Following a spate of reported drug-related deaths in Jaffna, staff at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital held a rally through the town on Thursday, demanding action be taken to prevent substance abuse and addiction.

As many as 10-drug related deaths are reported to have occurred in Jaffna within the span of the last three months.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister was gushing with praise for China this week, calling the state a “true decisive global leader” and Sri Lanka’s “Kalyana Mitra” - a Buddhist concept meaning a special friend in times of happiness as well sorrow.

Dinesh Gunawardena, Sri Lanka’s former foreign secretary, made the comments during remarks at the 73rd Chinese National Day Anniversary Celebrations organized by China-Sri Lanka Friendship Associations at Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel on Wednesday.

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko urged the Indian government to change its foreign policy towards Sri Lanka and called for support on a referendum to establish an independent Tamil Eelam.

Speaking at an event to mark the 114th birth anniversary of former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai earlier this month, Vaiko said that India must ensure the Sri Lankan army is moved out of the traditional Tamil homeland in the North-East.

He also called for an internationally monitored referendum on the formation of an independent Tamil Eelam state.

At a recent gig in London, ‘Cinnamon and Spice’, Pritt, an Eelam Tamil singer, performed alongside four female South Asian artists. Aligning with Pritt’s passions, the event aimed to celebrate underrepresented South Asian female talent and create a platform to share their music. As a part of BBC Asian Network Future Sounds in 2021, Pritt uses her platform to celebrate Tamil music and encourage artists in the UK and worldwide, particularly supporting underrepresented musicians.

Amidst the 51^st session of the UN Human Rights Council session, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootan (TMTK), CV Wigneswaran, spoke with Tamil Guardian on issues of devolution, the 13^th amendment, the weaknesses of the UNHRC resolution, and the need for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Almost a year after initially being summoned, Valikamam East Divisional Council chairman Thiyagaraja Nirosh has been acquitted over Maaveerar Naal commemorations, as Sri Lankan authorities cracked down on commemoration events across the North-East.

Nirosh and his deputy Kapilan were ordered to appear at Mallakam District Court last year after the police sought a court order to ban any memorial events from taking place.

They were initially charged with violating coronavirus prevention laws.

It has been a decade since Pa Ranjith debuted with his film ‘Attakathi’, a seemingly simple rom-com following the life of a hopeless romantic. Since then, Pa Ranjith has been one of a handful of directors responsible for revolutionising Tamil cinema and subverting the discourse surrounding caste, with his groundbreaking films ‘Madras’, ‘Kabali’ and ‘Kaala’. Last year’s ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ garnered much acclaim despite being released on streaming services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ranjith seems to have come full circle with his latest release ‘Natchathiram Nagargirathu’, as he returns to the subject of love. Through this, we witness the extent of his development as a filmmaker. The politics of love were hidden in the background of ‘Attakathi’, whereas in ‘NN’, Ranjith brings all the guts and glory of love to the forefront. 

Speaking before the 55^th Asian Development Bank’s annual conference, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe maintained that factors underlying the global economic crisis are not economic alone but are “the consequences of evolving geopolitics”.

A Sri Lankan government minister has pledged legal action after a senior official told the BBC that a power plant was forced to shut down, after the wrong type of crude oil was imported and used.

"Sulphur content is too high in the furnace oil [fuel oil] which is not suitable for the current power plants and it's also not conforming with environmental standards," Janaka Ratnayake, the head of the Public Utilities Commission, told the BBC.

As the Sri Lankan government’s newly formed ‘National Council’ held its inaugural meeting today, not all of the named council members were present, with the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam stating he was appointed “without my consultation or consent”.

“I will not be taking my place in the “National Council”,” tweeted Ponnambalam last week.