The Sri Lankan High Commission in London has written to the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA), objecting to the inclusion of Tamil Eelam in its World Football Cup tournament.

CONIFA is the football federation for all associations outside FIFA and describes itself as a global non-profit organization that supports representatives of international football teams from nations, de-facto nations, regions, minority peoples and sports isolated territories.

On June 3rd 2007, two Tamil Red Cross volunteers who were abducted whilst they were in Colombo for a tsunami relief program were found shot dead.

The two Tamils, 38 year old Sinnarajah Shanmuganathan and 28 year old Karthigesu Chandramohan, were both from Batticaloa.

The Sri Lankan navy will join the US-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) navy exercise for the first time later this month – the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena warned that he may unilaterally block social media access across the island if it were to be ‘misused’ citing “national security” and “ethnic harmony”.

The Daily Mirror quoted Mr Sirisena as stating that he had “summoned a team of experts who work in a global institution in the US that attend to issues pertaining to social media”. He added,

The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena told the SLFP's Central Committee that the party's alignment with the UNP was the cause of its election failings at the local government elections. 

All parties had been affected by internal divisions and factions, he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Tamils protesting in Jaffna against the killing of Thoothukodi protesters in Tamil Nadu faced police intimidation as officers and security personnel photographed participants. 

Residents of a Kilinochchi village have said that the Sri Lankan Army and Archaeology Department are destroying signs of ancient Tamil civilisation in the area.

Families of the disappeared from Mullaitivu boycotted a meeting with the Office for Missing Persons (OMP) on Saturday, and instead staged a protest outside the meeting which was held at the Mullaitivu District Secretariat.

Three Sri Lankan soldiers based in Poonakary were arrested on Thursday for possession of cannabis.

The arrested were members of the 5th Division of the General Service Corps based in Nachikuda - Ponnaveli.

They were released on bail by the Kilinochchi Magistrate Court, with the case set to be heard on June 5th.

The three soldiers have also been temporarily suspended from duty.

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told a visiting U.S. House of Representatives delegation that “our people will be forced to rethink our position” if Sinhala leaders continue to ignore the Tamil political question.

A highly rated Barawa team managed to beat Tamil Eelam in their opening match of the 2018 CONIFA World Cup campaign in London this week.

The opening game of the tournament, the match highly anticipated match was a great spectacle, with supporters of both sides in the crowd. To add to the  occasion, the game was officiated by former Euro 2016 and Champions League Final referee, Mark Clattenburg, at the Bromley FC Stadium.

Officials from the US and Sri Lankan air forces held discussions on “regional security” and further training for Sri Lankan troops, at a second round of meeting at a second round of Airman to Airman talks earlier last month.

Free trade negotiations between China and Sri Lanka have come to a “standstill” reports a Colombo official, after Beijing refused to accept a clause that allows for the deal to be reviewed in 10 years.

Sri Lanka’s Department of Survey released an updated map of the island earlier this week, to include the controversial Chinese projects in both Hambantota and Colombo.

The Hambantota port, built by the Chinese, was included in the map along with the Colombo Port City, expressways and other development projects started by the country in the last couple of years. Colombo has increased in size by 474.5 hectares since land reclamation for the project began, with work still ongoing.