Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, spoke at his home on Saturday about the reassignment of local council borders and the 'current' political situation.

Sampanthan claimed that resolving Tamil grievances was not a government priority and that he hoped for a meaningful action at the UN Human Rights Council in March.

Uthayan reports that Sampanthan further stated:

The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Rauff Hakeem, has claimed that an increase in anti-Muslim incidents could be due to an international conspiracy against Sri Lanka.

The Justice Minister urged the government to put a stop to the “hate campaign”, which included protests against halal meat, organised by Buddhist monks.

The body of a young woman was found in Visuvamadu, Kilinochchi, reports Tamilwin.

The body, found badly burnt, was discovered by a passerby in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police state that they have no further details on the identity or circumstances of the corpse.

The Chinese government has donated $50million worth of sports equipment to the government, for distribution amongst children in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi.

An agreement was signed by China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao and External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris at an event in Temple Trees, reported ColomboPage.

The Chinese Ambassador said at the function that he toured several areas in the North, including Jaffna, some time ago and observed the change that has taken place in the areas affected by the conflict.

Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister GL Peiris has criticised the raising of the impeachment of the former Chief Justice by countries like the UK, US and Canada, reported The Island.

"We have the situation in which, for example, the prime minister of one country is specifically calling for the reinstatement of former CJ,

A former member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group from 2010 to 2011, Sir Ronald Sanders, argues "it is time for the Commonwealth of Nations to suspend Sri Lanka from its councils", in an op-ed published in the Huntington News on Thursday.

See here for his full piece. Extracts published below:

"The Sri Lanka government has now seriously and persistently violated the principles to which every Commonwealth country has declared itself to be committed, and, according to the Commonwealth’s rules this is ground for suspension from its councils as a first step."

A US State Department delegation is set to visit Sri Lanka in the coming weeks to prepare for the United Nations Human Rights Council Session in March, reported Ceylon Today.

The delegation will reportedly consist of three deputy assistant secretaries in good governance, democracy and human rights working under r Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert O. Blake.

Ceylon Today quoted embassy sources as saying,

A central committee member of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), Kandeepan Thangarajah, has been threatened by Sri Lankan security forces and paramilitary group EPDP over his presence at protests against sand mining. 

Speaking to local residents at the protest whilst Thangarajah was not present, Point Pedro police and members of the paramilitary group, EPDP, accused Thangarajah of instigating the protests and warned protesters that he would be arrested if the protests did not stop.

Members of the Gurunagar Jaffna police force visited the TNPF Jaffna office on two separate occasions yesterday, asking questions about future protests.

On the first visit, the officers demanded to know if there were any protests planned in the near future, to which TNPF members reportedly replied no. Later in the day, the police officers returned asking whether the TNPF had been invited to partake in someone else's protest. It is not known which protest they were alluding to.