Sri Lanka’s president said his military would be sending a patrol vessel to the Red Sea to help ward off attacks from Yemen’s Houthis, at a cost of Rs. 250 million every fortnight.

Addressing an event in Colombo last week, Ranil Wickremesinghe said a vessel would be sent to ensure trade routes along the Red Sea are protected from Houthi attacks, who have been targeting Israel and Israeli-linked vessels to push for a stop to the ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.

As Sri Lanka’s president travelled to the Tamil homeland last week, Sri Lankan police halted and arrested two women activists with the Vavuniya families of the disappeared as they attempted to protest.

Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan, a Jaffna-born trailblazer, has been honoured with an OBE in recognition of his pioneering work in location-tracking technology in the King's New Year Honours.

The founder of Cambridge-based company PervasID, Dr Sithamparanathan devised a cutting-edge real-time location tracking system that has been instrumental in various sectors, including NHS trusts, hospitals, aircraft manufacturing, and retail.

Murdered Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was commemorated in a ceremony by journalists in Batticaloa earlier today, marking 15 years since he was gunned down in Colombo.

Candles were lit at a memorial in Gandhi Park which is dedicated to media workers who have been killed in Sri Lanka.

As we mark 15 years since the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickramatunge, we look back on the murder of two Tamil youths who were killed as part of a cover-up by the Sri Lankan security forces.

In the aftermath of Wickramatunge’s murder, details of the killing began to slowly become revealed over the years as international pressure over the assassination mounted.

Reports eventually revealed that days before the assassination, two motorcycles used in the killing were stolen from their Tamil owners in Vavuniya in an attempt to blame the killing on the LTTE.

Sri Lanka has published a bill to establish a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation. Though the bill superficially appears to tick several boxes for the international community, a close examination reveals it is deeply flawed and represents a total betrayal of justice for Tamil and Sinhala victims of mass atrocity crimes. This is aside from whether there is political will to implement any truth recovery regarding the country’s violent past.

Leaders of the Tamil Families of the Disappeared group (FOD), have called on the Sri Lankan state to immediately release the leader of Vavuniya's FOD, Jentta. They vehemently condemned the arbitrary arrest and detention of the aggrieved Tamil woman, who attempted to speak on behalf of the FOD with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his visit to Vavuniya earlier this week.

Mullaitivu FOD

The 39th anniversary of the Vankalai Church massacre was solemnly commemorated at St. Anne's Church in Vankalai, Mannar, marking the day when members of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) fatally shot Reverend Father Mary Bastian and nine other locals, including children, at the Vankalai Church on 6 January 1985.

The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) remembered assassinated human rights lawyer and former leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar Ponnambalam, at their Jaffna office yesterday. 

Sri Lankan police have arrested three people during a protest against President Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to Jaffna today.