Prominent Tamil journalist, Shanmugam Thavaseelan was amongst those that formally opened the Mullaitivu Press Club on Tuesday morning. 

The office aims to promote freedom of the press and of expression in the North East, as Sri Lanka remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. Prior to the inaugural ceremony, Sri Lankan state officials, surveilled and harassed the journalists at the Mullaitivu office. 

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Julie Chung, US nominee ambassador to Sri Lanka, emphasised her commitment "to speaking clearly and consistently in support of democratic values, human rights and a strong civil society".

Chung's previous posting was as the Acting Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and she is replacing Alaina B. Teplitz as Ambassador to Sri Lanka. Chung has served in a variety of roles including as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and serving for roles in Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Colombia, and Iraq.

(Photo Credit: The Guardian)

The UK Home Office has been criticised following a serious procedural error which has put a Tamil scientist and torture survivor and his family at risk of deportation to Sri Lanka. 

Renowned Tamil Eelam playback singer and musician Rameswaran Varnakulasingam (popularly known as ‘Varna Rameswaran’) passed away in Canada last month, after contracting COVID-19.

Varna passed away on 25^th September 2021, at the age of 52.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister lashed out at the United Nations and decried the “double standards” and “threats” that were coming Colombo’s way, in an interview published by the Daily Mirror this week.

G L Peiris, who has twice previously held the top foreign ministry job under Mahinda Rajapaksa, denounced what he deemed “coercion through resolutions” and “threats” that Sri Lanka had reportedly received over its human rights record and lack of action on accountability for mass atrocities.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new airport in Kushinagar earlier today, in a ceremony which saw 100 Buddhist monks fly in from Sri Lanka, accompanied by the son of the Sri Lankan prime minister.

Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Mahinda and Sri Lanka’s Cabinet Minister of Youth and Sports accompanied the 100 Buddhist monks, four State Ministers and other senior officials on the SriLankan Airlines flight. They had brought Buddhist Kapilavastu relics of Waskaduwa with them, to be displayed at the ceremony.

^{Mahinda Rajapaksa with a Sinhala Buddhist monk photographed earlier this year.}

The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved amendments to five bills drafted on the banning of cattle slaughter this week, in a move that pushes the island on the verge of a ban following years of pressure from Sinhala Buddhist monks.

The approval of the amendments will mean that they will now be tabled in parliament and follows action from Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last year to outlaw the practice.

^{Powell in Colombo, 2005.}

This week, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell passed away from COVID-19 related complications, aged 84 years old. 

Powell will be remembered as being the first African-American US Secretary of State and also for his role in garnering international support for the US invasion of Iraq. 

We look back on his interactions and remarks on Sri Lanka, the faltering peace process between the Sri Lankan government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Washington’s support for Colombo that empowered the Rajapaksa regime and its military offensive.

In their latest report, Amnesty International details how the Rajapaksa regime rose to power "on the promise of authoritarian leadership" and continued scapegoating and targetting of Muslims, "to distract from other political and economic issues". 

Sri Lankan state officials, in plain clothes, surveilled and harassed Tamil journalists at the Mullaitivu Press Club, as the office was preparing to open on October 20.

Military patrolled the building, and police interrogated journalists on the opening event and expected guests. Mullaitivu District Secretariat, K. Vimalanathan and University of Jaffna, Head of Media Studies Dr. S. Raguram are among those expected to attend.