Tamils in Batticaloa held a rally to reject Sri Lanka's 75th Independence Day, the unitary state structure and the 13th Amendment. 

Tamils rallied through Mullaitivu this morning to reject Sri Lanka's 75th Independence Day, arguing that the Tamil nation are denied basic rights.

Tamils in Jaffna are rallying through the town today in protest of Sri Lanka's 75th Independence Day, which is regarded as a 'black day' for Tamils. 

The style of the film outweighs the substance by a large margin. Despite the director’s incessant references to Hemingway novels, Bruce Lee films and Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, the film is outclassed by them all. When almost all the departments of a film fail miserably, there is only one person to blame - the director. ‘Michael’ crumbles under its own lofty ambitions, a hollow shell of a film which dissipates upon any scrutiny. 

During the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, Sri Lanka was urged by the several members in the international community to both repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and decriminalize same-sex relationships. 

The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Norway were among the countries that urged the island to repeal the PTA and decriminalize same-sex relationships. 

After a forced resignation following leaked footage of presidential advisor Ashu Marasinghe sexually abusing a dog, he has been reappointed to his position.

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.

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s 75^th Independence Day, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) has issued a statement expressing solidarity with Eelam Tamils who are boycotting celebration and instead taking to the streets to demand an end to militarisation; the continued lack of accountability for the genocide they suffered; and to demand a political solution based on the principle of self-determination.

Meeting with India’s Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar, in New Delhi, several BJP officials from Tamil Nadu, including the President of Tamil Nadu’s BJP branch, K. Annamalai, have urged India to press for the full implementation of the 13^th amendment in Sri Lanka without change to the letter or spirit.

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s 75^th Independence Day, Tamil National People’s Front leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, has written and met with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, and stressed the need for a federal solution.

Ahead of Sri Lanka's 75th Independence Day, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, and Under Secretary Victoria Nuland,  met with Tamil and Muslim political leaders to discuss reconciliation and a political solution to Sri Lanka's history of ethnic conflict.

On Twitter the Ambassador tweeted: