The Sri Lankan army has held employment awareness workshops for the unemployed youth of Jaffna, "with the sheer intention of exploring possibilities of getting employment openings for the unemployed in the Jaffna Peninsula" according to the official army website.

The Sri Lankan military's 66 Division this week gave handouts to pregnant Tamil women in Poonakary, Kilinochchi. 

The army's website described it as "another step forward to provide community assistance and reconciliation among the nations and in order to expect wealthy child birth from rural and low income families pregnant mothers". 

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) on Monday urged the Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to reveal what promises he had made to the Tamil National Alliance and western forces, the Daily Mirror reported. 

A group of Sri Lankan soldiers met with Maithripala Sirisena last week to warn him that Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would fill the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) with those who “couldn’t stomach Sri Lanka’s victory over LTTE terrorism”.

Photograph: The Island

Senior Buddhist monks met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday, to urge him not to remove Buddhist shrines from the Tamil North-East and ensure that Buddhism continues to receive the foremost place in the island’s constitution.

The Sri Lankan army arranged Christmas Carol services in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi this week in order to "promote the relationship between military personnel and civilians", the army's website stated.

The Tamil National Alliance will appeal the aquittal of all suspects in the case of the assassinated former Tamil politician, N Raviraj this week. 

“The judgment is indicative of the people’s distrust in the country’s Judiciary. It is in this scenario that we demand an international panel of judges to probe the alleged war crimes. A lawyer who watched the interests of the aggrieved party, I will file an appeal,” Mr Sumanthiran was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Tamils in Strasbourg marked Maaveerar Naal last month, with a ceremony to remember those who gave their lives during the Tamil struggle.

A Tamil restaurant owner was assaulted and abducted by a Sinhalese bus driver and conductor in Vavuniya on Wednesday.

An argument had broken out the previous day when the assailants were told by T. Subaraj, the owner of the restaurant in Vavuniya’s main bus station that they could not smoke in the premises.

The bus driver and conductor returned to the restaurant the following night while Mr Subaraj was alone, calling him out to talk. While Mr Subaraj obliged, thinking he would be reconciling with the pair, he was knocked unconscious with metal rods, thrown into the bus and driven in the direction of Madawachi.

Photograph: Daily Ceylon

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena met with senior government ministers and Buddhists monks in Colombo this week, including with the head of the extremist Bodu Bala Sena organisation, to discuss the protection of “historical places with great archaeological value”.