There was a tense situation in Vavuniya on Tuesday after Sri Lankan soldiers and Special Task Force (STF) officers conducted a search operation in Puthur. 

Locals expressed alarm at the numbers of officers deployed in the reported operation as well as the 'stop and searches' carried out. 

According to the police, the operation followed a tip off regarding a suspect in the area, who reportedly escaped after throwing his bag into the bushes. The bag contained a pistol, four hand grenades and bullets, the police say. 

Sajith Premadasa, a senior UNP leader, joined Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena at a religious ceremony in Colombo this week, to invoke blessings on a Sinhala Buddhist monk who has marched against an international investigation into human rights abuses.

<p>The Washington based group, PEARL, today called on the United States and European Union to push for justice for the five Tamil students massacred on Trincomalee beach 13 years ago.&nbsp;</p> <p>"On the 2nd of January, 2006, Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force killed five Tamil students who had met on the beach in Trincomalee. The victims were all 20 years of age at the time of the killings," PEARL noted in a statement.&nbsp;</p> <p>"Today, 13 years to the date, the crime remains unpunished. Despite a commission of inquiry and two police investigation, the perpetrators are yet to be held accountable. The OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka determined “there are reasonable grounds to believe that security force personnel, including STF personnel, killed the five students”.</p>

Locals in Trincomalee gathered today at the beach to remember the massacre of five students, known as the 'Trinco 5'. 

The event, organised by a local youth organisation, was attended by residents and members of political parties. 

The Jesuit priest, Rev Fr Benjamin Henry Miller S J passed away yesterday on January 1 in Batticaloa. 

Rev Miller was a human rights defender, who was pivotal in documenting the tens of thousands of disappeared in the area. 

His funeral was held today, with colleagues and locals, including local school students and teachers turning out to pay their respects. 

The United States ambassador, Alaina Teplitz sent a condolence message, which was read out by the Bishop of Batticaloa.

<p>The Sri Lankan government has not given the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) any promises that are ‘harmful’ to Sri Lanka in exchange for its support, a United National Party (UNP) minister has said.</p> <p>Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said that even he would not be prepared to work with the government anymore if it paved the way for separatism or ‘ethnic division’, according to Daily News.</p> <p>There was no truth to rumours that the government had promised the TNA it would ‘separate’ the country and the TNA had simply sought the government’s consent on a number of issues affecting people in the North, the minister said.</p>

<p>A new Sri Lankan constitution, the focus of the Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) efforts since 2015 will still ensure foremost place given to Buddhism, and will feature the Sinhala term for unitary state in all three languages (Sinhala, Tamil and English).</p> <p>The decision to preserve the article which prioritises Buddhism was taken unanimously by the United National Party (UNP), the United National Front (UNF) and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.</p> <p>TNA leaders have said they are confident that a draft constitution will be presented to parliament by February 4 this year.</p>

<p>Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa called on people to “protect our motherland from enemy forces” in a New Year’s message released yesterday.</p> <p>“I wish all Sri Lankans a new year full of new hope and optimism,” he <a href="http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/-Hope-all-Sri-Lankans-will-unite-to-p…">said</a>.</p>

<p>A Sri Lankan minister has admitted that the country’s cricket board has been ranked the world’s most corrupt by the sport’s governing body, after a series of scandals have rocked the administration.</p> <p>The International Cricket Council (ICC) feels "Sri Lanka's cricket administration is corrupt from top to bottom", said sports minister Harin Fernando said, after meeting with officials, including ICC anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall, in Dubai.</p>

<p>Political turmoil in Sri Lanka looks set to continue in the year ahead, warned analysts from consultancy groups this week, with worries that investors may have underestimated the crisis on the island.</p> <p>Sasha Riser-Kositsky, senior analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC that the current impasse is “at best an uneasy and fragile truce”.</p>