Around 1000 Tamils gathered in Palermo, Italy, last weekend to celebrate Oli Vizha - 'festival of light' - a cultural and community showcase which returned to the city after two years of hiatus caused by the global pandemic.

Sri Lanka’s Presidential advisor, Ashu Marasinghe has been forced to resign after leaked footage showed him sexually abusing a dog.

The footage was revealed by former MP Hirunika Premachandra during a media briefing on Friday. During the briefing, she identified the dog’s owner as Aadarsha Karandana who had been in a two-year relationship with Marasinghe after meeting on Facebook.

King’s College London’s annual ‘Kings of Gaana’ event, the world’s largest inter-university Gaana competition, took place for the 10th year in a row on December 11. This year it was held in the Eventim Apollo theatre, and hosted by British Tamil event personalities Kutti Hari and Braha.

Tamil National Alliance MP, MA Sumanthiran has claimed that Sri Lanka's President has agreed to release land held by Sri Lankan security forces in the Northern province and to release Tamil political prisoners following a meeting on 21 December.

The Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General were also present during these discussions.

A Sri Lankan soldier is reported to have threatened a Tamil fisherman with a knife on the shore of the Ash Odai beach area of Karainagar, Jaffna.

After dry fishing, the fisherman had left his cotton wool to dry, when he was assaulted by the soldier who held a knife against his neck.

The assault has been reported to the Karainagar Seamen's Union and to the Grama Sevaka officers. The union has strongly condemned the attack and plan to file a complaint against the soldier with the local police.

Tamil Guardian journalist, Kanapathipillai Kumanan, has been summoned to the Mullaitivu office of the Assistant Superintendent of Police for an undisclosed investigation.

Speaking on this issue, Kumanan noted that in June, there were issues of a military land grab in Mullaitivu, which triggered a local council member to write to the Prime Minister’s office.

"The police responded to the inquiry by calling the council member to give a statement, and I have similarly been called in for this inquiry," he told the Tamil Guardian.

Despite the growing concern over Sri Lanka's increasing militarisation, and the numerous human rights cases of abuse committed by the Sri Lankan military, China continues to bankroll the institution and has granted Rs 5 million to develop the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

The donation was presented by the Defence Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, Senior Colonel Wan Dong to Sri Lanka's war crimes accused Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne.

Read more here.
 

Responding to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan's claim that all of the disappeared were killed, Vavuniya District Tamil Families of the Disappeared  Association Secretary Jenita slammed the Tamil politicians and called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"As a Tamil leader, what has Sampanthan done for the Tamil community," she asked.

After receiving complaints against the Sri Lankan military's continued occupation of the Tamil North and  Eastern provinces, Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission has called for a report from military commanders to assess the legal provisions under which they were deployed and if a public security threat can justify their presence.