Samples of bones found in the Mannar ‘Sathosa’ mass grave were handed over for carbon dating to an American analytics company in Florida on Friday.

The bone samples were handed to Beta Analytics by a team made up of Mannar judicial medical officer Chaminda Rajapaksa and Office of Missing Persons (OMP) commissioner Mirak Rakeem, as well as attorneys at law Ranitha Gnanarajah and V S Niranchan who were representing families of the disappeared.

The body of an elderly man was found in Santhipuram salt fields in Mannar on Saturday. 

The man is believed to be 82-year-old Kathirkamanathan Arulananthan from the village of Pannankaddikkodu. 

<p>Sri Lanka's president Maithripala Sirisena told the Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong today to expect amendments to the Free Trade Agreement in place between the two countries.&nbsp;</p> <p>"A few mistakes had been made by Sri Lanka when drafting the FTA," Sirisena explained during a meeting with Loong in Singapore today.&nbsp;</p> <p>In December, Sirisena said the FTA had been signed "without adequate consent", pointing to the findings of his expert committee.&nbsp;</p>

Heavy rains fell in Mullaitivu today just weeks after families recovered from recent flooding across the Vanni area. 

Families continue to watch apprehensively as the rains fall, fearful of further flooding and damage to agricultural land. 

Over 100 displaced families from Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu today moved their ongoing protest to outside the military camp sited on their occupied lands. 

Security forces filmed and photographed the families from within the site however, as security was increased with a heavy deployment of police and military personnel. 

Tamils demanded justice for murdered journalists today at a rally in Jaffna. 

The rally marked the 13th anniversary of the murdered Sudar Oli Tamil journalist, Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, who was shot dead after exposing the Sri Lankan Special Task Force's killing of 5 Tamil students, known as the 'Trinco 5'.  

Sugirdharajan had published photos showing the students' bodies with point-blank gunshot injuries, thereby disproving government claims the students had been killed by a grenade explosion.

Four Tamil activists have been summoned before the magistrates court for organising a hartal which shut down business in several parts of Batticaloa district on Friday.

Eravur police said they had applied for the summons against the head of a Tamil activist group Kanapathipillai Mohan, Vanenthiran Surenthiran, Subramaniam Thasenthiran and Joseph Roshan on the grounds that they had caused a public disturbance.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is assisting Westminster Magistrate's Court in the case of the Sri Lanka's Defence Attaché, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, who was filmed last year motioning a death threat to British Tamils in London. 

Speaking to Tamil Guardian today, the FCO spokesperson confirmed is was providing documentation to assist with the case. 

"The FCO, which is not a party to these legal proceedings, has been contacted by Westminster Magistrate’s Court seeking clarification of the Brigadier’s diplomatic status in the UK at the time of the incident. The FCO is providing documentation to assist the court." 

"We were deeply concerned by the incident involving the Sri Lankan Defence Attaché last year and made immediate representations to the Sri Lankan Government. The Defence Attaché was recalled by his Government soon after," the FCO spokesperson added. 

<p>Sri Lanka’s minister of Buddhist affairs has written to president Maithripala Sirisena, conveying requests to pardon and free the leader of the extremist Sinhala hate group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).</p> <p>Gamini Jayawickrama Perera’s letter to Sirisena conveyed requests from other Buddhist leaders that the Galagodaaththe Gnanasara be released by Sri Lanka’s independence day on February 4th. Perera told the Daily Mirror that he had reportedly received several letters of support from other Buddhist leaders across the south for the jailed BBS monk.</p>

Whilst Tamils across the North-East celebrated the Tamil harvest festival of Thai Pongal this month, locals had to contend with the occupying Sri Lankan military holding several events of its own across the heavy militarised Tamil homeland.

The events across the North-East come despite continued criticism over the military’s involvement in civilian affairs, as tens of thousands of stationed remain stationed in the region.