Sri Lankan ministers alleged today in parliament that the Tamil youth leading the 'Boycott Sri Lankan Cricket' campaign had issued death threats to Sri Lankan cricket team, reports the Daily Mirror. 

Claiming that the activists had been hired by 'certain groups to carryout various activities including death threats against Sri Lankan cricketers who are participating in the ongoing Champions Trophy one day tournament', the government said they would be investigating the matter. 

Human Rights Watch slammed the Sri Lankan government's proposed new media code as "overbroad and vague language that could have a severe and chilling effect on free".

In a statement released earlier this week, HRW said: 

"The proposed code comes at a time when the government has taken various measures to clamp down on Sri Lanka’s once vibrant media, including forcing some electronic media critical of the government to close down."

The leader of the National Freedom Front, a key ally in President Rajapakse’s coalition government, has claimed that india is supporting separatist forces in Sri Lanka, after the invitation extended by Delhi to the TNA.

"It was no secret that India aided the separatist forces in Sri Lanka," Wimal Weerawansa told reporters.

The Secretary to the Sri Lankan President, Lalith Weeratunge has claimed that the people of Jaffna have made “fervent appeals” to keep the army on the peninsula.

“Many lands have been returned, and ones that are needed for public purposes will be retained. The HSZ has shrunk by almost 60%. Many peace loving residents of Jaffna have made fervent appeals to retain the Armed Forces because of their post conflict welfare activities,” Weeratunga said in a Twitter interview today.

More photos and videos have emerged of the violence in London yesterday, as Sri Lankan cricket fans hurled racist abuse and attacked Tamil activists who were campaigning outside the Oval cricket stadium.

Find full coverage of the event here: Sri Lankan cricket fans attack #BoycottLKA activists in London (18 June 2013)

The video below was sent to Tamil Guardian by an activist, which shows Tamil activists being beaten and dragged into the road by a mob of Sri Lanka cricket fans.

The Sri Lanka fans hurled racist abuse at the Tamils, with police struggling to cope as hundreds more swarmed around the small group of activists.

See more photos of Sri Lanka cricket fans attacking Tamils, as an elderly Tamil man and child take cover on TamilWin here.

The cricket fans were screaming "F*** Tamils!" and "One nation!" as police reinforcements arrived and attempted to herd the Sri Lankan fans away from the Tamils. Bottles and rocks were then launched towards the 20 or so activists, as the Sri Lankan fans continued to chant.

The British Council will hold a global education forum in Colombo, with attendees from several countries coming together to discuss international higher education issues.

“Global education dialogues are organised around the world to bring together key policy-makers and influences so that they can reflect on and debate the challenges and opportunities facing international higher education,” the British Council said in a statement.