A Sri Lankan navy officer from Vavuniya serving in the Welisara Navy Camp was confirmed positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) yesterday. After being tested for COVID-19 on Saturday at the Vavuniya Regional Health Service, the results given yesterday by Anuradhapura hospital confirmed that the officer has COVID-19.

The navy officer recently visited his house located in Mahakachakodi, Vavuniya when returning from the naval base. Following this, the officer and his family have been subject to strict self-isolation measures.

A one-year-old child and her three-year-old brother were stabbed to death in east London on Sunday evening.

The children, who the local community have identified as being from a Tamil family that fled Sri Lanka, died within hours of each other.

A 40-year-old man was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he remains, with reports identifying him as the father of the children. He is thought to have stabbed the children and then attempted to take his own life.

A group of opposition parties have called on the Sri Lankan government to reconvene parliament, pledging they will not “attempt to defeat the government nor thwart any of the legitimate actions of the government during this period,” in joint letter sent this morning.

The letter, signed by seven opposition parties, including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Rauff Hakeem, Rishad Bathiudeen, and Mano Ganesan, called on Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to re-summon the parliament that he dissolved ahead of planned elections.

Sri Lankan authorities reportedly confirmed that at least 180 navy sailors have tested positive for the coronavirus, including at least 68 sailors who were on leave and in the community, as cases on the island continued to rise this week.

Shavendra Silva, the war crimes accused head of the army who is leading Colombo’s coronavirus task force, confirmed that 112 of the sailors that tested positive were inside the Welisara Navy Camp.

The father of a Tamil man who has been in an Indian prison for more than 28 years over his alleged association in the killing of the Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi, passed away in Jaffna.

Murugan alias Sriharan, was unable to attend his father’s funeral, as he remains imprisoned in Indai, despite the Tamil Nadu government’s proposition to release seven people who have been convicted over the killing. Earlier this year, India’s central government rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s proposal, citing it was to avoid “international ramifications”.

The Tamil Refugee Council has called on the Australian government to release the Tamil asylum- seeking family and allow them to return to Biloela, Australia.

“The Australian government is spending obscene amounts of money to make an example of the family by holding them on Christmas Island and forcing them to fight for their safety through the courts,” Aran Mylvaganam, spokesperson for the Tamil Refugee Council said.

Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister and State Councillor, discussed the response to the coronavirus pandemic with Dinesh Gunawardena, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister.

Reports have noted that Wang Yi emphasised that certain countries were mobilising to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to suit their own political agenda and to shift blame onto the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Malayalam actor Dulquer Salmaan sent out a public apology earlier today after a scene in his recent Malayalam-language movie ‘Varane Avashyamund’, which involved naming a pet dog “Prabhakara”, caused outrage online.

The use of the LTTE leader’s name in such a manner provoked outrage online, with the hashtags #PrabhakaranIsTamilsIdentity and #PrabhakaranIsOurLeader soon trending in southern India.

The Canadian government announced it would be granting over CAD $56,000 (approximately 7.5 million LKR) “to support Sri Lanka’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic” through a body affiliated to Sri Lanka’s Presidential Covid-19 Task Force, headed by Shavendra Silva.

A Canadian statement said the grant would go to the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka (NPC), which is “part of the Civil Society Committee of the Presidential Covid-19 Task Force”. The task force is currently headed by Silva, a credibly accused war criminal who is currently barred from travel to the US due to his role in overseeing rights abuses.

Sri Lanka’s central bank will borrow the money from the Reserve Bank of India to boost its gross reserves as part of a US $ 400 million currency swap, as Colombo’s economic crisis continues to grow in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sri Lanka’s Co-Cabinet spokesperson Information and Communication Minister Bandula Gunawardena confirmed that the cabinet had approved the deal, in a bid to boost foreign reserves.