The 18-year-old football player has just penned a two-and-a-half-year contract at Barnsley, making him English football's first ever Tamil professional player. Yoganathan spoke with the Tamil Guardian about the journey so far.

From a small village in North Wales, Vimal has navigated the youth systems up through the academy level and has become the first Tamil footballer to play professionally in English football. He is ecstatic 

“It’s a big day for me and my family, a culmination of all the hard work that has been put in over the last 10 years… It’s just the start of a long career to come and I am proud of this moment”

 A four-year-old playing indoor football at Holywell Leisure Centre to playing at academies at Prestatyn and Liverpool, to now signing his first professional contract at Barnsley, Vimal spoke about the support he has received from his parents. 

“They have been amazing, for the last 10 to 11 years they have had to drive me to training and training centres and have always tried to attend my games”

Captain Miller, the latest Kollywood blockbuster from director Arun Matheswaran with Dhanush in the leading role has generated a worldwide buzz for its powerfully familiar title, named after the LTTE’s first Black Tiger. But who is the real Captain Miller?

Two individuals have been apprehended for reportedly throwing petrol bombs at a Sri Lankan police station in Kayts, Jaffna.

The arrested persons believed to be residents of Mandaitivu, are accused of targetting the police station at the Mandaitivu junction on January 10.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk has slammed the Sri Lankan government’s ongoing anti-drug operation, “Operation Yukthiya”, and urged the government to comply with a human-rights based approach.

Human Rights Watch’s (HRW’s) 2024 World Report raises alarm over Sri Lanka’s continued repressive policies and details how its economic policies have hit poorest the hardest.

As Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at HRW, stated:

Landing on the scene with hyper-violent art film 2021’s ‘Rocky,’ Matheswaran swiftly followed it up last year with the equally violent ‘Saani Kaayidham.’ The Keerthy Suresh starrer was a tightly written revenge film with stunning cinematography, performances and score. Matheswaran proved himself to be a highly capable director, and looked to expand his vision and scope with this year’s release ‘Captain Miller.’ Starring Dhanush and scored by GV Prakash, Matheswaran had his eyes set on entering the commercial zone. 

‘Ayalaan’ stars Sivakarthikeyan, is scored by AR Rahman and tackles the extraterrestrial sub-genre of science fiction. In every department, ‘Ayalaan’ is a bigger film than its predecessor. However, whether it is a better film is certainly up for debate. 

In a move that has sparked both domestic and international concerns, Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe presented the much-criticised Anti-Terrorism Bill to replace the longstanding Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). 

Eelam writer and former Secretary of the Jaffna University Student Union, Theepachelvan , introduced his latest novel, "Terrorist," to an audience at Jaffna University this week.

A senior Canadian police chief sparked controversy with a visit to Sri Lanka last month, where he discussed “cooperation” with its notorious police force and visited the office of a senior official who the Supreme Court found had personally participated in torture.

The 39th anniversary commemoration of Sinnathurai Raveenthiran, popularly known as Captain Pandithar, a prominent commander in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), took place at his residence in Valvettithurai, Jaffna on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu has signed investment pacts worth more than $6.40 billion with firms such as Apple, suppliers Tata Electronics and Pegatron, as well as auto companies Hyundai Motors and VinFast.