Sinhala Buddhist monks staged a rally in Colombo yesterday in support of Myanmar’s military offensive in the Rakhine state, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

The Tamil National People's Front continued its commemorations of Lt. Col. Thileepan with tributes to mark the second day of his hunger strike.

A sudden police operation round-up in Thunnalai on Friday morning has resulted in three arrests.

Point Pedro police said they carried out the operation in the early hours following an anonymous tip-off.

Thunnalai and surrounding villages in the Vadamaradchi area have been subjected to repeated operations, including deployments of Special Task Force troops.

Relations between locals and security forces remain tense since police shot and killed a Thunnalai man in July.

Thileepan was remembered in Mullaitivu at an event organised by the Tamil National People’s Front in Puthukudiyiruppu.

24 Tamil civilians killed in a Sri Lankan Air Force strike on Mullaitivu in 1999 were remembered in Manthuvil, the location of the massacre, today.

Families of former LTTE cadres and members of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) gathered in Nallur today to remember the 30 year anniversary of Lt Col Thileepan commencing his fast unto death. 

The event was held at the Thileepan memorial, which was cleaned and decorated yesterday by TNPF members ahead of the commemorations. 

Students at the University of Jaffna today remembered the day Lt Col Thileepan commenced his fast unto death in Nallur on September 30, 1987. 

Laying flowers in his memory, many students and members of staff gathered on the campus grounds to recall his sacrifice 30 years on. 

The grounds were cleared and decorated, and a temporary monument set up, by the university's Student Union.

The event was watched by intelligence personnel, which student union leaders said they had grown accustomed to.

The Kanagapuram LTTE cemetery can be restored with the Divisional Secretariat’s permission, the Kilinochchi Magistrate Court has ruled.

Judge A. A. Anantharajah made the ruling on Thursday in the case filed by families of fallen cadres who were stopped from restoring the cemetery by police.

The International Movement Against all forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) called on the United Nations to “tighten its grip on Sri Lanka” to ensure it fulfills commitments laid out in a resolution passed in 2015.

In a statement delivered at the 36^th session of the Human Rights Council said it shared “growing concerns on the slow progress of the Government in fulfilling its promises in Resolution 30/1”.

Preparations have been underway to commemorate the hunger strike of Thileepan, whose fast began 30 years ago on Friday.