A racial-hate group from the South has been found by Sri Lankan intelligence to be responsible for the vandalism of Buddha statues in the North-East, reports the Uthayan.

Kilinochchi locals have criticised the recent appointment of two Sinhalese workers to a local government office.

The new appointees at Karaichchi Divisional Secretariat reportedly do not speak any Tamil, drawing criticism from locals who have questioned the new recruits’ suitability to serve an entirely Tamil-speaking division.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be compelled to leave the Sri Lanka's constitutional reform process unless the government commits to finding a solution to the national question through further devolution, said the Dharmalingam Siddharthan. 

A Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander Mapa Mudiyanselage Dhammikka Anila Mapa, was remanded on Monday over the disappearance and abduction of two Tamils in 2009, Vaduveli Pakkilasamy Loganathan and Ratnasamy Paramanandan. 

The officer was working with the navy intelligence wing at the time, the Daily Mirror reported. He has been remanded until January 26. 

A former LTTE cadre was arrested on Saturday evening by the Terrorism Investigation Department.

Murugaiyah Thavendran from Thiruvaiyaaru, Kilinochchi, a former cadre that had been through Sri Lanka's 'rehabilitation' process, was arrested by persons identifying as TID police.

Mr Thavendran's whereabouts are currently unknown to his family, who have filed reports with Kilinochchi police and the Kilinochchi citizen's committee.

Sirisena’s government will never agree to a federal solution, the Sri Lankan president stated at a gathering.

Addressing a political gathering in Galle on Saturday, the president said “my government will never agree to grant federalism in this country”.

The president accused some parts of the media of abusing press freedom and spreading misinformation, including rumours that GSP+ was being restored to Sri Lanka to pave the way for federalism.

The Sri Lankan government on Friday rejected changes called for by the European Union as part of a programme of commitment enabling the preferential trade tarrif GSP+ to be granted. 

Despite calls for homosexuality to be decriminalised and for a two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to approve the introduction of a state of emergency, the government has dropped these two changes in its five year, National Human Rights Action Plan (NHAP), the SundayTimes.lk reported. 

The Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday marked the Tamil harvest festival of Thai Pongal, with a special video message of celebration.

Valvettithurai's annual Pongal kite-flying festival took place on Uthayasuriyan beach today, with hundreds in attendance.

In a ceremony in Thyiddy, Jaffna today, the military professed to hand over a 2-acre Oorani Fishing Anchor Point to fishermen who have been displaced from the area for 27 years, but instead gave over a new unconstructed anchor point which is in a rocky area unsuitable for docking and launching fishing boats.  The 4 pre-existing anchor points in Oorani still remain under military control.  

Chief Minister Wigneswaran met with Ontario's Premier on Wednesday to discuss strengthening the relationship between the Northern Province and Ontario.

Ontario's Premier, Kathleen Wynne, told the Chief Minister that Ontario was interested in strengthening the relationship between the North and Ontario, including to strengthen support for the Northern Province in economic development, women's empowerment, institutional governance and public sector capacity building.

Sri Lanka's prime minister said moves to restore European Union trade concessions were a victory for his government and for "all of Sri Lanka", after the European Commission recommended reinstating the GSP+.

"The government's commitment over the last two years, towards protecting human rights is now bearing results," declared the prime minister. The GSP+ was revoked from Sri Lanka under the previous  government.

The Global Tamil Forum on Thursday called on the Sri Lankan government to implement the Consultation Task Force's recommendations "expeditiously". 

Amnesty International said it was “dismayed” at how the Sri Lankan government dismissed the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, which recommended the involvement of international judges in an accountability mechanism.