<p>Sri Lankan police have detained a Muslim man under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) regulations, reportedly investigating an alleged plot to assassinate Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa or one of him family members. Four Tamil men who were also arrested were released on bail shortly after.</p> <p>The five were all tenants of a house in Jayawardenapura and arrested by Katunayake police.</p>

Ten Tamil families are facing a new land-grab by the Sri Lankan navy in Punguduthivu.

According to a notice issued on November 22, the navy is to appropriate over 14 acres of land belonging to ten different owners in the coastal village of Vallan on the islet of Punguduthivu.

The land is being seized for the establishment of a base for the Sri Lanka navy ship Gotaimbara. The Sri Lankan navy already occupy large swathes of the islet.

Earlier this week Sri Lanka's new defence secretary stressed that military bases would not be removed from the North-East, despite ongoing calls from Tamils for demilitarisation and land return.

CID officials have announced a new investigation into comments made by former Minister Rajitha Senaratne, who held a media conference prior to the elections with someone who alleged to be involved in ‘white van’ abductions.

The killing of 32 Tamils in Othiyamalai, Mullaitivu by the Sri Lankan army in 1984 was commemorated on Monday, thirty-five years after the massacre.

On December 2,1984, men in the village were rounded up by soldiers, dragged to the village community centre where they were stripped naked and tied up by their clothes.

A Sinhalese diaspora group have gathered outside the Labour Party Headquarters today, as they protested against the party’s commitment to the Tamil people.

A few dozen protestors are currently outside the party headquarters at Victoria Street in London, with Sri Lankan flags, cricket shirts and placards denouncing the Labour Party.

“Hands off Sri Lanka,” read one placard.  Another accused Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell of supporting “terrorism”.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister lashed out at Switzerland on Tuesday, as Colombo denied permission for a Swiss embassy employee who had been abducted and assaulted to fly out of the country for medical treatment.

Dinesh Gunawardena stepped up the diplomatic spat between the two governments by accusing Switzerland of “throwing mud” and stuck by an earlier government statement which dismissed Swiss accounts of the abduction.

Tamil refugees who fled from Sri Lanka to Australia following the civil war in 2009, have spoken to SBS News about their experiences of being deported back to the island.

After displacement, loss of family and safety fears at the end of the civil war, many Tamils boarded on boats to reach Australia in hopes of rebuilding their lives. Many of these asylum seekers took our arduous loans just to board these boats. Whilst on board, they can go days without proper food and water whilst enduring tough conditions with many other asylum seekers. Those who do finally reach Australia face many struggles to be granted asylum with many being sent back to Sri Lanka despite fears for their safety. 

See testimonies from the SBS News piece below. See the full piece here.

Canada’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka met with accused war criminal and newly appointed president Gotabaya Rajapaksa last week, despite continued concerns over human rights abuses under his tenure.

High Commissioner David McKinnon described his visit to Rajapaksa as “a useful first meeting”.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate has announced a travel ban against the Swiss embassy employee who was abducted and assaulted in the southern capital last week, officially barring here from leaving Sri Lanka.

The announcement comes after reports emerged on Monday that Colombo’s international airport has been alerted by Sri Lankan authorities, that the victim may try and flee the island. 

Following a decision to the head of law at Jaffna University Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan from engaging in private legal practice, Sri Lanka’s University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced that all academic staff members can no longer practise as attorneys.

In a circular released last week, the UGC said that “approval cannot be granted”, despite a previous 2013 decision, which said academics could practise as attorneys, if “such work is not an obstacle for his/her routine duties”.

No further explanation was provided by the UGC.