The Sri Lankan state’s failure to release coastal land in Trincomalee has meant that many of the district’s fishing communities remain displaced and struggle to carry out their livelihood.

Representatives of Tamil fishing communities across the district met to discuss the ongoing challenges at a meeting of the Trincomalee District Fishing Association on Saturday.

Three Sri Lankan fishing trawlers were released by Indian authorities on Saturday, the navy media unit reported. 

The release of the trawlers, which were confiscated for allegedly crossing into Indian waters, comes amid ongoing tensions between the two states over the issue of fishermen straying across the Interational Maritime Boundary Line. 

Sri Lankan ministers are to submit a renewed proposal on Tuesday for construct two power plants in Trincomalee and Norochcholai, Puttalam. 

A Joint Cabinet Memorandum was submitted by minister of special assignments, Sarath Amunugama and the minister of power and renewable energies, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.

According to the proposal the plants are to be "clean coal" power plants with "minimal environmental damage", the Sunday Times reported.  

Russia has suspended tea imports from Sri Lanka from December 18 onwards, after Khapra beetles were found in a consignment.  

The ban has prompted three ministers, the minister of plantations, Navin Dissanayake, the industry and commerce minister, Rishad Bathiudeen and the minister of science, technology and research, Susil Premajayantha, to visit Moscow urgently in order to seek a removal of the ban. 

The Australian government confirmed it had excluded offshore detention facilities in the islands of Manus and Nauru in its obligation to prevent the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people in detention, following the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) this week. 

Sri Lankan authorities today released 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen after two months in detention, reports PTI. 

The men were arrested in October by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly fishing in the island's waters. 

The release of the men was ordered by a court in Jaffna. The men are to be handed over to the Indian coast guard on Sunday. 

A lawsuit has been filed in Haiti against the UN and peacekeeping soldiers by mothers of 'peacekeeper babies' seeking child support and paternity payments, the Guardian reports. 

The legal team for 10 mothers who are struggling financially with raising children allegedly fathered by UN peacekeepers stationed in Haiti, have argued they were sexually exploited. 

Peacekeeping troops from Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Argentina and Uruguay have been implicated. 

Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday announced the government would continue to subsidise essential items until April 2018 due to the high price of staples such as rice and coconuts. 

The Sri Lankan government announced a decision to import 100,000 metric tons of rice per month until the Tamil and Sinhala New Year in April, as shortages continue to impact on the market.

ColomboPage reports that though Sri Lanka's annular rice requirement is about 2.4 million metric tons a shortage has led to at least 30 percent of that requirement having to be imported.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that the use of torture by Sri Lankan security forces on Tamil detainees continues and called on the Sri Lankan government “to fully honour the obligations it has undertaken in accordance with the Convention against Torture”.

Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has once more extended an interim injunction which prevents police from pursuing legal action against former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Members of the Tamil community across the North-East commemorated the 11th death anniversary of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham.

Malaysia is looking to strengthen ties with Sri Lanka as a visit by its prime minister, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak on December 17. 

Malaysia's foreign ministry said a high level team would be visiting Sri Lanka, followed by the Maldives. 

The Indian government expects Sri Lanka to keep India's security concerns in mind, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday.