The Sri Lankan army continued its militarisation of the North-East, organising a seminar for school children in Muttur last week.

A two-day seminar was held for A Level students in the region, reportedly “under the guidance of Major General Nevil Weerasingha, General Officer Commanding 22 Division”.

Tamils in Jaffna protested on Saturday against the assault by Sinhalese traders of a Hindu spiritual leader and a temple landowner in Trincomalee last week.

The Sri Lankan military announced it had renovated and released two irrigation tanks in Karainagar in Jaffna, at the request of a Rajapaksa-backing parliamentarian.

UPDATED JULY 21

A Tamil man was shot and killed by the Sri Lankan police in Manipay on Saturday evening.

Initial reports from the police suggested that the man was travelling in a group of 6 men on 3 motorbikes through the town in Jaffna. Police claimed the shooting took place after the man failed to stop at a checkpoint.

<p>The travel ban imposed on Lieutenant Commander G.Laksiri, a key witness in the case of the abduction and murder of 11 youth&nbsp;between 2008 and 2009,&nbsp;was temporarily lifted on July 17. The order was issued by Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanyake.&nbsp;</p> <p>Meanwhile, the case filed against Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, was also postponed until October 9.</p>

Major General Ruwan Wanigasooriya, the lastest commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in the Jaffna district met with Dr Suren Raghavan, the governor of the Northern Province, earlier this week, as both men faced criticism from local Tamils.

<p>UN Special Rapporteur Clément Nyalestsossi Voule is visiting Sri Lanka from 18 to 26 July 2019 to assess rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the country.</p> <p>Voule will assess issues related to the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, including their intersection with the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.</p>

<p>Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s prime minster said he will do his utmost to find a permanent solution to the national question in the next two years.</p> <p>“I would like to say that we have reached a political settlement. The issue will be resolved in the next two years. It will create an environment in which Sri Lankans can live with pride. I like the fact that we are Sri Lankans irrespective of our nationality. Everyone here should think that way,” he said.</p>

Mullaitivu based pastor Fr James Pathinanthan, a priest that survived the massacres at Mullivaikkal, passed away last week.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka said “respect for Sri Lanka’s sovereignty lies at the heart” of their security relationship with Colombo, and cited a case of Sri Lankan soldiers accused of committing crimes overseas facing legal proceedings on the island as an example of this.

<p>China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Cheng Xueyuan, warned Sri Lanka to be wary of external interference stating that China would not engage in internal affairs and that such behaviour only brings trouble, chaos and disasters.</p> <p>He further stated:</p> <blockquote><p>

^{File photograph: A Sri Lankan military plane at Palaly}

The announcement that commercial flights from India will soon be visiting Jaffna’s recently expanded Palaly airport excludes all flights from Chennai and the rest of Tamil Nadu, in an act of “Sinhala hegemony” said a Tamil politician this week.

A massive Buddhist stupa built by the Sri Lankan military was opened to serve the growing Sinhala settlements in the Navatkuli area.

<p>President Maithripala Sirisena has claimed that international drug syndicates orchestrated Sri Lanka’s deadly Easter Sunday bombings, although previously blaming the attacks on Islamist terrorists.</p> <p>In a statement released on Monday, Sirisena said the attacks “were the work of international drug dealers.”</p> <p>“Drug barons carried out this attack to discredit me and discourage my anti-narcotics drive. I will not be deterred,” he said.</p>