The appropriation of 20 acres of Land for military use in the North-East was delayed after land owners protested in front of the regional secretariat office in Pudhukudiyiruppu. 

Land owners, local villagers, TNA MPs Sivsakthi Nanthan and Vino Nogatharathalingam, and NPC member K Sivamohan participated in protests outside the secretariat office.

The Land Acquisition Officer who was blocked by protestors from entering the office consequently went to a nearby army base reports Uthayan.

The Jaffna Hindu College Old Boys Association (UK) (JHCOBA) denied a recent announcement that said orgisation had met with the new Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, during his visit to the UK.

Acknowledging a recent meeting between former students at Jaffna Hindu College and the Sri Lankan president, the JHCOBA UK said the organisation’s name had been unnecessarily been dragged into a personal meeting between the president and individuals.

Sri Lanka’s government appointed disappearances commission said in a report the Tamil deaths, caused by incessant government shelling of the so-called No Fire Zones (NFZ), were collateral damage and blame should rest with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Foreign experts, appointed to the commission by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, said civilians would have lost their protected status if they voluntarily assisted the LTTE.

“As unfortunate as it is, the civilian casualties should be considered collateral damage and the ultimate responsibility for their loss would rest on the LTTE due to their grave breaches of [international humanitarian law],”

Former minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said convincing the UN Human Rights Council and the US to postpone the release of the OHCHR report on the investigation into Sri Lanka was the new government’s greatest achievement so far.

Mr Samarasinghe, who represented Sri Lanka as former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s human rights envoy at previous HRC sessions, said the release of the report in March would have been “extremely dangerous” for the country.

"Various people may say various things but as a person who frequented Geneva and faced the US sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka, I was aware of what was in store for us. If it was taken up in March 2015 as scheduled, the result would have been extremely dangerous for the country," he said in parliament on Thursday.

Redbridge Council, a borough in the North-East of London, passed a motion calling on the British government and the UN to ensure justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Tamil people.

The motion, which was unopposed, also calls for a "permanent political solution addressing the root cause of the conflict which will meet the aspirations of the Tamil people in their home nation" and a mechanism which ensures that "socio-economic and cultural wellbeing is enhanced while safeguarding historical identity within their Tamil nation.”