Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reform, Wijayadasa Rajapakse toured the Mantheevu islet, a part of Batticaloa this week to use the area to establish a new prison or a rehabilitation centre, purportedly to overcome Sri Lanka’s issue of overcrowding in prisons. 

Sri Lankan police prohibited Tamils from attending a monthly festival at a Hindu temple in Trincomalee. Police claimed that worship at the Kandasamimalai Murugan temple in Thennimaravadi was banned as the temple is located in an area that is clained to be a Buddhist archaeological site.

Three Tamil journalists, Prabhakaran Dilaksan, Sundarampillai Rajeskaran, and Chinnaiya Yogeswaran, were threatened by the Sri Lankan army as they attempted to cover the gathering of civilians visiting a temple within the 'High-Security Zone' in Palali Vasavilan, Jaffna. 

The temple, recently opened for public worship, saw a congregation of people this morning eager to offer prayers. As the journalists arrived to report on the event, they faced intimidation from the military, with their phones being confiscated and destroyed. 

As part of high-profile diplomatic visit by Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, to Sri Lanka, two Iranian warships IRINS Bushehr and Tonb also docked at Colombo Port.

Minister Amir-Abdollahian met with Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe and foreign minister, Ali Sabry, who highlighted the need further cooperation between the two countries in politics, economics, trade, tourism, science, and technology. 

A lawmaker who is a long-time Rajapaksa ally and Deputy Chairman of Parliament Committees Angajan Ramanathan has written to Sri Lanka's president Ranil Wickremesinghe over the forcible acquisition of 500 acres of land in Valikamam North by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation, which has been causing much distress to local Tamil residents in these areas. 

At a time when consumer confidence is at its lowest in Sri Lanka since receiving a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Donald Lu Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs claimed that "Sri Lanka was a great come back story".

The Interim Secretariat for Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism presented a copy of the draft Reconciliation Bill to the chief monks of the Asgiri and Malwathu chapters, despite widespread criticism that the bill fails to account for the census and sentiments of Tamils.

Sri Lanka has exported tea worth US$20 million to Iran to partially repay its US$251 million oil debts

“So far $20 million worth of tea has been exported to Iran under the barter trade agreement,“ Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s office said in a statement after talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The tea-for-oil deal was agreed upon in December 2021, but exports were delayed by Colombo’s economic crisis that forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down in July 2022.

Senior US officials, including the head of USAID, the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka aired their concerns on Sri Lanka’s Online Safety Bill this week, a piece of legislation that has come under criticism for threatening freedom of expression online.

India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santhosh Jha met with several Tamil political leaders during his first visit to Jaffna this week, where issues ranging from land grabs to fishing were discussed.

Alongside political leaders from various parties, the Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University Professor S. Srisatkunarajah, was also present in discussions.

The Tamil politicians spoke to reporters after the meeting and shared some insights into their discussions.