The cost of bread rose this week due to government taxes on palm oil which is used in baking. 

A 450g loaf of bread will now cost Rs 5 more, the president of the All Ceylon Bakers Association, N K Jayawardene was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying. 

The Consumer Affairs Authority rejected media reports that the cost of flour was also due to rise. 

A Tamil worker was killed in a landmine explosion during de-mining work in Mankulam on Monday.

Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) yesterday arrested a Tamil youth in Jaffna for allegedly possessing heroin. 

The man is believed to be from Mallakam, Uduvil.

The STF officers have handed over the suspect to Chunnakam police. 

Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) sought permission from Jaffna magistrate court to interview the editors of three Jaffna based newspapers, the Uthayan, Valumpuri and Thinakkural. 

Justice Kanagaratnam Kesavan however today refused the application on the grounds it was only written in Sinhala. 

Ordering the TID to produce an application written in the language of the Jaffna court, the judge adjourned the hearing until November 16. 

Last month the TID summoned five Tamils along with a journalist, Uthayarasa Shalin to their Colombo office for an inquiry. 

A Mullaitivu court today remanded 12 Tamils, arrested over their alleged involvement in the finding of an LTTE flag and ammunition in Oddusudan in June, until September 17. 

Nine Tamils were initially arrested in relation to the incident. Last week a former LTTE cadre and father of three, from Santhapuram, and another Tamil man from Mallavi were arrested. One man who was wanted by the TID reportedly surrendered on August 29. 

Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), who has been conducting the inquiry in July sought information regarding babies born in May at Kilinochchi hospital, claiming that it would help with the inquiry. 

The bodies of at least 12 children have been excavated from the mass grave in Mannar, as the number of bodies found in total continued to rise this week.

Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Saminda Rajapaksha confirmed with JDS that the remains of 12 children had been discovered, with excavations continuing. The Daily Mirror reports that 114 skeletons had been discovered to date.

"Some of the bodies are incomplete," Rajapaksha told JDS. "Parts of a hand or a leg could be missing at present. It doesn't mean that they are not human skeletons. Further excavations might reveal the missing parts."

An official from the US Department of Commerce met with representatives from American businesses in Sri Lanka this week, as part of his visit to the island

James Golsen, Asia Executive Director at the US Department of Commerce met with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka (AMCHAM Sri Lanka).

The discussion reportedly covered “trade tariffs and remedies, e-commerce, issues facing US companies in Sri Lanka and the trade/investment climate in the country”, according to AMCHAM Sri Lanka.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) has written to Sri Lanka, after the government failed to respond to a report, which called for information on the “establishment of a judicial mechanism” to investigate torture and information on the role of a former Criminal Investigations Department head.

“The information sought by the Committee has not been provided yet, although more than one year has elapsed from the transmittal of the Committee’s concluding observations,” said a letter sent to Sri Lanka’s ambassador in Geneva.

A joint venture from the world's largest oilfield services company Schlumberger and French-based Total began in the seas off the Eastern province today, as vessels began a seismic survey searching for oil.

The project, which was signed off by the Sri Lankan government earlier this year, will see the research vessel BGP Pioneer survey the area for up to 50 days.

"If the results of the 2-D (two dimensional survey is positive, a 3-D survey will start," Sri Lankan Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said on Sunday.

More than 60,000 people are on a Sri Lankan government blacklist preventing them from leaving the island with “Tamil diaspora sympathisers” amongst those banned, reports Ceylon Today.

A total of 62,338 are said to be on the government blacklist according to Ceylon Today’s “senior state intelligence sources”.

“Tamil diaspora sympathisers” have been named as amongst those banned from leaving the country, with “state-of-the-art equipment” reportedly deployed at Sri Lanka’s international airport to prevent them from doing so.