Students from a Jaffna school yesterday rallied against the increasing and widespread use of illicit drugs and associated violence. 

The rally comes as a number of Tamil politicians in the North-East accused the Sri Lankan military of tacit involvement or actively running drug cartels through gangs. 

<p>British MPs have welcomed the issuing of an arrest warrant for a Sri Lankan brigadier who was filmed motioning a death threat to Tamil protestors in 2018.</p> <p>The Westminster Magistrates Court issued an arrest warrant for Brigadier Priyanka Fernando of the Sri Lankan army earlier this week, after finding him guilty of committing public order offences whilst stationed in London.</p> <p>Fernando was found guilty of violating sections 5 and 4A of the Public Order Act, with the court stating that his actions were threatening, caused harassment, and that he intended them to be so.</p>

The Mullaitivu court has ordered an interim injunction on works to a disputed Buddha statue being constructed by a Tamil Hindu temple in Neeraviyadi in Semmalai.

The case regarding the legality of the statue, which was hurriedly declared open by Sinhala Buddhist monks on Wednesday, was heard before the Mullaitivu magistrates judge Lenin Kumar on Thursday.

The judge adjourned the case until February 12, until which an injunction has been placed on building works to the Buddha statue. The judge also ordered the Director General of the Sri Lankan archaeology department to appear before the court on this date.

The Sri Lankan military further consolidated its presence in the North-East with the construction of yet another army building in Mullaitivu this month.

An official military website announced the opening of “a recreational centre” for troops, fully equipped with “newspapers and reading materials, TVs, indoor games and other recreational tools”.

^{Photograph: ColomboPage}

At least two American nationals have been arrested by Sri Lankan Special Task Force after the reported seizure of over 90kg of heroin from a hotel room in Colombo.

The two Americans were held alongside an Afghan national and a Sri Lankan after 95.88 kg of heroin worth more than Rs.1 billion was seized by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) and the STF in Kollupitiya earlier this week.

<p>The British government has said that it looks to Sri Lanka to deliver on commitments made to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) "in full” after calls to refer the island to the International Criminal Court (ICC).</p> <p>Over 18,000 British citizens and UK residents have signed a petition calling on Sri Lanka to be referred to the ICC, stating that Colombo has “failed to implement the resolution and brazenly repudiated its commitments to the UNHRC and victims of the war”.</p>

Parents in Vavuniya protested on Monday, criticising the local authorities' failure to ensure adequate sports facilities at the village school, forcing children to walk long distances for the use of sports grounds. 

Students and staff at Vipulanantha College in Vavuniya joined parents at the protest. 

Villagers from Madu Divisional Secretariat's area held a protest on January 23, condemning the authorities' failure to ensure basic facilities. 

Blocking the main entrance of the Secretariat, protesters said that the issue of the lack of basic facilities had not been addressed for several years despite enumerous requests. 

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, today held meetings with Japan's ambassador and Australia's High Commissioner. 

The meeting comes after Sri Lanka's political crisis at the end of last year which resulted in Sampanthan losing his position as opposition leader, despite much protest by the TNA. 

The TNA spokesperson and MP, M A Sumanthiran was also present in the meetings. 

Sri Lankan army soldiers and police stopped and searched a Tamil member of Vavuniya South Divisional Secretariat on  Wednesday as she was returning hom after attending an event in in Omanthai. 

Anchala Kokilakumar, was searched despite producing her National ID card and stating that she was a member of the Divisional Secretariat.