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'How can we trust them?' - Sri Lankan minister ignores families of the disappeared at Chemmani
Families of Tamil victims of enforced disappearance protested near the Chemmani mass grave excavation site in Jaffna on Friday as Sri Lanka's Justice Minister, Harshana Nanayakkara, and officials from the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) proceeded past the demonstrators without stopping to engage.

Tamil Affairs

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Tamil Affairs
Northern Province Governor dismisses elected officials in two councils
Tamil Affairs
Sri Lanka set to deploy largest peacekeeping contingent to Haiti despite past abuses
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Tamil Affairs
Kepapilavu residents commence hunger strike as Sri Lankan military films protesters
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Tamil Affairs
Rajapaksa son questioned over Rs. 19 million investment probe

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Northern Province Governor dismisses elected officials in two councils
The Governor of the Northern Province, Nagalingam Vethanayahan, has removed two democratically elected local government representatives from office through Extraordinary Gazette notifications issued this week, invoking powers under Sri Lanka's local government legislation. In Gazette notifications dated 19 June 2026, the Governor dismissed Vavuniya Municipal Council Mayor Sundaralingam Kandeeban and Chavakachcheri Urban Council Vice Chairman Gnanapragasam Kishor from both their executive positions and their memberships of their respective local authorities, with effect from 24 June.
Sri Lanka set to deploy largest peacekeeping contingent to Haiti despite past abuses
Sri Lanka set to deploy largest peacekeeping contingent to Haiti despite concerns of abuse and exploitation by human rights organisations.
Kepapilavu residents commence hunger strike as Sri Lankan military films protesters
Residents of Kepapilavu in Mullaitivu District launched a hunger strike on Wednesday, demanding the release of 171 acres of ancestral land that remain under the occupation of the Sri Lankan military more than 17 years after the end of the armed conflict. The protest was held outside the Sri Lanka Army's 59 Division headquarters, where demonstrators reiterated their longstanding demand for the return of their lands and rejected claims that they had agreed to accept alternative land allocations in place of their ancestral property.
Rajapaksa son questioned over Rs. 19 million investment probe
Picture : AdaDerana  Rohitha Rajapaksa, the son of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was questioned for nearly six hours by the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) on Thursday as part of an investigation into the source of funds allegedly used to invest Rs. 19 million in two private companies. According to Ada Derana, investigators questioned Rajapaksa over the origin of the Rs. 19 million allegedly invested in two private institutions based in Mirihana and Boralesgamuwa. He arrived at the CCIB headquarters at around 9:30 a.m. to record a statement and remained there for almost six hours.
Three thousand years deep - Evidence uncovers Velanai's ancient seafarers
A newly published study has identified the earliest scientifically confirmed evidence of prehistoric human settlement on Velanai Island in the Jaffna Peninsula, dating back around 3,460 years and overturning an erroneous long-held Sri Lankan assumption that the region was largely uninhabited until much later.
Rights group flags 184 Sri Lankan prison deaths to visiting UN delegation
The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners has formally raised concerns with a visiting United Nations delegation over custodial deaths, prison overcrowding, alleged torture and deteriorating detention conditions in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan army moves to cement occupation of farm in Valikamam
The Sri Lankan military has erected a signboard designating a military-run agricultural farm on privately owned land inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone (HSZ), entrenching its presence even as landowners campaign for the return of their property.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Hakeem rejects Katchatheevu handover calls in Tamil Nadu
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader and Member of Parliament Rauff Hakeem has said that the sovereignty of Katchatheevu is already settled under international law and bilateral agreements, warning that attempts to reopen the issue are not a practical solution to the long-running dispute between fishermen on both sides of the Palk Strait.
Vijay looks back on Eelam solidarity, but not forward
The Tamil Nadu chief minister, Vijay, made a brief reference to Eelam Tamils during a speech in the state legislative assembly on Tuesday, recalling his participation in a 2008 hunger strike in support of Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict, in remarks that looked back to his own activism rather than to the realities facing Tamils in the North-East today. "Back in 2008, we undertook a hunger strike in support of Eelam Tamils. We demanded that the war come to an end and that Eelam Tamils should be able to live peacefully," he said.
Chemmani mass grave excavations halted again at 412 remains
Excavation work at the Chemmani mass grave, the largest uncovered on the island, has once again been temporarily halted, with officials planning to resume around 15 July. The dig has so far yielded 412 sets of skeletal remains, of which 409 have been exhumed, yet the work of identifying any of the dead has still not begun.

The arithmetic of a grave

Scared of a song

Monks above the law

FEATURES
As Burnham eyes Number 10, British Tamils face a largely untested record
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Jailed for a song: How Sri Lanka’s PTA was turned on a Tamil rapper

Tamil News

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Northern Province Governor dismisses elected officials in two councils

Jun 26

Governor

The Governor of the Northern Province, Nagalingam Vethanayahan, has removed two democratically elected local government representatives from office through Extraordinary Gazette notifications issued this week, invoking powers under Sri Lanka's local government legislation.

Sri Lanka set to deploy largest peacekeeping contingent to Haiti despite past abuses
Sri Lanka set to deploy largest peacekeeping contingent to Haiti despite concerns of abuse and exploitation by human rights organisations.
Kepapilavu residents commence hunger strike as Sri Lankan military films protesters

Residents of Kepapilavu in Mullaitivu District launched a hunger strike on Wednesday, demanding the release of 171 acres of ancestral land that remain under the occupation of the Sri Lankan military more than 17 years after the end of the armed conflict.

Rajapaksa son questioned over Rs. 19 million investment probe

Three thousand years deep - Evidence uncovers Velanai's ancient seafarers
A newly published study has identified the earliest scientifically confirmed evidence of prehistoric human settlement on Velanai Island in the Jaffna Peninsula, dating back around 3,460 years and overturning an erroneous long-held Sri Lankan assumption that the region was largely uninhabited until much later.
Rights group flags 184 Sri Lankan prison deaths to visiting UN delegation
The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners has formally raised concerns with a visiting United Nations delegation over custodial deaths, prison overcrowding, alleged torture and deteriorating detention conditions in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan army moves to cement occupation of farm in Valikamam
The Sri Lankan military has erected a signboard designating a military-run agricultural farm on privately owned land inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone (HSZ), entrenching its presence even as landowners campaign for the return of their property.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Hakeem rejects Katchatheevu handover calls in Tamil Nadu
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader and Member of Parliament Rauff Hakeem has said that the sovereignty of Katchatheevu is already settled under international law and bilateral agreements, warning that attempts to reopen the issue are not a practical solution to the long-running dispute between fishermen on both sides of the Palk Strait.
Vijay looks back on Eelam solidarity, but not forward

Chemmani mass grave excavations halted again at 412 remains

Chemmani toll rises to 412, but the work of identifying the dead has not begun

US courts Colombo on trade and the Indian Ocean
The United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, S. Paul Kapur, met the Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat during a three-day visit to the island, in talks centred on trade, investment and security cooperation.
‘Before we too pass away’ - Tamil families appeal to UN over Chemmani mass graves
The Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in the North-East (ARED) has appealed to the United Nations to ensure an international investigation into enforced disappearances and mass graves across the Tamil homeland, including the ongoing excavations at Chemmani, where more than 380 human skeletal remains have been uncovered.
Chemmani excavations pass grim milestone with 405 remains identified

As Burnham eyes Number 10, British Tamils face a largely untested record
As Andy Burnham emerges as the frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader and British prime minister, British Tamils are weighing a record on Tamil justice that is far thinner than the outgoing premier's, yet not quite the blank slate it might first appear.
STF officers filmed assaulting woman during Kilinochchi arrests of children and elderly
Footage from in Umaiyalpuram, Kilinochchi, shows officers of Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) assaulting a woman during a confrontation with residents, after which fourteen Tamil civilians, among them young children, schoolgirls and elderly residents, were remanded, in an operation that began over alleged illegal sand mining.
Keir Starmer, British Tamils and the promises still unmet

Keir Starmer at Downing Street Thai Pongal reception with British Tamils

Suresh Sallay's wife alleges surveillance of children, seeks independent probe

Fifty years on, Jaffna conference reaffirms the Vaddukoddai call for self determination
The Vaddukoddai-50 Ezhuchi (Resurgence) Conference was held at the Thanthai Selva Auditorium in Jaffna on Saturday, marking fifty years since the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution, in which the Tamil political leadership first declared the goal of an independent, sovereign state of Tamil Eelam.
Shritharan takes Tamil grievances to the BJP's Tamil Nadu leadership

World News

UN experts demand independent investigation into death of Indigenous leader in Nicaragua

Jun 16
UN human rights experts have demanded an independent investigation into the death in state custody of Indigenous Miskito leader Brooklyn Rivera, warning that his prolonged enforced disappearance and death may amount to crimes against humanity for which the Nicaraguan government bears legal responsibility.
Baloch activists accuse state-backed death squads of new killings
A fresh wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances has been documented across Balochistan this month, as Baloch rights groups recorded the recovery of several bodies of men who had earlier been forcibly taken, and appealed once more to international institutions that have largely ignored the province.
UN experts demand investigation following Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalists
Three UN experts called for a full and independent investigation following Israel's killing of three Lebanese journalists.
Sudan hospital ‘drone strike’ kills 64, including children
At least 64 people, including 13 children, have been killed in an attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region, as violence continues to devastate the already collapsing healthcare system.
FIFA fines Israel for racism and discrimination but clears settlement clubs
On Thursday, FIFA sanctioned the Israel Football Association over breaches of racism and discrimination, but cleared Israeli clubs playing in settlements.
UK jury acquits woman of terrorism charge over Hamas comments
A woman who told a protest crowd that Hamas is “fighting for freedom” has been found not guilty of expressing support for a proscribed organisation, following a closely watched case in a British court.
Two Indian journalists detained for filming docked Iranian warship
Two Indian journalists were detained for filming a docked Iranian warship in Kochi, Kerala.
Spain withdraws ambassador from Israel amid Gaza genocide and Iran war tensions
Spain has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel in the latest escalation of a deepening diplomatic dispute between Madrid and Tel Aviv over Israel’s assault on Gaza and the recent United States and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Former Syrian colonel charged with crimes against humanity in landmark UK case
A former colonel in Syria’s Air Force Intelligence has appeared before a London court charged with crimes against humanity, in what prosecutors say is the first case of its kind brought under British law.
UN peacekeepers refuse order to leave South Sudan opposition stronghold

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has said it will keep its peacekeeping force in the town of Akobo despite an order by the South Sudanese military to vacate the area ahead of a planned offensive.

'India stands with Israel,' Modi says during state visit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a two-day state visit to Israel on Thursday, bolstering cooperation in multiple areas, including defence, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and agriculture.
'Journalists being killed in record numbers' - 129 press members killed in 2025
A record 129 press members were killed in 2025, according to the latest report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Scotland’s ‘independence within reach’ says first minister
Scottish independence is “within reach”, First Minister John Swinney has said, as a new poll projects the Scottish National Party just one seat short of a majority ahead of this year’s Holyrood election.
UN investigators warn RSF assault on El Fasher bears ‘hallmarks of genocide’
A United Nations fact-finding mission has determined that atrocities carried out during the siege and takeover of the Sudanese city of El Fasher bear the “hallmarks of genocide”, condemning the conduct of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters in Darfur during the ongoing conflict.
UK moves toward new law to ban Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
As international criticism mounts over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) involvement in Tehran's fatal suppression of anti-government protests, the UK government reportedly set to introduce legislation that would enable it to officially outlaw the organisation. The action comes after the European Union made the decision last month to put the IRGC to its official list of terrorist organisations, adding groups like Islamic State, Hamas, and al-Qaeda. 
Tibetan diaspora votes worldwide for government-in-exile
Tibetans around the world began a global election on Sunday to choose a parliament and political leadership for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
'Mother of all deals’ - India and EU forge landmark trade and security pact
India and the European Union have announced a sweeping free trade agreement that both sides have hailed as the “mother of all deals”, concluding nearly two decades of intermittent negotiations.
'Old world order is not coming back' - Carney calls for middle power unity at Davos
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has warned that the global order that shaped international politics for decades “is not coming back”, urging “middle powers” to act collectively as great power rivalry intensifies.
Syrian government and SDF forces agree on four-day ceasefire
The Syrian government has announced a four-day ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the army continued to seize territory in the country’s northeast.
UN court begins hearing on Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
This week, the charge that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya went before the International Court of Justice for three weeks of testimony. 
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