The Sri Lankan Army is to discuss diaspora at its upcoming Defence Seminar in Colombo, in a topic titled “Diaspora Communities amidst Peace and Conflict.”

The two keynote speakers of the topic will be the Sri Lankan security forces’ Mullaitivu Commander, and Radhika Coomaraswamy, former United Nations Under-Secretay-General, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

The topic will not just be about Sri Lanka, Daily News reports Sri Lanka’s Army Commander as saying. He added that “diaspora communities of other countries too have their conflicts. They have their pros and cons for the military to consider the security of these nations.”

Sri Lankan Army intelligence is monitoring ‘changes taking place’ on social media, the country’s Army Commander said last week.

Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake said the Army Intelligence Unit was monitoring changes “due to the fact that could have an impact on the security of the people and the country”, Daily News reports.

The commander said that this would be a topic at Sri Lanka’s upcoming Defence Seminar in Colombo.

A tense situation has erupted in Mullaitivu after the huts and boats of Tamil fishermen were set alight on Monday night.

Sri Lankan police have said that access to an ancient Tamil temple in the Vavuniya district would not be restricted as previously announced, but that the land on which the temple is situated would still be under the control of Sri Lanka’s Archaeology Department.

After warning locals that the Aathi Aiyanar temple on Vedukkunari Malai in the Nedunkeni-Olumadu area was off-limits and that trespassers risked arrest, Nedunkeni police clarified on Sunday that the temple could still be accessed by worshippers and visitors.

Sri Lanka's election monitor, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said today that the coalition government did not have the political will to hold provincial council elections, highlighting the lack of agreement on the holding of the elections between coalition partners. 

Eastern Provincial Council in the North-East, along side Sabaragamuwa and North Central provincial councils, has been under the authority of commissioners following the end of its term last September. 

The Northern Provincial Council's term of office will 
end this October along side Central and Wayamba provinces. 

Speaking at the opening ceremony of an Indian housing scheme on Sunday, which sees 10,000 homes handed over to the predominantly of Indian origin Tamils in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe made a point of saying that these Tamils had not called for a separate state like Tamils in the North.

“We launched the Suwaseriya Ambulance service all over the country, while the Mahatma Gandhi Housing Scheme, opened today in Nuwara Eliya, had brought equality to all people in the estate sector. People in the plantation sector did not have villages and a house of their own like other people elsewhere,” Mr Wickremesinghe said.

The US State Department today announced it would be providing approximately $39 million in Foreign Military Financing for Sri Lanka, pending approval from Congress.

"We look forward to discussing with the Government of Sri Lanka how this contribution can support our Bay of Bengal initiative and Sri Lanka’s humanitarian assistance and disaster response priorities," the US embassy said in a statement.

The decision to grant the additional funds comes despite ongoing criticism from Tamils and human rights groups on impunity for mass atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan military and on the military's involvement in civilian affairs. 

Sri Lankan police have established a special phone line for the public to call and give information on 'Ava gang' which the police say is operating in the North, Hiru News reports. 

The Senior DIG in the Northern province, Roshan Dernando claimed that all information would be kept confidential. 

The phone line comes amid increased arrests by Sri Lankan police of Tamil youth over accusations of involvement in gang violence. 

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a committee to study the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with Singapore in January after the Joint Opposition this week reiterated its threat of legal action against it. 

A five member committee was appointed yesterday, the Sunday Times reports. Read more here. 

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena this week summoned former military commanders in order to write a 'history' of the end of the armed conflict, the Sunday Times reported. 

Stating that "no proper historic record" existed, Mr Sirisena made the commanders swear to secrecy about the project, the paper said. 

The former defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the former army commander in May 2009, Sarath Fonseka, were notably absent. 

Read more here.