buddhist monks in Trincomalee led prayers at the Kanniya hot wells, with hundreds of Sinhalese followers attempting to crowd out Tamil devotees who were commemorating an important fast day at the spring’s Hindu temple.

Sri Lanka's Parliament passed an extension of the state of emergency for the third time since the Easter Sunday attacks by Islamist extremists, who targeted churches and luxury hotels.

The bill received 42 votes in favour, whilst 2 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs voted against the extension. 

<p>As Sri Lanka’s tourism crisis continues, Colombo announced that they will offer free tourism visas on arrival, in a move to boost tourist numbers following the Easter Sunday bombings.</p> <p>Visa-free entry will be available to 48 nations and the offer will remain for six months.</p> <p>On April 21, Islamist extremists targeted three luxury hotels in Colombo and three churches in Batticaloa, Negombo and Colombo, killing over 250 people.</p>

Without a political solution to Sri Lanka’s enduring ethnic crisis and a new constitution for the island “the future of this country will be worse than anything we have ever seen,” warned senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran.

The leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Party Rishad Bathiudeen said that Sri Lanka’s Muslim politicians had canvassed support for Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where Colombo was attempting to fend off investigations into mass atrocities committed by the military against Tamils during the final phase of the armed conflict.

Sri Lankan cricketer Lasith Malinga paid tribute to former president and accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa in a farewell speech last week, after he announced his retirement from One Day International cricket.

Former Tamil political activist, Mr Kaviraj Shanmuganathan, was denied entry into Sri Lanka upon arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport on Monday.

Upon enquiry, he was told he was denied entry as he was listed as someone who worked against the sovereignty and interests of the country.

The Sri Lankan military declared open a new village, exclusively run by the army, in the Tamil heartland of Kilinochchi last week.

<p>Seven Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan naval personnel on Sunday for allegedly fishing in the island's territorial waters.&nbsp;</p> <p>The fishermen claimed that the strong winds and rough seas caused them to cross&nbsp;the International Maritime Boundary Line.</p> <p>They were charged for poaching in Sri Lanka's territory, their boat was seized and they were arrested.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court has granted bail to a Muslim doctor, Mohamed Shafi, who was falsely accused of having sterilised over 4,000 Sinhala women.</p> <p>Safi was given bail of 2.5 million rupees after a five-hour court hearing.&nbsp;</p> <p>His defence lawyer, Faris Saly, that when he was initially arrested in May, the judge found “no reason to refuse bail”.</p>

The Tamil Academic Journal has launched its first conference focusing on “Tamil Resistance in the 21st Century” at Kingston University on July 6. 

The Sri Lankan government has expressed its unhappiness with the amount of India aid money it has been allocated and requested a larger amount, reports India Today.

Though Indian aid to Sri Lanka has increased from Rs 150 crores last year to Rs 250 crore, it still lags behind other coutnries such as the Maldives who have been allocated Rs 576 crore and Mauritius who will be receiving Rs 1,100 crores.