Protests continued today in Vavuniya as families of the disappeared demanded action from Tamil politicians on the issue. 

The families, who have expressed increasing frustration towards the leadership of the Tamil National Alliance's (TNA), who they argue are in the hands of the United National Party, protested today outside the Road Development Authority's office. 

Continuing months of protest, families of the disappeared today held a demonstration outside the Jaffna District Secretariat's Office. 

Mothers wept holding photos of their disappeared children as they demanded answers and justice. 

The United Kingdom is providing £49 million of funding for a British firm to build 250 bridges in rural parts of Sri Lanka.

The project has been designed to accelerate Sri Lanka’s development through improvements in its rural transport infrastructure, UK Export Finance (UKEF) said in a press release.

The department claims that families and businesses would benefit directly from the project thanks to reduced distance to reach essential services and lower transport costs.

The history of the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka after Western colonisation is a history of oppression by the chauvinist Sinhala-Buddhist state. Because of strength and resilience, the Tamil people acted against this oppression with resistance. This goes from peaceful protest for equal rights to a militant fight for a separate state. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and combatants lost their lives throughout the armed conflict.

A former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) minister has written to Vavuniya’s government agent (GA), querying how a Buddha statue was allowed to be placed at an archaeological site in the district.

A Tamil political activist has been remanded by a Sri Lankan court over a hartal in protest at the appointment of former UPFA MP Hizbullah as governor of the Eastern Province last month.

Kanapathipillai Mohan, who heads the Thamizh Unarvaalar Amaippu, has had an order issued against him by the Eravur Circuit Magistrate Court, holding him on remand until February 13.

Students from the University of Jaffna joined an event held by the US Consulate in Chennai to mark Black History Month.

The Jaffna students joined in with the event, a screening of a documentary on black civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, via video conference.

The former TNA MP Chandranehru and LTTE political head Kousalyan, as well as the LTTE cadres who were killed with them in an ambush by Sri Lankan paramilitaries were remembered in Batticaloa on Thursday.

At least two people have died as the Sri Lankan navy clashed with villagers in Kinniya, Trincomalee, last week, after members of the military attempted to arrest a group of men they claimed to be involved in illegal sand mining.

The Sri Lankan navy, acting on a reported tip off, arrived at Kandakadum by the Savaru Bridge last Tuesday in a joint operation with the Special Task Force as they attempted to arrest of men.