The National Freedom Front (NFF), a partner of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition, accused the government of turning ‘a blind eye’ to the actions of the TNA, who have not given up on their separatist goal, reported Ceylon Today.

Spokesperson Mohammad Muzzamil said that the TNA and its MP MA Sumanthiran were instilling “sentiments of racial hatred” in Tamils and that they hoped to tie a cyanide capsule around the necks of every Tamil youth, with the help of the Tamil diaspora and “imperialistic” western powers.

"MP Sumanthiran has said that the government is falsely enacting the resurgence of the LTTE in the North. He has said that by doing this the aim of the government is to fortify its military presence in there. MP Sumanthiran has also said that subsequent to the defeat of the LTTE in 2009, there is no terrorism in the country. However, despite the end of the LTTE, the TNA has not given up on its attempts to form a separatist state in the country,

The British Ambassador to Colombo John Rankin told a business forum that sanctions on Sri Lanka are not currently an issue and that it was not “necessarily” in Britain’s interest to impose sanctions, reported LBO.

“Sanctions are not currently an issue. First, because the Human Rights Council does not have the power or mandate to impose sanctions. And to the best of my knowledge no government to date has proposed economic sanctions on Sri Lanka,” the ambassador told an ‘LBR-LBO CEO’ forum on meeting the challenges of a resolution on Sri Lanka by UN's Human Rights Council.

"Nor would sanctions necessarily be in the interests of a country like the UK. Policy is not uni-dimensional towards Sri Lanka. UN rights issues and Human Rights Resolutions are not the sole purpose of our policy."

Rankin pointed out that failure to comply with conditions on human rights issues had economic consequences in the past, as with the loss of GSP+ trade concessions.

"That was a matter of choice of Sri Lanka. But it demonstrates that those choices human rights issues can have an impact on economic relationships," he said.

A German tourist was the victim of an attempted rape in Hatton on Monday, police said according to Ceylon Today.

The Sri Lankan government has rejected a request by the British government to legalise gay marriage on the island, reported Colombo Gazette.

The president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed media organisations in the country to inform the population to desist from using images of the Buddha, printed on their media, for general purposes, reported the Daily Mirror.

External Affairs Minister GL Peiris today hosted a “comprehensive briefing” about the government’s claim of an “LTTE revival” for international diplomats in Colombo, calling on states to take action against organisations that were recently banned by the government and suppress terrorist funding activities, according to a statement released by the official government news website.

The minister said at the briefing, which he held alongside the Chief of National Intelligence Major General Kapila Hendawitharana from the Ministry of Defence, that there was compelling evidence regarding the remittance of considerable sums of money from overseas for terrorist activity.

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Thursday he is no hurry to hold snap elections next year, but is ready to do so if the opposition requested it. See Colombo Gazette’s report here

The body of a 25 year old single mother was found in Kaaththaankudi, the Uthayan reported.

The body which was found hanging with her feet touching the house according to police, has been sent to Batticaloa hospital for a post-mortem.

The Sri Lankan government should take legal action against the Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph for “helping the LTTE”, the Bodu Bala Sena said according to The Island.

A leading Colombo-based think tank, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), has filed a complaint before Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission against a state-owned television network over a news broadcast last July which claimed the CPA had organised a meeting in support of the LTTE. The complaint is to be heard Thursday.

Independent Television Network (ITN) launched in April 1979 as a private company, was taken over by the Sri Lankan government in June 1979 and declared a Government Owned Public Company in April 1992.

The complaint filed by CPA and its executive director, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, against ITN and its chairman, Rosmand Senaratne, concerns a Sinhala language news broadcast on 14 July 2013.

The broadcast claimed CPA and Dr. Saravanamuttu organised a meeting in Ampara that day to "further the interests of the LTTE" and that the meeting was cut short due to the intervention of Buddhist clergy and public of the area.

Stating "no employee of CPA or its Executive Director organized or was present at any meeting in Ampara on 14th July 2013," the complaint said "the language used by ITN in its news item was incendiary and it intentionally distorted the facts with the aim to arouse public opinion against CPA and its Executive Director and lower their standing in the eyes of the public."

Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran has hit out at President Mahinda Rajapaksa for failing to honour pledges made regarding the NPC, reported Ceylon Today.

Speaking at the Kilinochchi District Development Committee, which ended without resolution according to the Uthayan, Wigneswaran said that the president has not met several pledges that he made regarding the “successful governance” of the provincial council, but instead the government has been trying to take “the upper hand”.

"The Provincial Council system was introduced to devolve powers to the provinces under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. However, the Central Government is attempting to tighten its grip over the Provincial Councils.

"Since powers were not devolved to the NPC, I met Rajapaksa in Colombo on 2 January and explained to him the need of devolving powers to the NPC.

"He made several pledges to me on the successful governance of the NPC. However, he has not done anything so far to fulfil those pledges.