Shops owned by Muslims in Vavuniya were set alight during the early hours of Monday monday by unknown persons. 

Local police commenced investigations this morning. 

Parents of deceased Tamil cadres were honored at an event by the Crusadors for Democracy Party at their head office in Kaiveli on Saturday.

Over 200 Tamil cadres were remembered with families of the cadres placing garlands around their photos.

Two further Thuyilam Illams (LTTE resting homes) in Chatty, Jaffna district and Thaavarai, Batticaloa district were cleared by families of the Maaveerar and local residents this week, ahead of remembrance day events on November 27, Maaveerar Naal. 

Forty-one Tamils have been arrested over the last two days in Jaffna district, the police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara. 

The arrests come after a spate of reported sword attacks in Jaffna, which the police have blamed on 'Aava group'. 

Police officers carried out searches in Jaffna, Koppay, Manipay and Chunnakam. 

According to the police spokesperson the arrests over the past two days comes based on information gathered following interrogations of six Tamils arrested last week. 

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka on Saturday reiterated the government's position that all army camps in the North-East would not be closed down. 

Speaking in parliament on Saturday, Mr Fonseka stressed that "key army camps in the North will not be closed down", the Sunday Leader reported. 

He accused the Joint Opposition of "spreading false claims". 

"The need to maintain a military presence in the North and East is similar to the need to maintain a military presence in the South of the country," he added. 

The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday arrested eight Tamil Nadu fishermen for allegedly fishing off the cost of Katchatheevu, PTI reported. 

The men have been taken to Kaarainagar, the assistant director of fisheries, Gopinath was quoted by the paper as saying. 

The men's boats were also seized and fishing nets snapped. 

The arrest is the latest in the ongoing issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen being arrested by Sri Lankan navy personnel. 

The Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday visited the Gintota in Galle where Muslim homes and business were attacked amid clashes between Muslim and Sinhala residents. 

Pledging legal action against those responsible, Mr Wickremesinghe was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, “a major disaster erupted because of people spreading rumours. We can’t station Police and military here forever. So everyone should live peacefully."

The Sri Lankan government has built an apparel village over Menik Farm, the site of a former IDP camp where over 300,000 Tamils were interned by the Sri Lankan army and where rape, torture and enforced disappearances of IDPs were reported to be occuring routinely. 

The village of garment factories was hailed by Sri Lanka's ministry of industry and commerce as a step towards reconciliation. 

However, the move has been widely criticised by Tamil civil society groups who have described it as an attempt to whitewash sites synonymous with the Sri Lankan military's crimes committed against Tamils. 

The Northern Provincial Council minister of education on reportedly refused to hoist the Sri Lankan flag at an event in Vavuniya. 

S Sarveswaran, who had been invited as the chief guest to an event at a school in Vavuniya, was requested to hoist the flag during the playing of Sri Lanka's national anthem. 

The event was held to distribute bicycles to students at the school. 

Jaffna's High Court judge M Ilancheliyan has ordered Sri Lanka's army commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake to appear in court on January 18 in relation to disappearances in army custody in 1996, Ceylon Today reported. 

Twenty-four Tamil youths disappeared after they were taken into army custody on July 19, 1996 at Navakkuli.