The second Sri Lanka- US partnership dialogue commenced in Colombo today, with the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon meeting with Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary, Prasad Kariyawasam. 

"Sri Lanka and the United States recalled their co-sponsorship of a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2017, reaffirming Sri Lanka’s commitment to promote reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in pursuit of lasting peace and prosperity," a joint statement released on Monday read. 

Leaders of cooperatives in Jaffna called for the Sri Lankan government to provide compensation for losses incurred through looting and destruction of goods during three decades of armed conflict. 

“In recognition of these losses, compensation should be provided by the Government, which can be utilised to increase production and create much needed employment across the district,” the Jaffna District Co-operative Council said in a statement, the Sunday Times reported. 

Sri Lanka's minister of petroleum resources development, Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday urged the public not to panic over reports of a shortage of fuel. 

Mr Ranatunga was quoted by the Colombo Page as saying that the state fuel supplier, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation "is maintaining sufficient stocks for the needs of the consumers". 

"It was observed that there was anxiety among the public. However, we are now able to meet 80% of the total requirement," he added. 

"Therefore, I urge the public not to have any undue fears and use the fuel as usual." 

Work at Hambantota Port is to commence on December 8, the Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Monday, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The project is being jointly managed by China Merchants Port Holding Company (CMPH) and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). 

"It was the Chinese President who suggested forming a joint venture between the Sri Lankan Government and Chinese Company," Mr Wickremesinghe told people at an event in Deniyaya. 

He explained that "the Government was thinking of closing the port down as there were no funds to operate it."

The Sri Lankan army oversaw the donation of artificial limbs to a group of Tamils at a military camp in Jaffna last month.

Sri Lankan soldiers in Jaffna marked the 68^th anniversary of the army by donating blood last month, according to an official military website.

The Sri Lankan army took a group of Tamil pre-school children on a tour of Palaly Airport last month, in an area restricted to civilians deep inside a Sri Lankan High Security Zone (HSZ).

The Sinhalese leadership's reluctance to end the political stranglehold exercised by themselves so far is the fundamental cause of ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka, said the Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran.

Mr  Wigneswaran noted that  the UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non Recurrence had also made similiar observations during his time working on Sri Lanka and the reconciliation process. 

Stressing the need to enlist international pressure to ensure the rights of the Tamil people , the chief minister said,

The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) said this week it would not contest the upcoming local polls in Sri Lanka under the 'house' symbol of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi, but would remain within the Tamil National Alliance coalition

The 'house' symbol, though belonging to ITAK, is used by the TNA at elections. 

At a press conference at the Jaffna Press Club, the EPRLF leader Suresh Premachandran explained the decision and criticised the ITAK's dominance within the TNA. 

Eight Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on Sunday for allegedly crossing the maritime boundary.  

The men were arrested off the coast of Neduntheevu. 

"The fishermen from Akarapettai in Nagapattinam district, who put out to sea in a mechanised boat, were arrested on charges of poaching fish in Lanka’s territorial waters," the Assistant Director of Fisheries Department, Nagapattinam Gangadhar was quoted by PTI as saying.