Vijitha Herath, a staunch Sinhala nationalist and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) stalwart has been appointed Sri Lanka’s country’s Foreign Minister, as well as the Minister of Religious Affairs, Mass Media, Environment, Water Supply, Plantation, Community, Housing, and Transport, among others.

We look back at his record.

Tamils in Mannar sent postcards to the newly elected Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake and prime minister Harini Amarasuriya as part of a campaign to call for an end to sand mining activities and a proposed wind power project. 

 

The Supreme Court has ordered the remand of Immigration Controller General Harsha Ilukpitiya pending the resolution of his contempt case. Ilukpitiya faces accusations of failing to adhere to an August 2, 2024 court order that required the restoration of the previous expedited Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system.

C. Prem Kumar’s debut feature film entered the pantheon of the greatest romantic dramas produced by the Tamil film industry; 2018’s ‘96’ starring Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha is a delicate film told by a first-time director with an assured and gentle tone.

Former director of Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), retired SSP Shani Abeysekara, has called for the immediate release of two commission reports concerning the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which claimed the lives of over 250 people. Speaking to reporters Abeysekara stressed the need to make the commissions’ findings public so as to further investigations and uncover the truth. He made these statements at the launch of a book written by journalist, Sunanda Deshapriya, which alleges that Sri Lanka’s military intelligence deliberately misled the CID during their investigations and raises serious concerns over the intelligence service’s financial ties with the attackers.

Following a meeting with Sri Lanka's security forces, Sri Lanka's newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has issued an Extraordinary Gazette notification calling on the three divisions of Sri Lanka's armed forces to maintain public order, under Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinace, effective from 27th September 2024. 

More than a year after a set of skeletons presumed to be those of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters were unearthed from a mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai, their details are finally to be made public after repeated delays and accusations of a cover-up.