A Sri Lankan government body has rejected a Right to Information request questioning why a news website was blocked in Sri Lanka.

Access to London-based news website lankaenews.com, which had been critical of the Sri Lankan government, was blocked from Sri Lanka last month.

Military-run preschools in the Vanni should be brought under the control of the Northern Provincial Council, council members have said.

Sri Lankan military forces continue to interfere in Tamil civilian life through the Civil Security Department, Emmanuel Arnold, NPC member for Kilinochchi said.

Teachers at CSD preschools are forced to undergo military training, Mr Arnold said, perpetuating the militarisation of the Tamil homeland.

Only two Tamil nurses were appointed to serve the Northern Province in the latest batch of appointments.

Out of 110 nurses appointed to the Northern Province by the Sri Lankan government, 108 were Sinhalese nurses.

When questioned about the hugely disproportionate rates of Sinhalese nurses being appointed to serve a Tamil province, the Northern Province health minister said that there were not enough trained Tamil nurses to appoint.

Photograph: Sunday Times

A Sri Lankan court in Puttalam has remanded a group of asylum seekers who attempted to flee the island last month.

The United States and Sri Lanka agreed an amendment to a 2002 Open Skies Agreement this week, which will see the movement of cargo goods carried out “more efficiently and profitably,” according the US Embassy in Colombo.

Twenty-five Mannar fishermen who were detained by the Sri Lankan navy on Monday, were released on bail today after residents protested against their arrest. 

The men were initially detained at the navy camp prompting angry protests by residents from Thalvupadu who said the community was frequently harassed and intimidated by navy personnel. 

The tense situation led to local police taking custody of the men. 

^{Photograph @UKMissionGeneva}

Meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Tuesday, the UK FCO Minister for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad reiterated the UK's commitment to working with Mr Zeid's office, the OHCHR. 

The UK Mission in Geneva tweeted: 

"Lord @tariqahmadbt meets @UNHumanRights High Commissioner #Zeid to discuss a range of topics related to @UN_HRC. The UK remains firmly committed to #OHCHR, and the #HumanRights rules-based international system."

Members of the Northern Provincial Council on Tuesday commemorated the first anniversary of the death of the Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa. 

A jobs fair for 15 Chinese enterprises, organised by the Chinese chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka together with the ministry of skills development and vocational training, will be held in Colombo on Friday, Xinhua reported. 

The fair would aim to provide over 400 job opportunities within the 15 Chinese enterprises, the Director of Teaching Affairs at the vocational training centre, Gao Bin told the state owned news agency. 

Hundreds of residents of a coastal Mannar village gathered outside a Sri Lankan Navy camp to protest the arrest of 25 Tamil fishermen on Monday.

The Navy arrested 25 fishermen on 5 boats in the sea off Thalvupadu and detained them in the navy camp.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena refused the budgetary proposal to reduce the tax on beer, saying it was contrary to the policy of his government.

Speaking in parliament , Mr Sirisena said,

“No one can agree with the granting of tax concessions to any type of liquor because the policy of this government is to minimise the consumption of liquor and minimise the smoking habit.”

Despite ongoing calls for the harassment of media workers to end and for those responsible to be brought to justice, Sri Lanka's prime minister claimed on Monday there were no crimes committed against journalists on the island under the current regime. 

The Asian Development Bank has approved a further $120 million  loan to develop drinking water within the Jaffna peninsula. 

In 2010, the bank approved $90 million of the first stage of assistance towards a water supply project in Jaffna and Kilinochchi. The full project is expected by be completed by 2025 and is expected to cost £266 million. 

Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe this weekend sought to assure voters that local government polls would be held by early February 2018 at the latest. 

The exact date is yet to be determined, with the election commission having the final say. However, local papers have cited February 10th as the confirmed date.