A Pillaiyar statue was found vandalised in Amparai this morning, after it was reportedly damaged by a group of unknown persons on Thursday night.

A coronavirus-positive tourist carrying the Omicron variant visited night clubs on at least two nights whilst on holiday in Sri Lanka, before departing the country said Public Health Inspectors (PHI) Union leader Upul Rohana, with fears of a possible outbreak growing.

Rohana was citing “unofficial accounts” of the tourist who he claimed had visited the country, adding “We have not yet been informed about these Omicron patients by any of the health authorities”.

The Sri Lankan government has ordered the closure of at least three overseas missions, in a desperate bid to cut down on government expenditure in the face of an economic crisis and mounting international debts.

According to the Daily Mirror, the Sri Lankan Consulate in Frankfurt, the Embassy in Nigeria, and the Sri Lankan Consulate in Cyprus are all due to be shut down shortly.

“This is part of a cost cutting process that all other ministries are also now following,” Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris told the Daily Mirror.

More than 80% of all hotels and canteens across the island will be forced to close from tomorrow, claimed the Chief of the All Island Canteen Owners' Association (AICOA), as a domestic gas fuel shortage and soaring food prices leaves the island in the midst of a worsening food crisis.

Asela Sampath told the Daily Mirror that the shortage of domestic Liquid Petroleum (LP) gas and rising vegetable prices had left many canteen owners across the island facing a stark choice.

Sri Lanka soldiers serving with the United Nations mission in Lebanon were awarded with medals last month, as they continued to be deployed with the global body despite calls for Sri Lankan troops to be banned.

Troops with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had medals pinned on them by UNIFIL Head of the Mission and the Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col.

Sri Lanka’s defence secretary raised eyebrows this week as he attempted to defend the State Intelligence Service Director Suresh Sallay by claiming that as he cannot speak Tamil or Arabic, “he does not have extremist views”.

Speaking at a press conference this week Kamal Gunaratne, who stands accused of war crimes, told reports, “Sallay is a Muslim name, but as far as I know he is not involved in such matters”.

The Sri Lankan army donated equipment to a charity run by a former LTTE cadre in Jaffna earlier this week, in a militarised ceremony that saw Sinhala Kandyan dancers parade commanders down a red carpet.

Pararajasingam Sujeevan, a student at the University of Jaffna and journalist, has been summoned by the Sri Lankan Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) for an interrogation. 

Officials from the Kilinochchi Crime Prevention Department arrived at the residence of Sujeevan earlier this week and delivered the summons issued by the TID from Colombo. 

The remains of an LTTE fighter, alongside their uniform and identification tag were uncovered in Muhumalai this week, as demining work continued in the region.

The findings were made in the region of the former Muhamalai Forward Defence Line, an area that saw intense battles between the LTTE and Sri Lankan security forces.

Tamil parliamentarian and leader of the Tamil Makkal Kootani (TMK) C V Wigneswaran said that he would not attend a forum on “Water, Environment and Agriculture Security” in the Northern province unless the Sri Lankan military was uninvited, as he hit back against continued militarisation of the Tamil homeland.

In a letter to the Governor of the Northern Province, Wigneswaran expressed his regret that the upcoming forum “is arranged in collaboration with the Office of the Commander, Sri Lanka Army”.