A 6-year-old girl has died after falling into a newly cut toilet pit in the village of Panrikkeithakulam in Omanthai, Vavuniya. The victim was identified as Satyaseelan Saivini.

The girl was playing at home while her parents had gone out before she accidentally fell into the pit which was flooded with rainwater. With residents of the village lacking basic bathroom facilities, many are only able to dig pits to fulfil toilet functions.

Human remains were found in the Karippaddamurippu region in Mankulam, Mullaitivu last week.

The remains were found in a privately-owned paddy field, which had been subject to police surveillance after the field's owners discovered explosives while digging boundaries with hoes. The human remains were found on the third day of police inspecting and searching the area.

The Mullaitivu magistrate's judge visited the area to inspect the remains.

A 17-year-old from Thunukkai, Mullaitivu District was arrested in connection with an allegedly recovered locally made firearm in the district.

Mallavi police made the arrest during a raid conducted by the on Sunday evening. 

The police said that the youth was going to be produced in the Mullaitivu Magistrates’ court on Monday and that investigations  were ongoing. 

Within the past three weeks, Sri Lankan police have made several arrests across the North-East, with illegal weapons allegedly recovered across the province.

Almost 500 families have been affected by a shortage of drinking water across several villages in the Vavuniya District. 

After at least 120 pilot whales became beached at Panadura earlier this month, experts have suggested that a Sri Lankan military exercise in the Bay of Bengal may have lead to the mammals becoming disoriented and stranded.

Tributes have flooded in this week as yet another Tamil doctor passed away from coronavirus in the UK this week, as coronavirus infections rise across the country.

Dr Krishnan Subramanian, a Consultant Anaesthetist at Royal Derby Hospital, passed away on Thursday after contracting coronavirus. Dr Subramaniam joined the trust in 2014 as a Consultant Anaesthetist and was a well loved member of the medical team.

The Sri Lankan military announced the establishment of a new “Drone Regiment” this week, as it was deployed in parts of the island where the armed forces have been arresting those it claims have been breaking coronavirus lockdown regulations.

Shavendra Silva, the war crimes accused head of the army, was the chief guest at a military ceremony on Thursday where the newly acquired drones were showcased.

The prospect of a Biden-Harris administration at the White House has brought both hope and trepidation around the world. In Sri Lanka, some in Colombo’s polity are nervous. Amongst the Tamils, there is both wariness and tempered optimism about what the new administration may bring. A hope that come January, there will be opportunities to help address past failures.

The United Nations (UN) reiterated their concerns with Sri Lanka's mandatory cremation policy as "the only method for the disposal of bodies suspected of COVID-19 infection," in a letter to Sri Lanka's prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

"I deem it important to inform you that I have received impassioned appeals from within and outside the Muslim community that perceive the current policy on burials as discriminatory," UN Resident Coordinator, Hanaa Singer wrote. 

The Indian government has reportedly "shared information" with Britain, in an attempt to ensure that the UK upholds the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organisation.

In response to a question from WION, Acting British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson said that though they “can't comment on individual conversations we had... we had detailed discussion on a range of issues including around this type of issue with Indian govt in a different format”.