The riots in Welikada prison ended in a bloodbath, with 27 people dead and dozens injured.

Most of the dead were prisoners who were killed by armed police and army soldiers.

At least three prisoners were killed when they attempted to flee in an auto-rickshaw, which was shot at by security forces.

 14:57 GMT

In breaking news, riots have broken out between inmates at the Welikada prison and the Sri Lankan security forces. 

Reports coming through state that on Friday afternoon, Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) and prison intelligence unit conducted a search operation on inmates in the L and Chappell units of the prison, citing authorisation by the minister of prisons and reforms.

As inmates protested, STF personnel fired tear gas at the protesters. The situation continued to escalate, with several inmates climbing onto the roof of the prison in protest, and news coming through of serious injuries and fatalities.

15:02 GMT

23:58 GMT

The director of the hospital dealing with casualties from the Welikada prison violence has told AFP that 13 people, of whom at least 11 were inmates, had died. Anil Jasinghe said that a further 32 injured were also brought to the hospital.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concern at Australia’s new policy of that allows for immediate deportation of Sri Lankan refugees seeking asylum.

The Sri Lankan Army has announced the launch of a brand that will create resorts across the country, as they opened yet another holiday resort on the island.

Speaking to reporters, Army chief Jagath Jayasuriya proudly announced the launch of the “Laya” brand hotels, stating,

"Our vision is to make the 'Laya' brand one of the most sought-after resort hotels in Sri Lanka".

The Army chief went on to comment that the security forces had taken up this task because of necessity, explaining,

"We're not going to challenge the private sector but trying to help meet the room requirement for the anticipated tourist arrivals and maintain the best standards."

He went on to anticipate a bigger role for hotel resort industry on the island, and possibly the armed forces, telling reporters,

"This depends on the rapid build up of room capacity…The government has set a target room capacity of 30,000 by 2015".

Earlier this year the Sri Lankan Army opened their second holiday resort in the Jaffna peninsula alone. See below:

Army opens yet another holiday resort in Jaffna (11 Jan 2012)

The Leader of the French branch of TCC (Tamil Co-ordination Committee) has been killed in a shooting in Paris’s 20th arrondissement on Thursday evening.

Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who also happens to be President and Defence Minister, has presented the 2013 budget to parliament today.

Three years after the end of the armed conflict, Rajapakse has allocated a record US$ 2.2 billion to the defence ministry.

Delegates at the World Tamil Conference - including Tamil activists and politicians from the North-East and the diaspora, as well as politicians and civil society activists from Tamil Nadu - gathered at the British Houses of Parliament for a second day to discuss and endorse the resolution proposed.

The resolution put before the delegates, which received widespread backing on the first day, including by several British parliamentarians, called for an international, independent investigation into the allegations war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil nation.

Tamil Youth Organisation - UK have released a press statement on the recent review of Sri Lanka at the UPR.

Full statement below:

The United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 2^nd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sri Lanka formally concluded on Monday the 5^th of November 2012, with the outcome once again confirming the urgent need for drastic action to force Sri Lanka to abide by its human rights obligations.

Sri Lanka has rejected outright 100 out of 210 recommendations made at the UPR. These included those made by a number of countries calling for the implementation of recommendations from Sri Lanka’s very own flawed LLRC report, as well as those made by the more credible UN Panel of Experts’ report.

Although TYO-UK welcomes some of the effective recommendations made by countries, including the calls for accountability for war crimes and for ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, many of the recommendations lacked the required strength to effect tangible change on the island.

Nearly all of the recommendations fail to take into account the ethnic nature of the conflict that continues to blight the Tamil people to this very day. What remains unchanged is that it is Tamils who suffer the consequences of the “time and space” that was requested by Sri Lanka, and granted by the international community.

The Sri Lankan Army has intimidated a fishing society to allow itself access to fish in Iranaimadukulam, reports Uthayan.

Troops in Mullaitivu are reported to have approached the Freshwater Fisheries Co-Operative Society on Tuesday afternoon to demand access to fish in the waters, claiming it was necessary for camp food stocks.

TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam addresses World Tamil Conference

Gathering at the 2012 World Tamil Conference, Tamil activists and politicians from the North-East and the diaspora, together with British parliamentarians and Tamil Nadu politicians and civil society activists, made a united call for an international, independent investigation into the allegations war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil nation.

The event, organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) and British Tamils Forum (BTF), was held on Wednesday, inside the British Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London.

Follow us on Twitter @TamilGuardian to see our live coverage of today's event.

In a proposed resolution delegates from Tamil political parties and organisations worldwide urged:

1) Take immediate steps to provide for space for free flow of information that would bring to light as to the ground realities prevailing in the North and East of the Island of Sri Lanka.

2) To stop decimation of the Tamil Nation by the Sri Lankan State.

3) To stop Sinhalisation of the Tamil traditional Homeland.

4) To demilitarise the Tamil People’s Homeland for the people to exercise their democratic rights free from fear of persecution.

See here for full text of proposed resolution.

Addressing the event, the leader of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, asserted that the genocide of Tamils was nothing short of "a systematic dismantelling of the existence of the Tamils as a nation in the island of Sri Lanka", and though the international community may hestitate in recognising it to be so, the Tamil nation must never hesitate in articulating it.