The people of Keppapilavu, Mullaitivu held a protest to coincide with the visit of the Sri Lankan president, demanding their own lands be returned to them.

Although President Maithripala Sirisena cancelled his visit, reportedly due to poor weather, a public function was held to mark the return of some Mullaitivu lands.

However many displaced Tamils maintain that the released lands are not usually their original properties, but alternative lands.

The US-based Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) met with officials from the Sri Lankan government in Colombo on Tuesday, the DailyFT reports.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry will open an office in Jaffna this week.

The Regional Consular office will be located in Jaffna’s District Secretariat and will provide certain services that were previously only provided in Colombo.

A pregnant mother was violently murdered in Kayts on Tuesday.

27-year-old Ramsika Mary Gnaneswaran, seven months pregnant and mother-of-one, was beaten to death while home alone on Siruvil Road, Kayts.

Two suspects, reported to be steel traders from outside the area were arrested after Kayts police chased their auto down, and two further arrests were later made.

Sri Lanka's Court of Appeals has reinstated an appeal filed by the wife of Tamil MP Nadarajah Raviraj, against a verdict passed last month acquitting all of the suspects accused of his murder.

Shashikala Raviraj, the wife of the murdered MP, challenged the Colombo High Court's decision last month, but her initial appeal was dismissed on January 19th. However the appeal will now be taken up for support by the Apellate Court on March 3rd.

Three fishermen from Neduntheevu (Delft) were assaulted by Sri Lankan navy officers last week.

Thiyogupillai Yesuthasan, Sahayan Selvan and Mariathas Vasantharaj were forced to land ashore on Kachaithivu, after their boat ran out of fuel on Friday.

The three were arrested by navy officers stationed at the island and beaten severely with batons.

After being kept overnight at the camp, the fishermen were ejected from the island still with a fuel-less boat.

Following days of protests, Tamil Nadu has passed a new bill allowing Jallikattu – a controversial bull-taming sport that is central to the harvest festival.

In 2014, the Supreme Court banned Jallikattu on the grounds of animal cruelty. Animal rights activists say that the practice causes stress to the bulls as they are released into a crowd and try to fend off people that try to ride them. However, the government temporarily lifted the ban on Saturday.

Relatives of missing persons and the forcibly disappeared have begun a hunger strike in Vavuniya.

In an open letter to the Sri Lankan president, the signatories said they had exhausted all other avenues in the search for information about their missing loved ones, including countless domestic commissions and probes.

The hunger strikers in the letter said,

China’s Foreign Ministery urged the new US administration to adhere to the “one China” policy when dealing with Taiwan in a statement made on Monday.

Speaking at a regular press briefing in Bejing, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, said,

“We urge the new administration to fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and to continue pursuing the one China policy.”

A United States navy vessel has departed from Colombo, following a five-day visit to the island, starting last week.

The US Naval Ship 'Hopper' arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday, where it was greeted by the Sri Lankan Navy.

A large scale grant-based Sinhalese settlement will be built on public land in Naavatkuli, Jaffna, despite local opposition.

250 Sinhalese beneficiaries have been chosen to receive houses built on land owned by the National Housing Development Authority in Naavatkuli.

After the end of the war, Sinhalese people had settled with temporary buildings in Naavatkuli, and were later granted land permit documents by the Rajapaksa government.

The Right to Information Act will be enacted on February 3rd, the Sri Lankan government said last week, issuing a gazette notification. 

Indian officials have denied any interest in developing the Trincomalee port, reports the New Indian Express.

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Sri Lanka met with the Commander of Sri Lanka’s security forces in Jaffna last week.