Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Aruna Kumara Dissanayake, has made it clear that strengthening ties with India, the regional powerhouse, will be a cornerstone of his foreign policy. Within hours of his election victory, Dissanayake held his first meeting with a foreign official—India’s High Commissioner, Santosh Jha, in Colombo
Tamil News
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Sri Lanka’s Election Commission has announced a reduction in the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) representing the Jaffna electoral district, lowering the total from 7 to 6.
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Vashanth Selvadurai, an Eelam Tamil who fled to Denmark during the armed conflict was honored with the Danish National Award in Education, marking the first time a Tamil individual...
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Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed new governors for the island's nine provinces, according to a communique from the Presidential Media Division. Nagalingam Vethanayagam has been named as the Governor of the Northern Province, while...
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An individual claiming to be a supporter of the National People's Power (NPP) disrupted a protest organized by the Families of the Disappeared in Vavuniya, harassing and intimidating the demonstrators while threatening them with arrest. The protest grew tense as the man shouted insults at the families from a distance, calling them...
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Tamil family members of the enforced disappeared staged a protest outside the IOM office in Jaffna today, marking Children's Day as a day of mourning by the families who continue to search for their loved ones.
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Today marks the birthday of Balachandran Prabhakaran, the third child of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was executed by the Sri Lankan military during the final days of the Mullivaikkal massacre.
Balachandran, who was born on the 1st of October 1996, would be 28 years old today.
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The British Tamil Conservatives (BTC) hosted their annual reception at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham on Sunday, with number of current and former parliamentarians present. Speakers at the event highlighted the contributions of the British Tamil community and reiterated their commitment to advocating for justice for...
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Vijitha Herath, a staunch Sinhala nationalist and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) stalwart has been appointed Sri Lanka’s country’s Foreign Minister, as well as the Minister of Religious Affairs, Mass Media, Environment, Water Supply, Plantation, Community, Housing, and Transport, among others.
We look back at his record.
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Writing in the Hamilton Spectator, Gwynne Dyer, questions who is responsible for Sri Lanka’s dire economic and political status. Comparing Sri Lanka’s post-independence history to that of its south asian neighbours, Dyer notes that “none compares with Sri Lanka for sustained, large-scale violence across five decades”.
Dyer notes that in...
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Tamils in Mannar sent postcards to the newly elected Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake and prime minister Harini Amarasuriya as part of a campaign to call for an end to sand mining activities and a proposed wind power project.
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Tamil Families of the Disappeared will mark October 1 as a day of sorrow and mourning across the North-East, remembering the tens of thousands of Tamils who were killed or forcibly disappeared during Sri Lanka's decades-long armed conflict.
Nirmalnathan Nirajani, a Tamil mother of the disappeared, said the day, on which Sri...
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A memorial was held at the Jaffna Press Club to commemorate the late journalist and cartoonist Ashwin Sutharshan as well as supporter of Tamil Eelam struggle Viraj Mendis.
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Hundreds of Tamils, including men, women, and the elderly, gathered at the crossroads of the Mannar-Talaimannar main road to protest against the opening of a liquor store, which was granted a license despite fierce opposition from the community and local clergy.
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The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has called on Sri Lankans to register for construction jobs in Israel, even as the country intensifies military operations across Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and Syria.
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An Eelam coin, engraved with the name Rajaraja Chola (c. 985-1012 AD) was unearthed by 3 Tamil school girls whilst playing in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, India.
A week ago, the school girls dug a pit near their homes whilst playing and unearthed the coin, alongside Chinese porcelain, potsherds, iron ore and red potsherds.
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Pic by Isura Nimantha | Credit: Shutterstock
Sri Lanka's acting Inspector General of Police, Priyantha Weerasooriya, has announced that the island's notorious anti-drug crackdown, Operation Yukthiya, will continue 'strongly and better' despite a change in administration.
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Following a meeting with Sri Lanka's security forces, Sri Lanka's newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has issued an Extraordinary Gazette notification calling on the three divisions of Sri Lanka's armed forces to maintain public order, under Section 12 of the Public...
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C. Prem Kumar’s debut feature film entered the pantheon of the greatest romantic dramas produced by the Tamil film industry; 2018’s ‘96’ starring Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha is a delicate film told by a first-time director with an assured and gentle tone. Due to the largely warm welcome his first film received, a mountain of expectation was placed on the...
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Former director of Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), retired SSP Shani Abeysekara, has called for the immediate release of two commission reports concerning the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which claimed the lives of over 250 people.
Speaking to reporters Abeysekara stressed the need to make the commissions’ findings public so as to further investigations and uncover the truth. He made these statements at the launch of a book written by journalist, Sunanda...
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Sri Lanka’s new president Anura Dissanayake has been in power for less than a week but already has brought about a range of changes. From his appointment of Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister to his rapid stripping down on unnecessary government expenditure and pledge to stamp out corruption, many on the island have been pleasantly...
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More than a year after a set of skeletons presumed to be those of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters were unearthed from a mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai, their details are finally to be made public after repeated delays and accusations of a cover-up.
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Jaffna MP C VWigneswaran has confirmed that he will withdraw from the running in the upcoming General Election, which is to be held on November 14th, stating that the opportunity should be given to Tamil youths to enter parliament instead.
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Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'RD' (Restricted Default) and its Long-Term Local-Currency IDR at 'CCC', citing concerns that the recent election of Anura Dissanayake as...
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Today marks 37 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.
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Sri Lanka's newest Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath kicked off his tenure by thanking Saudia Arabia for supporting Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, where Colombo is rejecting calls for an international accountability mechanism for atrocities committed against Tamils.
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Tamils across the North-East are marking 37 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE, who fasted unto death in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to intervene following a spate of arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka and the punishment, including hefty fines, subsequently meted out.
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Tamil families of the disappeared commemorated Lt Col Thileepan in Vavuniya to mark 37 years since he fasted unto death.
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Sri Lanka's recently elected president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has dissolved parliament and called for a general election to take place on November 14.
Durig his presidential campaign, Dissanyake vowed to dissolve parliament immediately if he was elected and expressed confidence that the National People's Party (NPP) alliance would gain a...
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has written to Sri Lanka’s new president, stating it looked forward to working with Anura Dissanayake “towards building on the hard-won gains that have helped put Sri Lanka on a path to economic recovery."
The letter from the global body comes as Dissanayake pledged to “renegotiate” a US $3 billion bailout loan that Sri Lanka heavily relies on in the wake of a devastating economic crisis.
World News
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France has sent anti-riot police to the Island of Martinique, where protestors gathered despite the government barring demonstrations on the island.
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The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel end "its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" within 12 months.
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Photo from Wikipedia
Cornwall Council has pledged to pursue a greater devolution deal from the British government, aimed at "unleashing the county's potential" without the need for a mayor or the creation of a combined authority.
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The UK Government announced it has suspended 30 arms exports of its 350 export licenses to Israel over 'International Humanitarian Law concerns' in Gaza.
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France has approved a pacific mission to investigate the unrest in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.
Veronique Roger-Lacan, the French Ambassador to the Pacific, told radio station RNZ Pacific that a high-level mission will lead work to find facts about the crisis that began in May.
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Three major human rights organizations slam Nepal's new Transitional Justice Law as a "flawed step forward," citing numerous "accountability gaps" needed to be addressed by lawmakers. -
More than 100 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to officials in the enclave.
Three Israeli bombs hit al-Tabin school, located in the Daraj district, Gaza’s civil defence agency said of the attack on Saturday, which it described as a “horrific massacre”.
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The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) said it had taken the strategic city of Lashio in northern Shan State, about 120 km (75 miles) from the Chinese border, after 23 days of fighting with government troops.
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An internationally staffed court at The Hague has ruled that Pjeter Shala, former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member, committed war crimes during the 1998-1999 Kosovo uprising against Serbian troops, sentencing him to 18 years in prison.
Shala's convictions of war crimes included torture, murder and arbitrary detention. The tribunal ruled he ran a...
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pledged to help France's overseas territories secure independence,
Aliyev accuses France of interfering in its affairs over its contacts with Armenia, against which it has waged two wars in 30 years linked to disputes over Baku's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Britain said on Friday it would not proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
In May, the ICC's prosecutor said he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders over alleged war...
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Cornish lawmakers called on Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer to allow the devolution powers to Cornwall, citing its "unique" historical and cultural identity this month.
The MPs, Ben Maguire and Andrew George, believe that a unique model of governance is needed in Cornwall, adding that "A lot of people in Cornwall...
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In a landmark diplomatic achievement, China has brokered an agreement to form an interim “national reconciliation government” with 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas.
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The UN’s International Court of justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible” and make full reparations for its “internationally wrongful acts”.
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More than 10 million Sudanese, or 20% of the population, have been driven from their homes since the war there began, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday
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The “Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on State and Environmental Violence in West Papua” took place last month at Queen Mary University of London.
A panel of tribunal experts heard evidence from numerous international NGOs and local civil society organisations as well as testimonies from individuals who have witnessed human rights violations and environmental...
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Two Israeli strikes killed more than 20 people in separate parts of Gaza on Tuesday, one of which targeted a United Nations school turned shelter.
Palestinian paramedics evacuated at least five killed and eight wounded at the school building, in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society emergency service.
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Narendra Modi received Russia’s highest civilian award for “exceptional service” in promoting bilateral ties on Tuesday, as both states look to strengthen military cooperation and deepen economic ties.
Mr Modi's two-day visit - his first to the Kremlin since 2019 - coincides with a Nato summit in Washington, where the 2022 invasion will be a major theme.
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Turkey has begun mediating talks between Somalia and Ethiopia over a port deal Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland earlier this year.The relationship between Somalia and Ethiopia became strained in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km of coastline from Somaliland, in exchange for recognition of its independence.
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A senior Bolivian general was arrested after armoured vehicles rammed the doors of the government palace in La Paz on Wednesay in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup.
Forces led by army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga appeared to take control of Mr Arce’s government as they vowed to “restore democracy” but the president vowed to hold firm and swiftly named a new military commander, who immediately ordered the troops to stand down.
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The UK-based rights group, Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK) has warned in a new report that the 600,000 Muslim Rohingya remaining in Rakhine State have been subject to an “intensifying genocide” since the armed conflict between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) resumed last October.The Mulsim Rohingya minority has long suffered...
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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrived in Australia today after he was freed by a United States court in Saipan under a plea deal.
Assange’s plane landed in Canberra on Wednesday, hours after the 52-year-old pleaded guilty in a court in Saipan to a charge of espionage, related to obtaining and publishing US military secrets.
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found Russia guilty of committing multiple human rights violations in Ukraine’s occupied Crimea peninsula.In the case brought against Russia, Ukraine alleges that since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has committed human rights violations including inhuman or degrading treatment, the prohibition of freedom of...
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The European Council adopted sanctions against six individuals responsible for atrocities in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
Fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their respective affiliated militias. In response to this the European Council has adopted "restrictive measures" against six individuals ...
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On 17 June, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held a public hearing in which the Ecumenical Foundation for Development and Peace (Fedepaz) joined representatives of victims from the Barrios Alos and La Cantuta cases in requesting the court to halt the proceedings of a pro-impunity bill.
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A street of Mariupol during siege of the city in the course of the 2022 Russian invasion of UkraineA recent analysis submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) accuses Russia of engaging in a "deliberate pattern" of starvation tactics during the 85-day siege of Mariupol in early 2022.
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French President Emmanuel Macron has suspended controversial voting reforms in New Caledonia after an outbreak of deadly unrest in the French island territory.
The unrest which flared up in New Caledonia on 13 May led to the deaths of 9 people.
“The constitutional bill regarding New Caledonia… I have decided to suspend,” Macron said...
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In a statement released last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed deep concern over the escalating violence in Myanmar.UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the Secretary-General “calls on all parties to the conflict to exercise maximum restraint, prioritize protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, and prevent...
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Narendra Modi has been sworn in as India's prime minister for a third term in a ceremony held at the presidential palace in Delhi.
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A protest against "Tigray Genocide" on March 26, 2021, in New York, NY.
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