Tamils across the North-East today marked 31 years since Lt Col Thileepan began his fast unto death, demanding the Indian government upheld its promises to the Tamil people.
Over 100,000 people gathered at the Nallur temple in Jaffna on September 15, 1987 to hear his words as he began the hunger strike.
Tamil News
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The AIADMK has called out the DMK for colluding with war criminals in Sri Lanka and allowing tens of thousands of Tamils to be massacred, stating that the Tamil Nadu party and the Congress party should be tried as "international war criminals".
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Sri Lanka’s former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunge has been awarded France’s highest national, despite her tenure in office marred by the bombing of churches, schools and refugees camps, killing tens of thousands of Tamil civilians.
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More than double the number of foreign direct investment (FDI) firms exited Sri Lanka after the end the war than entered, a study by the Institute of Policy Studies found.
The study found that 410 firms exited Sri Lanka between 2009 and 2016 and only 202 had entered in the same period. Across a longer period from 2002, 666 firms had exited while 469 had entered.
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Marking the fifth day of Lt. Col. Thileepan's hunger strike 31 years ago today, remembrance events were held in Jaffna and Batticaloa.
A genocide awareness event was held in Vakaneri, Batticaloa, following on from...
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The Northern Provincial Council member was denied a visa to India this month.
M K Shivajilingam had applied for a visa to travel to Hyderabad to participate in a workshop organised by Asia Foundation, as part of an NPC delegation.
He applied for a visa via the Indian High Commision in Jaffna on September 4. However, on September 14 the embassy said his visa application was refused.
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A Tamil youth was killed today following a collision with a Sri Lankan Transport Board bus.
The 23-year-old youth was identified as Navaneetharaja Varan from Chavakachcheri.
Varan was riding a motorbike at the time.
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A Buddhist faith school was opened in Batticaloa town last week, with local Tamils and Muslims questioning the intention behind building a grand faith school in a town with a negligible Sinhala Buddhist population.
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The Sri Lankan government rejected reports that India would be involved in redeveloping the Palaly airport in Jaffna and said the airport would be developed domestically instead.
Indian press reports had claimed that India’s airport development authority was preparing a proposal to internationalise the Jaffna airport, which currently remains under military occupation, and develop connectivity between the Northern Province and South India, Malaysia, Thailand etc, in line with...
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The head of Sri Lanka’s army was invited to speak at a military seminar in Australia this month, despite Sri Lankan troops standing accused of committing war crimes and continued human rights abuses.
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A Tamil political prisoner who is on hunger strike, protesting against his continued detention has been admitted to hospital after his health rapidly deteriorated.
S Thillairaj, one of eight Tamil political prisoners who have been on hunger strike at Anuradhapura prison and a known diabetic, was moved to Welikada Prison hospital. The group have been protesting since for at least five days and met with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M A Sumanthiran earlier this week.
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An armed robbery took place at a finance company in Chavakachcheri this morning, with the suspect stealing approximately Rs 1.7 million in cash.
The suspect, who was wearing a full face helmet, was reportedly armed with a large knife. Adaderana states that he threatened employees as the safe was being emptied and then proceeding to steal the cash...
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There was a tense situation in Vadamarachchi on Monday after Sri Lankan police threatened local fishermen, who had apprehended eight Sinhala fishermen engaged in illegal fishing activities, that the Special Task Force (STF) would be called unless...
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Two Sri Lankan army officials were caught showing their genitals to two Tamil schoolgirls on Monday in the Karaichchi residential area of Mullaitivu.
The officials, both from 59th Division, were seen flashing at the schoolgirls by locals who apprehended the individuals and called the police.
Both men were taken to the police station.
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Marking the fourth day of Lt. Col. Thileepan's hunger strike 31 years ago, residents in Kiraan, Batticaloa yesterday held an awareness event, condemning the genocide of the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state.
On Saturday Tamils across the North-...
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Sri Lanka’s multiple ministries, agencies and regulations make implementing policy difficult and the country’s red tape hinders trade and investment, the resident representative of the International Monetary Fund said.
According to EconomyNext, resident representative Eteri Kvintradze said, "Sri Lanka compared to other emerging markets has more restrictive FDI and trade regulatory environment.”
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Sri Lanka has stopped crude oil imports from Iran in anticipation of US sanctions against the Iranian government.
"We stopped as soon as the sanctions were announced. We didn’t buy [directly] from Iran. We buy from Singapore, Dubai, Fujairah,” Sri Lankan petroleum resources development minister Arjuna Ranatunga said, according to The National.
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All Indian fishing trawlers confiscated by the Sri Lankan navy since 2015 are to be released, The Hindu reports.
The Tamil Nadu fisheries department received the Sri Lankan government order last week and will be sending a team of fishermen, mechanics and officials to assess the condition of the 173 trawlers which are held in Karai Nagar, Kankesanthurai,...
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The Sri Lankan military carried out a series of mock raids in the East this week, alongside troops from Sudan and Indonesia, despite concerns over human rights abuses committed by Sri Lanka troops.
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Though Tamils in Kopay have been hit by a drought, the Sri Lankan military has maintained a steady access to water supplies from wells in bases across the region.
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The Sri Lankan military announced that it had constructed new buildings for a Buddhist vihara in Batticaloa last week, as the armed forces continue their close involvement with Buddhism across the North-East.
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The World Bank has committed $200 million to improve Sri Lanka's public health services.
The development project will be aimed at improving Sri Lanka's performance on controlling non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, malnutrition and enhancing health systems.
The International Development Association will be financing the projecting, Sri Lanka's minister for health, nutrition and indigenous medicine, Rajitha Senaratne told participants of the Second Health...
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India’s state run airport development authority intends to develop plans for Jaffna’s Palaly airport to have international connectivity with places in South India, Malaysia and Thailand, the Times of India reports.
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Police arrested a Tamil youth in Mullaitivu, accusing him of being involved in sword attacks in the Puthukkudiyiruppu area.
Officers claimed they had received 'secret' information connecting the 25-year-old man to the crimes.
A sword was allegedly found in his possession.
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Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena, who recalled the country's ambassador to Austria for not answering his call said this week that he did so in order to "send a message to other embassies as well".
Ambassador Priyanee Wijesekera and five other embassy staff were recalled from their service for leaving Sirisena's phonecalls "unanswered for several hours".
Commenting on the incident, Sirisena said that he had tried to contact the embassy for four and half hours.
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Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division on Sunday took statements from the editors of the three Jaffna based newspapers in relation to a Tamil homeland display at a temple festival in Aanaikkottai.
The editors of Uthayan, Valampuri and Thinakkural were questioned following approval by Jaffna Magistrate Court.
Last month the TID summoned five Tamils along with a journalist, Uthayarasa Shalin to their Colombo office for an inquiry.
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Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has come out to reject a report by Nomura, which placed most at risk of an exchange rate crisis earlier this month.
Instead Sri Lanka’s central bank has claimed the ‘Damocles score’ published by Nomura is a “rudimentary attempt” and that the “report has not undergone a thorough review before publication”.
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A new monument commemorating the 2001 Pongu Tamil declaration was unveiled at Jaffna University on Monday.
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A joint military exercise between Sri Lankan and India in Trincomalee concluded this week, as the Sri Lankan government continues to build military relations despite human rights concerns.
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Sri Lanka’s president will ask the United Nations not pursue accountability for war crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops and will instead call on the Human Rights Council to “remove these charges”.
Speaking to reporters in Colombo last week, Maithripala Sirisena said that he "will also make a written request to the Human Rights Council to settle the...
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The latest figures from Sri Lanka’s census department reveal that unemployment has almost doubled over the past two years across the Jaffna district, as Tamils across the North-East continue to struggle with their livelihoods.
Unemployment in Jaffna in 2015 was 5.7 percent, but has steadily risen to 7 percent in 2016 and now to 10.7 percent.
Meanwhile, unemployment in Mullaitivu has also risen from 3.7 percent in 2016 to 4.8 percent in 2017.
World News
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Bangladesh has signed a $50 million grant financing agreement with the World Bank to strengthen its health services in order to respond to the needs of its population of almost a million Rohingya refugees.
This additional financing to the existing Health Sector Support Project will help provide essential health and nutrition services to the Rohingya people, which will include maternal, neonatal, infant, child, and adolescent health, nutrition and psychosocial services, as well as...
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Thousands took to the streets in Addis Ababa to protest against ethnic violence targeting minorities and perpetrated by the country’s majority Oromo ethnic group.
Protesters condemned a weekend of violence in which 23 people of minority background were killed within the Oromo heartland. The government responded with an initial crackdown, arresting 200 people who were seen to be connected to the violence and has strongly condemned the attacks.
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The Azerbaijan state has lost an appeal to bring a defamation case against two French journalists, AP reports.
Azerbaijan attempted to file the case against journalist Elise Lucet and the then-news director of France-2 TV over a 2015 investigative report which called the country a “ferocious” “dictatorship”.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it has opened a “full-fledged preliminary examination” into crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s military this week.
Thousands of Rohingya have been killed and over 700,000 displaced, with a United Nations report calling for senior Burmese military figures to be investigated for genocide.
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Burundi has threatened to withdraw from the UN human rights council after a commission of inquiry on the country presented its findings, which include allegations of possible crimes against humanity committed by the government.
The state has refused to cooperate with the commission and last week declared the three commissioners to be personae non-gratae.
The Burundian ambassador to the UN in Geneva said the report was “full of lies” and “politically motivated” and threatened to...
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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said the International Criminal Court was needed when a state is “unwilling or unable to deliver justice” as she spoke on the punishment and prevention of genocide in Geneva this week.
Addressing a high level panel at the 39th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, Bachelet said that “ending impunity is central to ending genocide”.
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Four people were killed in a Saudi-led air strike on a radio station in the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah in Yemen.
Four employees of the Almaraweah radio station were killed, reports Reuters, three of them guards.
The attack exerts further pressure on the international community as UN officials scramble to arrange a resumption of peace talks for the four-year-old conflict.
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Chinese officials have rejected claims of mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, after growing international outcry and instead claimed they are offering 'education' to counter religious extremism.
The comments came shortly after Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a new report entitled 'Eradicating Ideological Viruses', detailing the abuses suffered in ‘re...
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The new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet on Monday urged an international mechanism to collect evidence of crimes committed by the Myanmar army against the Rohingya population in order to pursue prosecutions.
“This mechanism would also complement and support the preliminary examination of the ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutor," she said."
“I urge the Council to pass a resolution and refer the matter to the General Assembly for its...
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French police have arrested a Liberian man accused of committing crimes against humanity, whilst being a commander in the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) in the 1990’s.
The man, identified as Kunti K, is a naturalised Dutch citizen. He is accused of torture, murder, slavery, the use of child soldiers and cannibalism between 1993 and 1997.
He was arrested in the northeast Paris suburb of Bobigny on Tuesday.
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India's Supreme Court today decriminalised homosexuality in a land mark ruling by a constitution bench of five judges.
The Court unanimously decided to overturn the 158 year old law which criminalised consensual 'unnatural' sex, arguing that the colonial era law violated the right to equality.
"Any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violates fundamental rights," the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said.
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The German government handed back the remains of indigenous Namibians that were killed more than 100 years ago, but refused to issue an official apology for the genocide.
Remains that included 19 skulls, a scalp and bones, were handed to a Namibian government official at a church service in Berlin. The service marked the third time that Germany has handed over human remains to Namibia, after they were sent to Germany for now-discredited research to prove the racial superiority of...
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Two Reuters journalists who were arrested and detained for over 200 days whilst investigating ongoing massacres of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been sentenced to seven years in prison.
In a landmark case that has evoked international condemnation, the Myanmar judge said his verdict is based on documents found on mobile phones of the reporters, that “can be useful to enemies of the country or the ones who oppose the country”.
US ambassador Scot Marciel, who attended the...
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Upto 30 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military base in Zari, Borno state on Thursday.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by suspected Islamic State members.
“The battle lasted for about two hours and our colleagues fought them but things became bad before the fighter jets arrived. We lost about 30 of our soldiers and about 10 were wounded,” a military source, who did not want to be named, told...
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The Saudi-led coalition on Saturday said an air strike over Yemen last month which killed dozens of people was "unjustified" and pledged to bring hold anyone found to have made mistakes to account.
“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition expresses regret over the mistakes, extends its sympathies, condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims,” a statement published by the Saudi state news agency SPA said,...
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The Nicaraguan government has instructed a United Nations human rights delegation to leave following the publication of a report condemning rights violations and repression by the president, Daniel Ortega's regime.
“Given that the reasons, causes and conditions that gave rise to this invitation have ceased... this Ministry announces that it concludes the invitation and finalises the visit as of August 30," Nicaragua's foreign minister, Denis Moncada wrote in a letter to the UN High...
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Myanmar's government today rejected a report released by the United Nations which calls for an investigation into the genocide of the Rohingya people by Myanmese troops as "false".
"We didn't allow the FFM (the UN Fact-Finding Mission) to enter into Myanmar, that's why we don't agree and accept any resolutions made by the Human Rights Council," a senior government spokesperson, Zaw Htay was quoted by the state run Global New Light of Myanmar as saying.
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A United Nations report has called for senior figures in Myanmar’s military to face trial for genocide committed against the Rohingya population.
The UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar was set up in March 2017 and headed by Marzuki Darusman who also co-authored the 2011 report produced by a panel of experts on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.
The report on Myanmar names six senior military figures it believes should go on trial and calls for the case to...
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A founding member of the Argentinian disappearances activist group, Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, died on Tuesday, aged 95, having never located her disappeared granddaughter despite a 40 year search.
Maria Isabel Chorobik de Mariani, known as “Chicha” Mariani, helped found the group in response to hundreds, and possibly thousands, of children who were abducted during Argentina’s military dictatorship between 1974 and 1983.
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Throughout the past several weeks, the Indian state of Kerala has been disturbed by heavy rain and immense flooding leaving at least 400 people dead.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced 500 crore rupees to the state for relief, but controversy has arisen over an offer from the United Arab Emirates of 700 crores for relief. The UAE, which has over 2 million Indian migrants with many from Kerala, made the offer last week, with Mr Modi, thanking the state for the “gracious...
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Sinn Fein has called for Northern Ireland's friendly international football match with Israel to be cancelled citing ongoing human rights concerns over the country's "slaughter" of Palestinians.
"Sinn Fein continue to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel under which cultural, academic and sporting links fall," MLA Sinead Ennis said.
“Therefore, I am once again calling on the IFA to cancel this match and send out a strong signal that the...
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El Salvador on Tuesday broke ties with Taiwan as it sought to establish diplomatic relations with China, becoming the third Latin American country in two years to do so.
“Fundamentally, it’s an interest in betting on the growth of our country with one of the world’s most booming economies,” El Salvador's presidential spokesperson, Roberto Lorenzana said in an interview broadcast on Monday.
“El Salvador can’t turn its back on international reality.”
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Angola has asked the IMF for talks on a bailout, promising more structural reform to the sub-Saharan nation’s economy in return.
A statement from the IMF’s Deputy Managing Director confirmed that Angolan authorities had written to the organisation to initiate discussions on an economic program that could be supported by the IMF’s fund for countries experiencing serious payment imbalances or slow growth and weak balance of payments positions.
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Police in Germany have arrested two Kurdish activists over the use of People’s Protection Units (YPG) flags in protests, reports Kurdistan 24.
The activists, identified as Munich Kurdish Society Center Co-chairs Azad Bingol and Hezwan Abdal, had their houses raided by the State Security branch of the Munich police on Tuesday.
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An Algerian diaspora activist was handed a suspended prison term by an Algerian Court for a 2014 Facebook post criticising government discrimination against a minority group, Human Rights Watch reports.
Salim Yezza was arrested at the Biskra airport as he was about to return to Paris last month.
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The Taliban have accepted an invitation from Russia to attend regional talks in Moscow, on Afghanistan’s future.
The talks are likely to exclude the United States, the Wall Street Journal reports.
A Russian presidential representative said the meeting on September 4th was “in line with efforts to launch the process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan.”
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A Turkish airstrike has killed a senior Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader in Sinjar, a village in northern Iraq where Kurdish forces fought off Islamic State (IS) militants in 2014.
Zaki Shingali, a senior PKK leader who is highly regarded by many in the area, was killed in the strikes, which also left up to a reported dozen people dead.
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Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, has died at the age of 80.
His family and the Kofi Annan foundation announced that he passed away today after a short illness.
Born in Ghana, Mr Annan was the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations and the first black African to take up the role.
He served between 1997 and 2006, with his tenure coinciding with the height of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka as well as the peace process and resumption...
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The government of Maldives is cracking down on "any and all dissent" through the intimidation of political opponents and the media, Human Rights Watch said in a report published this week.
“The Maldives government has cracked down on any and all dissent, from activists and journalists to Supreme Court judges,” HRW's Asia director, Brad Adams.
“Immediate steps are needed to restore political freedoms and democratic rule to ensure free and fair elections in September.”
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The United States imposed sanctions on Myanmar's military and police on Friday over the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.
“Burmese security forces have engaged in violent campaigns against ethnic minority communities across Burma, including ethnic cleansing, massacres, sexual assault, extrajudicial killings, and other serious human rights abuses,” the US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker was quoted by...