Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has seen more people turn to sex work, said a leading doctor on the island, which in turn has led to a growing number of sexually transmitted diseases being detected.

According to Sri Lanka’s National STD/AIDS Control Programme, 4,556 HIV patients were recorded in the first quarter of 2022, up 11.8 percent from 4,073 in 2021 first quarter.

In the second quarter of 2022, 4,686 HIV patients have been identified, up 13.2 percent from 4,142 in 2021.

Horror, much like most other genres, elicits laughter when it fails. Failed comedy, on the other hand, leaves the viewer horrified. This was my experience of watching Anudeep KV’s Sivakarthikeyan starrer ‘Prince.’ 

Having seen the teaser for PS Mithran’s latest release ‘Sardar’, I had braced myself  for a repeat viewing of ‘Cobra’ released earlier this Summer. The film’s star Karthi appears in multiple disguises and costumes - which was also Cobra’s primary marketing point - and I was overcome with flashbacks to rolling my eyes and sighing with the Vikram starrer. Thankfully, ‘Sardar’ is a better feature in almost every aspect. 

In a bid to increase government revenues, Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry unveiled a 150% increase on annual taxes for casinos, from Rs 200 million to Rs 500 million, as well as the introduction of an entrance for locals of 200 US dollars.

More than 13 years after the Sri Lankan military massacred tens of thousands of Tamils in Mullaitivu, human remains have been discovered in the district earlier this month.

The Mullaitivu District Judge has ordered Forensic Medical Officers to conduct an investigation on the remains, which were discovered in a private site in Ananthapuram, Puthukudiyiruppu.

The remains have been sent to Mullaitivu Hospital for investigation.

The Colombo High Court granted bail to four persons who were detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) over an alleged assassination attempt on Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran last week.

The four suspects had been detained since February 2017.

Senior Counsel K.S. Ratnavale with Ranitha Gnanaraja, Suranga Bandara and Suwathikka Ravichandran appeared on behalf of the suspects, who are all residents of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

The 35th anniversary event of the Kokuvil Hindu College massacre by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IKPF) was held in Jaffna on Monday.

The commemoration was in front of the entrance of Kokuvil Hindu College on Kankesanturai Road and organized by the relatives of victims.

The Sri Lankan police stationed in Jaffna said that cases of theft and robberies are on the rise in the peninsula, as the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and a surge of illegal drug use has plagued the North-East.

On Friday, Sri Lankan parliament passed the 22^nd amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution aimed at curbing the powers of the executive presidency.

The 22^nd amendment passed with a two-thirds majority gaining 174 votes during its third reading. Responding to the passage of the bill, Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe applauded the amendment stating:

Rishi Sunak is set to become the next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest earlier today.

In August of this year, Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to justice for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and discussed the possibility of applying targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials just as the UK has on Russians.