US Senator Rand Paul has hit out at the recently passed US coronavirus relief bill for a “bunch of socialist spending”, as he slammed the stimulus package’s international spending – highlighting how US$15 million has allegedly been allocated to “buy high speed boats for Sri Lanka”.

The bill, passed last month, is technically as part of a US$1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill with foreign aid.

The Sri Lankan government is using the coronavirus pandemic “to whitewash military officers who face allegations of war crimes” said the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) this week, after the regime announced 25 military officers were to be put in charge of civilian health across the island.

Many of the officers had “frontline combat experience in the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009” when tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan forces.

Over 250 British Tamil organisations have called on the British government to sponsor a resolution at the 46^th UN Human Rights Council session, this March, which established an “International Independent Investigative Mechanism” to investigate war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan military including the charge of genocide against the Tamil people.

A Tamil journalist was assaulted and threatened by a group of unidentified people, when he went to film a protest in Batticaloa on Tuesday.

Kugarasu Subojan traveled to Eravur, Batticaloa to cover a local protest against the ‘Airtel Tower’ on Tuesday morning when he was approached and threatened by a group of unidentified persons.

Commemorating the life of Maamanithar Kumar Ponnanmbalam, a prominent Tamil human rights lawyer and leader of the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), the Tamil National People’s Front held a memorial at Kalladi, Batticaloa.

Kumar Ponnanmbalam was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on 5^th January 2000 whilst in his car on Ramakrishna Lane, in the Tamil area of Colombo, Wellawatte. His murder came only a few days after he had written an open letter to then-President Chandrika, condemning her anti-Tamil policies.

S. Jaishankar, the Indian Minister of External Affairs, has landed in Sri Lanka for a diplomatic visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations.

During the visit, from the 5-7 January, Jaishankar is expected to “hold discussions with his counterpart and Sri Lanka’s leadership on the entire gamut of bilateral relations”.

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP for the Vanni district, Charles Nirmalanathan visited the Thiruketheeswaram temple in Mannar last week, after concerns were raised from the landowners that a Buddhist monk had occupied their land.    

The land, which extends to an area of 5 acres in Manthai, was granted to the Shaivite Trust on a 99-year lease and has long-been under the maintenance of the Thiruketheeswaram temple administration.

Former Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) member Visvalingam Manivannan, was elected as Jaffna mayor, in a closely contested mayoral election, last Wednesday.  

Former mayor Emmanuel Arnold, member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), finished second by securing one vote less than attorney Manivannan.

The New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party led a protest in front of the Vavuniya hospital demanding the immediate release of political prisoners and insisting they be given presidential pardons. 

(Photos by Eshan Dasanayaka)