The Catholic Church has reiterated calls for Sri Lankan authorities to remove presidential election posters which feature the image of Pope Francis with incumbent Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, ahead of a visit by the Pope next month.

The Church’s statement comes after the director for the media and information center for the Pope’s visit urged Sri Lankan parties last week to refrain from using the pope’s image to further their election campaigns.

(Pictures: Nivens Photos)

A memorial sculpture, commemorating Tamils who died in the war, has been unveiled in the German town of Essen, in North-Rhine Westphalia state.

Hundreds of German Tamils attended the unveiling ceremony in a cemetery in the Essen suburb of Fulerum on Saturday, two days after Maveerar Naal was held in Dortmund's Westfalenhalle.

The Sri Lankan government has welcomed the decision by the European Union to appeal October's judgement by the General Court of the European Union, to annul the European Council's measures taken against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was designated as a terrorist organisation in 2006.

In a statement, the country's Ministry of External Affairs said that activities by the LTTE continued in Europe and added the government remained committed to  providing further assistance to the EU in regards to this matter.

"The action taken by the Council of the European Union demonstrates commitment for the fight against terrorism at a time when this threat is increasingly posing a significant challenge to global peace and stability, necessitating a collective and vigorous international effort to counter," the MEA statement said.

The Indian government is satisfied with bilateral ties with Sri Lanka, its National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, said to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to the Sri Lankan government's official news portal.

The common opposition candidate for next month’s presidential elections, Maithripala Sirisena, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with several parties and civil society groups.

The signing, under the patronage of member of the Buddhist clergy, Maduluwawe Sobitha, took place earlier today in Colombo.

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike, UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe and Democratic Party chief Sarath Fonseka were amongst the signatories who signed the MoU.

See full text of the MoU here.

Sirisena began his election campaign on Sunday, with a rally in his constituency of Pollonurawa, alongside Wickremasinghe.