Batticaloa lawyers protested and joined their colleagues across the North-East in boycotting court proceedings on Monday.

The Sri Lankan Army's Mannar-based 542 Brigade held a blood donation event at the Murunkan Hospital on Sunday.

Hospital sources said that the donation was not requested by the hospital itself but that the event was initiated and organised by the brigade's commander.

Black July remembrance events took place on Sunday organised by the Tamil National People's Front.

Members and supporters of the party, as well as survivors of the pogrom and family members of victims participated in events in Batticaloa and in Jaffna.

A Tamil youth has died on Monday and another seriously injured in Batticaloa after running from Special Task Forces firing shots in the air.

Brothers, 17-year-old Sathakaran Mathushan and 18-year-old Sathakaran Kishanthan were reportedly loading sand into a tractor on the banks of the Munthankumaraveli River when approached by Special Task Force troops, who immediately started firing shots in the air to scare and disperse the youngsters.

The brothers dived in the river in an attempt to escape the troops but were overcome by the strong currents.

Sri Lanka's Minister of Ports and Shipping, Mahinda Samarasinghe announced this month that the government would be commencing on a three year plan to develop Trincomalee harbour. 

The harbour's current four terminals would be developed for commercial ventures, the minister added. 

The development plan involves identifying 10,000 hectares of land which would be gazetted, Colombo Page reported. 

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry met with defence officials on Monday to discuss the security forces exchange of 'expertise and experience' with other countries, Colombo Page reported. 

According to the paper, a discussion also took place on "how security forces can contribute in the effort to strengthen the living conditions of the people in the North and the East" and "how to correct misimpression about the security forces of Sri Lanka, if any, among the global community."

A Tamil widow has filed a complaint with the Northern Irish police's ombudsman over the Royal Ulster Constabulary's links to the Sri Lankan police force which was responsible for the massacre of 10 of her relatives in 1986, the Irish Times reported. 

Officers from Sri Lanka visited Belfast in 1983 in the wake of some of the worst killings of the Troubles to meet with the RUC's elite commando unit and "see at first hand the role of the police and army in counter-terrorist operations", British government files revealed. 

The Sri Lankan prime minister on Saturday raised the possibility of introducing regulation of social media sites such as Facebook, arguing that the time had come for the government to consider such legislation. 

“Modern technology society has changed the issues which the legal sector in particular is facing. For example consider the internet, Facebook. If you regulate Face Book and the internet is it a violation of Fundamental Rights?" he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Human rights concerns remain in Sri Lanka said the newly elected as the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, Paul Scully, who pledged to continue to raise the issue internationally.

In a statement released on Monday Mr Scully said he would “support the interests of the Tamil community here in the UK”.

“The United Nations Human Rights Council recognises that the process is slow and that concerns remain about human rights in Sri Lanka,” he added. “The APPG will continue to raise this in the UK Parliament, in Brussels and Geneva aiming to keep this in the mind of the government, the EU and the United Nations.”

Sri Lanka’s president blamed “extreme elements” in Tamil areas of the island for refusing to accept housing allocated by his government and of instead backing a “demand [for] lands from other areas”, in a meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman.