Rival political parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) have agreed to form an alliance and contest the local elections together.

Following weeks of disappointing negotiations with Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has put forward a seven-day ultimatum to meet three key demands.

The three demands are:

Responding to the Canadian government imposing historic sanctions on the former president and prime minister of Sri Lanka, British MP Gareth Thomas has slammed the British government for its failure to follow suit.

With the announcement of local elections across the island, the Tamil National Alliance, the largest alliance representing Tamils in the North-East, is in flux over divisions between and within the constituent parties.

US-based advocacy organisation People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) welcomed Canada's targeted sanctions against the Rajapaksa brothers and other Sri Lankan military officials but urged the international community to go further to ensure justice and accountability for Tamils. 

Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly has announced targeted sanctions against Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa as well as Sunil Ratnayake and Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi for “gross and systematic violations of human rights during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka”.

The sanctions will effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada, bar them from financial or related services and deem them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Commenting on the sanctions Joly stated:

V Mannivannan with TMTK leader C V Wigneswaran

Viswalingham Mannivannan has joined the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootani (TMTK) party ahead of the island's local elections. 

A remembrance event was held in Jaffna today to mark the 49th anniversary since the killing of eleven Tamils by Sri Lankan police officers at the 1974 World Tamil Research Conference. 
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On January 10, 1974, the final day of the conference, Sri Lankan police officers, led by the Deputy Inspector of Police for Jaffna, Chandrasekara, opened fire at the audience, killing 11 civilians. 
Chandrasekara was later promoted to the post of Inspector of Police by the then-prime minister, Srimavo Bandaranayaka.

Captain Pandithar, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was commemorated on the 38th anniversary of his passing at his residence in Valvettithurai, Jaffna yesterday. 

Pandithar served in the political wing of the LTTE and lost his life during a clash with the Sri Lankan army in 1985 near Avarangal, Jaffna.    

Koppay police excavated private land in Kokuvil, Jaffna after they allegedly received a "tip-off" that weapons belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were buried there. 

The police obtained permission from Jaffna Magistrate Court to carry out the excavations. Despite excavating four different sites, no weapons were recovered. 

Sri Lankan state forces have been accused of using weapons raids as a cover for continued repression and surveillance of the North-East.