Two administrators of a historic Tamil temple in a Vavuniya village who were arrested last week following a complaint by Sri Lanka’s archaeology department have had their detention extended by the Vavuniya court after the case was adjourned to November 16.

The detainees Subramaniam and Akilan were arrested on November 1 after the archaeology department lodged a complaint claiming they had dug up underground bricks while cleaning the temple in the village of Maligai in the Omanthai area of Vavuniya.

The Lotus Tower, the tallest tower in South Asia standing at 356-meter, remains closed to the public despite an official opening ceremony in September and will be run by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), which is under the control of the Defence Ministry.

P R S P Jayatilake, Chairman of the TRCSL, has claimed that the use of the military will only be temporary but has not stated when it will be accessible to the public. 

Tamil villagers in Vanni were handed out artificial limbs at a highly publicised Sri Lankan military ceremony complete with Sinhala Kandyan dancers last week, as soldiers continue to occupy last swathes of land a decade since the end of the armed conflict.

The Indian government freed a group of 18 Tamil fishermen who had been arrested by the Indian navy last month, amid protests in Jaffna and calls from trade unions for their release.

Accused Sri Lankan war criminal Shavendra Silva saw off a contingent of soldiers heading for a UN peacekeeping mission to Mali this morning, despite the global body announcing last month it would ban all “non-essential” Sri Lankan troops.

The main witness in the case of the torture and murder of a Tamil man by Sri Lankan police in Jaffna continues to receive threats as the case awaits further hearing in court.

T Logeswaran who is a witness in the 2011 torture and murder of Sriskantharajah Sumanan by Chunnakam police has registered a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) after four masked persons went outside his home late on Thursday night, slammed his gates and shouted threats to his family and neighbours.

Sri Lankan police officers were on duty around 500m away, Logeswaran said, but the individuals were able to get away easily despite having covered up their motorcycle license plates.

Updated 1130 GMT

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, told a gathering in Batticaloa that his United National Party (UNP) was determined to devolve powers to provinces, whilst claiming that the armed conflict on the island came as people had forgotten their “Sri Lankan identity”.

Updated 2000 GMT

A fast-unto-death protest launched by a Sinhala Buddhist monk against signing a United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant ended just hours after it started when the Sri Lankan government and leading candidates rushed to assure the monk that it would not be signed before this month’s presidential elections.

A Tamil activist who has been searching for her abducted husband for over a decade has spoken on her disappointment with the Sri Lankan government over its lack of progress in investigating enforced disappearances.