Land protestors at Keppapulavu protested on the main road yesterday for May Day, staging an oppari or lament chorus.

Sri Lanka's latest draft of the Counter Terrorism Act was approved by cabinet last week, despite continuing concerns about serious restrictions to fundamental rights.

A widely criticised early draft was amended in another version, however the draft apprived by the cabinet last Tuesday saw some of the controversial sections re-introduced.

Families of the disappeared were joined by Kilinochchi locals and civil society groups for a march on May Day.

Tamil civil society groups in Trincomalee held a rally on May Day, calling for locals’ land and livelihood rights to be restored.

Sri Lanka must fully and rapidly implement its commitments to accountability as laid out in UN Human Rights Council resolutions, the Tamil National Alliance said at its May Day rally.

Media freedom in Sri Lanka remains in a “difficult situation” according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2017 World Press Freedom Index, with the island ranking 141^st in the world in their annual listing.

The ranking leaves Sri Lanka in the exact same position as last year, behind countries such as Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

Also known as Reporters sans frontiers, the non-government organisation went on to note that attacks on journalists, such as that of Freddy Gamage in June 2016, 2016 “fuelled the doubts of both the public and media freedom defenders”.

Labour and civil society groups in Jaffna marked May Day with a rally outside the university today.

After ten years of displacement and over a month of protest, the people of Mullikulam in Mannar set foot again in their lands for the first time on Sunday.

The Sri Lankan military celebrated the refurbishment of a military base in Vanni this month, which includes the renovation of a badminton court at the 62 Division headquarters.

A bus carrying military personnel was targeted by unidentified individuals throwing rocks, causing damage to the vehicle.

Army Spokesman Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne said on Friday that the bus was travelling to Vavuniya via Mullaithivu on Thursday, during the North-East-wide shutdown, when it was targeted.

Mullaithivu police has launched an investigation to catch those responsible. No arrests have been made.