Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), met with members of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) in Jaffna yesterday where he affirmed his party would support the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution.

Sinhala politicians in the South have vented their fury, after Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa told Tamils in Jaffna that his party was for the implementation of the 13^th Amendment “in full”, as he pledged to devolve powers to the North-East.

“What did he mean?” questioned ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) parliamentarian Rohitha Abeygunawardena. “Did he say that police and land powers would be granted to the northern province?”

Tamil residents of Poovarasankulam in Vavuniya stopped a land grab attempt by Sri Lanka’s Forest Department, as they arrived at the area to demarcate and measure a section of privately-owned land.

Residents objected to the move and turned the officials away adding that they had no authority to demarcate private property.

The massacre of 31 fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy in Mandaitivu, Jaffna was remembered today thirty-eight years on. 

The fishermen had gone fishing by Kurunagar port when they were attacked by navy personnel. Local residents gathered by a memorial built in Kurunagar in memory of those killed. 

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The Advanced Level examination results of 70 female Muslim students at the Zahira College in Trincomalee have been suspended after invigilators complained their identities could not be confirmed as they were wearing hijabs – an Islamic headscarf.

Lawmaker M S Thowfeek told parliament that these students despite undergoing many hardships owing to the economic crisis and loss of livelihoods had studied well and sat for the exams with the hope that they could secure a good result. 

Thousands of Tamils from the Anavimbudan and Vannerkulam villages in Kilinochchi remain without safe drinking water, as regions of the Tamil homeland continue to face poverty and underdevelopment, 15 years after the Mullivaikkal genocide.

The villagers have appealed to the divisional secretariat requesting that the general public be provided drinking water through the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, as done in other parts of the country. 

As LGBTQI+ communities around the world mark Pride Month, Tamils in Jaffna took part in an annual walk to mark the occasion, under the theme of “unity in diversity.”

The walk started in front of the Jaffna bus stand and reached the Jaffna Public Library through Chattra Junction and Farm Road. This year, the Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Eric Walsh also took part in the walk. 

Several South Asian leaders, including Ranil Wickremesinghe, attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony in Delhi.

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London owes more than £666,000 in congestion charge fees, according to Britain’s Transport for London which said it was “pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice”.

Sri Lanka is on the list of several embassies in the UK that amassed the unpaid fees and fines from 2003 onwards. The congestion charge is a £15 daily fee that most motorists must pay to drive into central London.

The Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha in Mullaitivu district has informed the Canadian businessman who recently fenced off a road in Deonagar leading to the coast that he has no legal rights over it and the property belongs to the local council.

The decision is a big win for Tamil fishermen who have been protesting for years against the arbitrary decisions by the Canadian businessmen, Charlesjanthan Antony, the head of private Canadian company Canbe Foods Inc.