Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, hailed Buddhism as the "foundation for the culture and way of life of our people" and central to the building of the country, in a message marking the Buddhist festival of Poson today, the Daily Mirror reported.

Sandra Beidas, a senior official previously with the UN mission in South Sudan, has been appointed by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to coordinate the investigative team examining mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, reports Al Jazeera.

Condemning the on-going militarisation of the North, the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council, C.V.

A paramilitary leader, who has been accused of war crimes by the UN has been appointed as a new member of the Eastern Provincial Council, reports Colombo Telegraph.

K. Pushpakumar, known as Iniyapaarathi, took oath on Wednesday in Trincomalee, in front of Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama.

A dead body was found in Kilinochchi this morning, near Selvanagar Utha Temple Street, the Uthayan reports.

The body has been identified as that of a 65 year old man, called Vaithilingam Wigneswaran.

Kilinochchi police are reported to be investigating the incident.

Condemning the lack of accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka, the Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird reiterated Canada's commitment to ensuring the Sri Lankan government takes a different path, when speaking at a press conference today during the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.

The opposition party, UNP explained its rationale for why the government should cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council mandated international inquiry into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, in a communique released today, reported Colombo Page.

Continued international pressure on states and institutions that allow sexual violence is needed to end impunity said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speaking at the End Sexual Violence in Conflict global summit in London.

The Sri Lankan military in the Northeast has organised a campaign to clear up plastic.

The campaign, organised by the Security Force Jaffna, saw soldiers throughout the peninsula collecting plastic and other rubbish, the government’s official media site reported.

Earlier today the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council condemned the militarisation of the province in an interview to The Hindu, saying that the province was "overwhelmed by an occupying military force" and said there was "an urgent need" to prevent military's on-going encroachment on civilian life.

The Nigerian military is considering using Sri Lanka’s military strategy it used against Tamils, in its war against Boko Haram, reported AFP.

A high-level Sri Lankan military delegation led by Chief of Defense Staff General Jagath Jayasuriya, was in the Nigeria meet their counterparts to share experience and expertise.

During the meeting, the Sri Lankans explained their “total security” strategy, described as “the translation of all the nation’s assets into military power to counter the scourge of terrorism”.

The second day of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict ended in London today, as experts from across the world gathered to discuss initiatives that could help to stop the use of rape and torture.

The producers of the acclaimed ‘No Fire Zone’ documentary said in a statement that the horror and condemnation expressed at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, must be translated into into international action.

A short version of the film was released to coincide with the summit, to highlight evidence of sexual violence perpetrated against Tamil women in Sri Lanka.

“Both the Global Summit and the international inquiry being set up by the UN are welcome and vital events. But the appalling crimes of sexual violence which characterized the end of the war in Sri Lanka continue today against the Tamil civilians of the north and east, as well as against returned asylum seekers,” the statement on the NFZ website said.

The second day of the global End Sexual Violence in Conflict summit, 'Expert's Day' commenced with delegates being welcomed at the opening plenary by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the UK's Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Baroness Warsi in her address stressed that the summit was about achieving “practical solutions” to the mass problem of sexual violence in conflict. Recounting her work as a lawyer, she said:

“Some of the most harrowing moments, were listening to the stories of women from Bosnia and Herzegovina applying for asylum in the UK.”

“We would only be told about their experiences of rape at the eleventh hour, and even then with a caveat... they did not want those stories to be repeated, did not want it to be part of their case.”

The day's keynote address was given by Zainab Bangura, Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva repeated the state's “categorical rejection" of the resolution passed last session mandating an international inquiry into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka will not cooperate with the OHCHR-driven so called “comprehensive investigation” emanating from it,” Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, was quoted by the Island as saying during the Council’s 26th session.

He went on to say:

“[The March 2014 resolution] adopted with the support of less than half the Council’s membership which mandated this action, challenges the sovereignty and independence of a member state of the UN, violates principles of international law, is inherently contradictory, and is based on profoundly flawed premises inimical to the interests of the Sri Lankan people. The resolution’s lack of clarity sets a dangerous precedent and will destabilize the intricate balance in the homegrown process of national reconciliation. The prejudice and bias concerning Sri Lanka repeatedly displayed by the High Commissioner and the OHCHR remain of deep concern, while reports which question the credibility of the coordinator appointed for the investigation have already emerged ".