The scheduled exhumation of the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave, planned for August 21st, has been indefinitely postponed due to a lack of funding allocated to the Mullaitivu District Secretariat for the excavation and exhumation.

File photograph 

Tamil families of the disappeared have announced a mass protest in Batticaloa on August 30th, to mark the International Day of the Disappeared and amplify their calls for accountability and justice.

Sinhala Buddhist monks and Buddhist worshippers disrupted a Tamil Pongal celebration at the Athi Aiyanar temple in Kurunthurmalai earlier today. 

Tens of thousands of families in the North-East have been affected by the severe drought in the region, IBC Tamil has reported. 

According to the Disaster Management Centre, 75,165 people in the Northern province and 63,136 people in the Eastern province have been affected by the lack of drinking water due to the drought. 

Remembrance events were held across the North-East today to remember the Sencholai massacre, where four Sri Lankan air force jets flew over the Vanni and dropped sixteen bombs over the Sencholai children's home for orphans, killing 53 school girls and 3 teachers.

Speaking in Mannar, Manuwal Udayachandra, president of the Association of Families Searching for Missing Relatives condemned Sri Lanka’s Office of Missing Persons (OMP).

The livelihoods of Tamil farmers has been affected by severe drought in the district as persistent dry weather has led to few crops. 

The water levels in Mannar district have been depleted due to the lack of rain over the last six months. Small ponds and canals have also completely dried up. 

The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) have reiterated their refusal to accept the 13th Amendment as a starting point to the Tamil national question in a letter to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

In the letter, signed by TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnamablam and the general secretary Selvarajah Kajendren, they stated that:

Nelson's sudden downfall may have been due to mishandling a Tamil industry heavyweight, Vijay, for ‘Beast,’ leading to a bland action film, where the humour takes a back seat. He decides to double down by signing on an even trickier assignment with Rajinikanth, which has turned out to be an uneven venture. 

Excavations at the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave site in Mullaitivu are expected to resume on August 21 after a field visit was conducted today. 

Sri Lanka has proposed the launch of a Climate Justice Forum (CJF) at COP 28 which will be held in the United Arab Emirates, 

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry, decried calls for devolution whilst speaking to journalists in Colombo on Wednesday evening, claiming it would lead to greater politicisation.

Noting concerns over Sri Lanka’s abusive police force, Sabry claimed:

The Tamil National Alliance has released a statement reiterating their commitment to a federal solution and urging the Sri Lankan government to immediately hold provincial elections and provide for meaningful devolutions.