Sasikala Natarajan has been appointed as the general secretary of the AIADMK party today, following the death of the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa earlier this month. 

Sasikala was previous known as a friend of the late chief minister, though she had no official role. 

She will officially take over on January 2. 

O Panneerselvam was appointed as chief minister of Tamil Nadu following Jayalalithaa's death on December 5. 

Fishermen of Thalvupada, Mannar, held a road-block protest against obstruction from the Sri Lankan Navy.

Tamils in Belgium marked Maaveerar Naal last month, with a ceremony held to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

Held at a festival hall in Antwerp, hundreds of people came together in commemoration of the lives lost.

See a selection of photographs and video from the event below.

Hundreds of Tamils gathered in Auckland last month at a ceremony held to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

Held at the Mt Roskill War Memorial Hall, hundreds of people came together to lay flowers and pay their respects to those who lost their lives in the Tamil liberation struggle.

See a selection of photographs from the event below.

Hundreds of Tamils in Scotland marked Maaveerar Naal last month, as part of commemorations held to remember those killed fighting for Tamil liberation.

Tamils in Helsinki observed Maaveerar Naal last month, as part of worldwide commemorations to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

The Mayor of Brampton intends to sign a Sister City agreement in the coming weeks, that will see the Canadian city twin with Vavuniya in the North-East.

“Brampton is one of Canada’s most culturally and linguistically diverse municipalities, and is home to a growing and dynamic Tamil community of approximately 20,000 residents who are actively engaged in commerce, politics and charitable activities,” said Mayor Linda Jeffrey in a statement released last week. 

“This agreement would strengthen existing economic and cultural ties while encouraging commerce and the exchange of goods and services between Brampton, the Greater Toronto Area and Vavuniya,” she added.

The home of a journalist attached to the Theepam newspaper was reportedly attacked in the early hours of Monday.

The Island reports that the home of the paper’s Vavuniya provincial correspondent Kumarasingham Gokulan was damaged in the incident, but there were no injuries.

Sri Lankan police are reportedly launching investigations.
 

A group of Sinhala Buddhist monks and Sri Lankan soldiers from the 66 Division distributed school supplies to Tamil children in Ponnakari on Boxing Day, reports an official army website.

The Sri Lankan army has held employment awareness workshops for the unemployed youth of Jaffna, "with the sheer intention of exploring possibilities of getting employment openings for the unemployed in the Jaffna Peninsula" according to the official army website.