The commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in Jaffna met with senior Sinhala Buddhists monks from the South in Jaffna this month,  to discuss “reconciliation”.

A group of Sri Lankan police officers have been held on remand over the murder of two Tamil students earlier this year.

The five policemen have been remanded until the 30th of December following a court order by the Jaffna additional magistrate.

Batticaloa Chief Buddhist Monk, Ampitiye Sumanarathana, was released on bail after being charged for gathering people in a manner that disrupted law and order.

On December 3rd he led a group that insisted on letting a bus full of Bodhu Sala Sena (BBS) monks from the south into Batticaloa. Sumanarathana climbed on top of police barriers and recited hate speech against Tamils and Muslims. 

The leader of the TMVP, Sivanesadurai Chandrakanthan (commonly known as Pillaiyan) along with three party members, have been re-remanded over the murder of Joseph Pararajasingam in 2005.

Pararajasingam was the Batticaloa district parliamentarian and member of the current opposition, the Tamil National Alliance. He was shot dead on Christmas Day at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Batticaloa. 

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe thanked navy commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne for breaking up a protest in the weekend and 'rescuing' two ships that were boarded by demonstrators.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) stated that it was keen to engage in talks with the international community, and India in particular, over Sri Lanka's proposed new constitution, reports the Daily Mirror.

Sri Lanka, along with Malaysia and Mongolia, is most vulnerable to direct and indirect effects of sustained capital outflows, Moody's Investors Service said in its report published this week on sovereign risk. 

The former head of the Sri Lankan military, Minister Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday rejected news reports earlier this month that the navy commander had assaulted a journalist in Hambantota, claiming instead the navy commander had pushed the journalist away from a security circle. 

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said his government would use growing international relations to help strengthen the military, in a speech made this week.

Addressing a military graduation ceremony on Monday, Mr Sirisena praised the “that knowledge, bravery, talent, skill and militancy shown by the military forces immensely helped to defeat the ruthless terrorist organization”.

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province CV Wigneswaran said out of the tens of thousands of acres of land occupied by the Sri Lankan military, only 5.2% of it had been returned to Tamil families.

Speaking in Jaffna this weekend to mark International Human Rights Day, the chief minister said out of 67,000 acres of private land owned by Tamils that were seized by the Sri Lankan armed forces, only 3,500 acres have been released.

Several Malaysian political parties and non governmental organisations have lodged protests over Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's visit to the country.

Thousands of Tamils gathered in Dortmund last month to remember those that sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the Tamil nation.

Members of the Tamil National People’s Front marked 10 years since the death of Anton Balasingham, the chief political strategist of the LTTE, today.

The US State Department this week announced it would be offering up to $1.7 million for transitional justice and reconciliation projects in Sri Lanka.