Speaking before the 55^th Asian Development Bank’s annual conference, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe maintained that factors underlying the global economic crisis are not economic alone but are “the consequences of evolving geopolitics”.

A Sri Lankan government minister has pledged legal action after a senior official told the BBC that a power plant was forced to shut down, after the wrong type of crude oil was imported and used.

"Sulphur content is too high in the furnace oil [fuel oil] which is not suitable for the current power plants and it's also not conforming with environmental standards," Janaka Ratnayake, the head of the Public Utilities Commission, told the BBC.

As the Sri Lankan government’s newly formed ‘National Council’ held its inaugural meeting today, not all of the named council members were present, with the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam stating he was appointed “without my consultation or consent”.

“I will not be taking my place in the “National Council”,” tweeted Ponnambalam last week.

The Sri Lankan navy detained six persons on Tuesday and a further seven people on Wednesday, including several children, as more groups of asylum seekers attempted to flee the island.

Both groups attempted to leave the island through Mannar and were apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy, which continues to occupy the region.

AmeriCares, a US- based non-profit organisation, donated more than US$773,000 of medical supplies, following a request made by the Sri Lankan embassy in Washington.

This donation consists of essential medicines, including prenatal and lactation vitamins, chronic disease medications, intravascular catheters, syringes, and gloves.

Several donations from US non-governmental organisations, including HOPE Worldwide and Heart to Heart International have been made in recent months, in light of a crippling economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

A Sri Lankan lawmaker and former minister vowed that the military and monks would continue with the construction of a Buddhist vihara in Mullaitivu, despite opposition from local Tamils and a Sri Lankan court order barring any further work from taking place.

Speaking in parliament, Sarath Weerasekara, a staunch Sinhala nationalist and former minister, claimed that only Sri Lanka’s Department of Archaeology could halt the construction, despite the ongoing court order.

Following a brutal crackdown on demonstrators and the establishment of "high-security zones" in Colombo, Human Rights Watch has urged the Sri Lankan government to reverse course and respect people's right to protest.

The statement follows a sweeping crackdown on demonstrators last week that saw the arrest of 84 people,  who had taken to the streets to demand the release of student activists detained under Sri Lanka's notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act. The police reportedly used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters last Saturday.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reportedly told Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe that his government was “looking forward to investing in Sri Lanka once again,” as the two met in Tokyo yesterday.

A free trade deal between the two countries was signed in 2018, when Wickremesinghe was prime minister, but was scrapped a year later as Sri Lankan opposition grew.

In the aftermath of devastating floods in Pakistan that have killed more than 1,600 people and displaced millions, Sri Lanka responded by handing over a “Ceylon Tea consignment”.

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama, handed the consignment to the Director of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan Col. Sajid Rafiq.

The Northern Province Fisheries Network and the National Fisheries Cooperation Organization held a meeting with the Indian Deputy Consul General for Jaffna on Tuesday to discuss continued difficulties over fishing.

In the meeting, concerns were raised over India's trawling industry and Anrani Jesudasan, coordinator of the Marine Industry Network, issued a request to discuss these issues directly with India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The Indian consul assured her that this could be arranged.