Sri Lanka's press freedom is continuing to deteriorate according to the World Press Freedom Index.

The annual report, compiled by Reporters without Borders (RSF), saw Sri Lanka drop to 163rd place out of 178 countries that are ranked, placing it below countries such as Pakistan and Azerbaijan, and just one place above Somalia.

Not content with the military running hotels and conducting whale watching tours, Sri Lanka's Immigration and Emigration Department announced Tuesday that a permanent monitoring unit would be established to keep track of Sri Lanka's tourists.

The decision came after 161 Muslim tourists who had overstayed their visas and engaged in activities "other than tourism", were asked to leave.

The department's head, Chief Chulananda Perara, said,

Daily Mirror 24/01/12

Sri Lankan daily newspaper, the Daily Mirror, illustrates its conclusions of India's external affairs secretary's visit to Sri Lanka.

More than 180 Tamil political prisoners have been moved from Magazine prison in Welikada after clashes between prisoners and guards led to at least 31 people having sustained injuries.

The Tamil prisoners were moved to the main complex of the prison and were reportedly transferred to another jail for their own safety, after riots took over Magazine prison.

Human Rights Watch has stated that Sri Lanka has made “no progress” towards accountability and justice for war crimes committed during the civil war, and that the government has “ deepened repression of basic freedoms”, in its World Report 2012.

The New York-based NGO went on to note that the government has “continued to stall on accountability for abuses by the security forces” with Asia director Brad Adams, commenting,

Those imprisoned, for alleged being LTTE cadres, continue to face military repression long after they are released, said Velvettithurai's urban councillor, MK Sivajilingam.

He added,

"These former LTTE cadres are now forced to live under the watchful eye of military intelligence. Some of them are told to report to the military once a week and others are told to come once a month,"

Details have emerged of a 25-year old Dutch woman holidaying in Sri Lankahaving been allegdly sexually assaulted by a hotel owner in Matara earlier this year.

The incident prompted Netherlands Embassy First Secretary Jaco Beerends to comment,

“The sexual abuse of a female Dutch national at a guest house in Matara can be considered a ‘terrible’ incident and the authorities must act upon any incident that concerns the safety of tourists arriving in the country.”

Responding to reports that the 13th Amendment was to be implemented in Sri Lanka, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has slammed India for attempting to ‘exploit’ Sri Lanka.

The headteacher of a school in Galle, E.K. Premasiri, was served an interdiction last week by none other than the Ministry of Education, after it emerged students at the school had performed a short school play with a comical portrayal of Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Premasiri however, has protested his innocence, stating that he was the one who sensing imminent danger to the reputation and character of the president, not only intervened, bring the play to an abrupt end, but also reported the incident to the police.

Premasiri explained,

Construction of the Chinese funded ‘Lotus Tower’ began Friday, as the foundation stone was laid in Colombo.

A Chinese conglomerate comprising of the China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC) and Aerospace Long-March International Trade Co. Ltd (ALIT) will be undertaking the construction project, which is set to be the tallest tower in South Asia. The project is also being funded by the EXIM Bank of China who is providing a $100 million loan.