The former Sri Lankan defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will be the presidential candidate for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Basil Rajapaksa told a meeting of party parliamentarians this week. 

A tank which formerly served Tamil agricultural villages in Manalaru was reopened by the Sri Lankan president for Sinhalese settlers earlier this month.

The historic Amaiyan Kulam tank borders the Trincomalee district and falls within the large scale Sinhalised region of Manalaru, renamed by the Sri Lankan government as Weli Oya. The original Tamil inhabitants of the region were evicted in 1984 by Sinhalese paramilitaries.

<p>An official with the US Department of Justice said the country had the tools to prosecute dual citizen Sri Lankan defence personnel accused of torture and other seriour crimes.&nbsp;</p> <p>"Jurisdiction Congress has given us allows to prosecute US citizens who have committed acts of torture abroad," David Rybicki, a deputy assistant attorney general, criminal division, Department of Justice told Representative Jim McGovern, during a House Tom Lantos Commission for Human Rights hearing.</p>

The Sri Lankan government extended the state of emergency by another month yesterday issuing an extraordinary gazette to that effect. 

The Sri Lankan army was seen distributing its magazine praising its activities in the Northern province, to schools in Mullaitivu this week. 

<p>United States Representatives Ilhan Omar, Bill Johnson and Jim McGovern on Friday urged the State Department to assert the need for respect for due process, religious minorities and the rule of law.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ratings agency, Moody's Investors Service warned this week that the Easter Sunday bombings would hit GSP grwoth and add greater pressure of the country's debt refinancing.&nbsp;</p> <p>"The primary challenge facing Sri Lanka is its large external debt refinancing needs over the next five years, with over $3 billion principal payable annually on external government debt over 2020-2024," Moody's analyst, Matthew Circosta.&nbsp;</p>

The Sri Lankan military has built a large Buddhist vihara over the site of an occupied Hindu temple in Karaithuraipattu division in Mullaitivu. 

<p>Drought in Mullaitivu has affected 13889 families, the district’s government agent said.</p> <p>The agent Roobavathy Ketheeswaran said that families who rely on agriculture had been the most badly affected.</p> <p>Officials were attempting to distribute drinking water to those who needed it, she said.</p>

<p>A prominent Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has accused Muslims of destroying the island’s majority Sinhalese community and called for a boycott of Muslim- run shops and businesses.</p> <p>Monk Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana, the chief prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter of Buddhism&nbsp;said, “Don’t eat from those (Muslim) shops. Those who ate from those shops will not have children in the future. In another 10 to 15 years, we will know the consequence.”</p>