Four Tamil political prisoners hunger-striking in Colombo’s Magazine prison have been admitted to hospital.

The four - Seethagopal Arumugam, Rasathurai Jeyanthan, Thevasahayam Uthayakumar and Joseph Sebastian - were admitted following a decline in their health, four days after starting the hunger strike.

They are part of a group of 42 political prisoners in the Colombo prison to be hunger-striking to be tried or released. They began the protest following similar actions by Tamil political prisoners in Anuradhapura prison who began hunger-striking for their release over three weeks ago.

Gunshots were fired at a tractor carrying sand, in Jaffna on Saturday according to local reports.

The incident took place around 6pm on Saturday in Maniyanthoddam where illegal sand mining has become an issue locally.

The driver of the tractor said two unknown men tried to stop the vehicle. The driver did not stop but drove away faster, to which one of the men shot at the vehicle with a pistol.

The tractor and driver were unharmed, although the shooters escaped.

Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) announced that yet another Sri Lankan navy chief was involved in the abduction and murder of Tamil youths in 2008, and is actively supressing evidence and ‘keeping tabs’ on key witnesses involved in the case.

Former navy chief Wasantha Karannagoda is accused of knowing that the 11 Tamil youths had been abducted by the Sri Lankan navy between 2008 and 2009, and were being transferred between Colombo and Trincomalee navy camps before being murdered.

Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa met with current president and former political rival Maithripala Sirisena earlier this week, as reports over a possible coalition between the two continue.

Sirisena, the current leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SFLP), ran against Rajapaksa for president in 2015, entering a coalition with the United National Party (UNP). The coalition has been losing electoral ground to Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP), which swept local elections in the Sinhala south earlier this year.

A revamped Counter Terrorism Bill will be presented in Sri Lanka’s parliament this week, reports the Sunday Times.

The bill has reportedly been approved by Sri Lanka’s cabinet and would criminalise acts that will cause “harm to the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Sri Lanka”.

The proposed legislation would also criminalise “joining, becoming a member of, supporting or representing a proscribed terrorist organization for the purpose of aiding and abetting the commission of an offence under this Act”.

A group of unknown men broke into a home in Kokkuvil and vandalised the property on Friday.

Residents of a village in Pottuvil, Amparai, are still protesting for the return of their lands, 55 days on.

Sri Lankan military forces occupying Palaly had a post office to meet their needs opened in the area on Saturday.

Families of Maaveerar (fallen LTTE cadres) buried in the destroyed Kanchikudicharu thuyilum illam, in Amparai, cleared the cemetery on Friday, in preparation for Maaveerar Naal.

Protests calling for the release of Tamil political prisoners have continued daily in towns across the North-East.