<p>The United National Front (UNF) says it held successful talks with the United National Party Deputy Leader and Presidential hopeful, Sajith Premadasa on Saturday.</p> <p>Mano Ganesan, a UNF member and Tamil Progressive Alliance leader said that several important decisions were reached during the talks.</p>

Shops and transportation links were shut down across many parts of the Jaffna peninsula today, as businesses expressed solidarity with the Ezhuka Tamil rally taking place.

With no further information on the whereabouts of their loved ones, families of the disappeared in Jaffna protested outside Sri Lanka’s Office of Missing Persons (OMP) office in the district on Sunday.

Though Sri Lanka’s president signed the gazette for the OMP more than two years ago, relatives of the disappeared have repeatedly criticised the office for failing to consult with war-affected victims and for not having the mandate to adequately investigate forcible disappearances.

Hundreds of Tamils gathered in Jaffna on Sunday to commemorate Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who began a fast unto death 32 years ago.

Australian Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, has described Tamil children as “anchor babies” accusing activists of cost bullying the government in asylum seeker fights that cost taxpayers “millions of dollars”.

The comments were made on 2GB radio on Thursday as Dutton spoke on the case of Tamil asylum seekers who are trying to avoid being deported from Biloela, a rural town in Australia. Priya, Nadesalingam and their two Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2, have continued to their appeal and gained support from the local and global community. 

 

<p>The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will examine more than 530 cases from 36 countries, including Sri Lanka, during their 119th session in Geneva.</p> <p>The Working Group, comprised of five independent experts, will meet relatives of the disappeared, state authorities, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to exchange information on individual cases and on the persistent practice of enforced disappearances.</p>

<p>Sri Lanka's Northern Province governor, Suren Raghavan, has ordered the authorities to keep schools in the North open tomorrow.</p> <p>Politicians requested schools to close in support of a major rally in Jaffna tomorrow, which has been organised by the Tamil People’s Council. The Jaffna rally is being staged to demand the authorities to address issues and concerns of Tamil people in the North and East.</p> <p>The Northern Provincial Education Ministry announced that all schools in the Northern Province will remain functional on Monday.</p>

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force opened fire in Jaffna on Saturday, with latest reports indicating that at least one Tamil youth has been admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds.

The injured youth has been identified as 20-year-old Kisnarajah Sajeevan. He has been admitted to a Jaffna hospital with injuries to his leg.

Tensions are reportedly high in the Ariyalai region where the shooting took place. Sri Lankan police have reportedly claimed that the youth was involved in illegal sand-mining, but little information on the incident has been released.

More to follow.

Tamils in Jaffna have called for direct flights to Chennai, as part of a recent expansion of Palaly airport which will see commercial flights from India visiting the peninsula.

The naming of new gecko species after mythical Sinhala nationalist figures has angered nationalist parliamentarians and Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka.

At least six new geckos were named by scientists after Sinhala mythical figures, including giant warriors Nandimithra and Gotaimbara, who reportedly fought against the Tamil Chola King. The practice follows that of the Sri Lankan military, which has named colonised villages and statues in honour of the mythical figures.

Four other reptiles were named after Sinhala chiefs from the 1818 Uva rebellion against British colonial rule, who Sri Lanka’s president had called "patriotic national heroes".