The construction of another Buddhist vihara in Trincomalee has continued to ramp up, as two Buddha statues were seen on the site this week.

The new building comes despite protests from locals in Iluppaikulam, Trincomalee, who have condemned the construction of a new Buddhist temple in an area predominantly inhabited by Tamil people.

Hundreds of mourners paid tribute to BBC News presenter George Alagiah at a memorial service in London this week.

Alagiah, one of British television's best-loved figures, was a Tamil who fled Sri Lanka in the wake of the 1958 pogrom and ongoing ethnic discrimination on the island.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman concluded a visit to Sri Lanka last week, where she travelled to both Jaffna and Trincomalee before addressing a business summit on “Enhancing Connectivity”, as New Delhi aims to grow closer ties to the Tamil homeland.

A protest was held in Vavuniya on Saturday demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza and an end to the military offensive that has seen over 4,000 children killed so far.

The demonstration, organised by the Mass Movement for Social Justice (MMSJ), also criticised US support of Israel, and highlighted the severe impact of the Israeli invasion on Gaza's civilian infrastructure, including the destruction of hospitals, schools, and humanitarian aid corridors.

Tamil lawmakers from the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) led a protest in Vavuniya on Sunday, demanding an end to Sri Lanka’s land encroachment across the Tamil homeland in the North-East.

^{Image courtesy of PMD}

Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe decried the apparent double standard of the “West” in their approach to the current bombardment in Gaza and Sri Lanka’s own 2009 military offensive but remained staunchly opposed to an international accountability mechanism into the massacres on the island.

“Why is it one rule applies to us, and another rule applies to them,” Wickremesinghe told an audience last week.

Thousands of Muslims gathered at the Kinniya Urban Council Grounds in Trincomalee to hold a mass protest and collective prayer in solidarity with Palestine on Friday.

A large Sri Lankan flag was waved, alongside a Palestinian one.

My dear Percival Mahendra,

I hope this letter finds you in good health.

What can impede your health as long as your buddy Ranil is there for you? Was it not because of the grace of Ranil you were saved from the electric chair? I mean, he claimed a few years ago that it was he who saved you from the electric chair. Not many people understood what he meant but I don’t recall even a bit of whining from you then, so I am assuming it was he who came to your rescue when the Americans were threatening to bring war crimes charges against you and your beloved brother Nandasena Gota.

There was a lot of ‘silly’ talk in 2010 that the Americans were not happy with your election victory over Fonseka. And then came the presidential election of 2015. When the results came out, you really didn’t want to step down. Remember you summoned the commanders of the security forces and were contemplating staying in power through unconstitutional means. And then the warning shots came, and you decided to back down, or to be precise, step down.

Preparations were underway at Aatkattiveli Thuyilum Illam in Mannar yesterday ahead of Maaveerar Naal which falls on November 27. 

Before the cleaning began, the families paid tribute to the fallen Tamil fighters. Thommai, the brother of Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose her life in the Tamil armed struggle, lit a flame by a makeshift gravestone. 

Tamils have called for Theravil Thuyilum Illam to be released by the Sri Lankan army who are currently occupying the land. 

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) built Thuyilum Illams - resting homes- across the North-East where thousands of Tamil fighters were laid to rest. Following the end of the armed conflict, the Sri Lankan army bulldozed over these cemetries and in some areas built army bases over them.