Tamil families of the disappeared who have been demanding information regarding the whereabouts of their loved ones, marked 868 days of protest last week, with a rally through Vavuniya town.

Tamil National Alliance leader, R. Sampathan, stressed in a speech in southern Matara, that a political solution to the ethnic tensions which has plagued Sri Lanka is needed to attract economic investment and promote a better quality of life.

Sri Lanka’s president vowed never to allow “foreign forces” to challenge the sovereignty of Sri Lanka, as he voiced his opposition to signing a status-of-forces agreement (SOFA) with the United States.

“I will not allow the SOFA that seeks to betray the nation,” Maithripala Sirisena said at a rally earlier this month. “Some foreign forces want to make Sri Lanka one of their bases. I will not allow them to come into the country and challenge our sovereignty.”

A 22-year old Tamil student from Batticaloa passed away from injuries sustained in the Easter Sunday attacks this week, as the death toll from the bombings rose once more.

Karunagaran Umasankari, a second year arts student at Eastern University, was attending a service at the Zion Church in Batticaloa on Easter Sunday when a suicide bomber triggered an explosive device at the premises. At least 31 others were killed with her, including fourteen children.

India has granted a 300 million rupee grant to support the renovation of the Jaffna Palaly airport which is expected to be a centre for business and tourist traffic between Sri Lanka’s North and India.

Earlier, the Indian ministry of external affairs (MEA) had stalled the development of the airport due to concerns over political instability.

The villagers of Keppapilavu who have been calling for the released of their occupied land for more than 863 days criticised Tamil politicians, stating that they have been “forsaken”. 

Reports have emerged that the Sri Lankan army is building a vihara on occupied land in the so-called 'High Security Zone' of Valikamam North, leading residents to fear that they will not regain their lands.

A Sri Lankan soldier has died and eight others were injured in an accident in Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu on Sunday.

The military vehicle’s driver lost control after speeding round a bend in the Keppapulavu army camp area.

The Indian government is pushing Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitments to Tamils, according to a minister responding to a question in the Lok Sabha concerning the protection of Tamil interests.

In his written response on June 10, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan emphasised that India has consistently called upon SL to fulfil its commitments and that the end of the civil war a decade ago brought a unique opportunity to provide a last peace to the island.

The Sri Lankan army continued with its militarisation of the Tamil North-East as it handed out wheelchairs to disabled Tamil civilians in Jaffna last week.

Facebook has increased its investments in Sinhala and Tamil language experts in order to curb online hate speech and other malicious content from Sri Lanka, as attacks on Muslims have risen since the Easter Sunday bombings earlier this year.

In a press statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: