Today, Ontario's Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, announced that the Ontario government will be providing $48,950 to create workshops targeting mental health and intergenerational trauma caused by the Tamil Genocide.

The funding was provided to the Canadian Tamil Academy, a not-for-profit organization in Scarborough, Ontario. The funding will be used to allow students throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Peel and Ottawa "access to mental health experts and provide them educational discourse on the Tamil Genocide and its long-lasting effects."

Sri Lanka’s finance minister Basil Rajapaksa revealed how his government illegally purchased weapons from North Korea during the height of the armed conflict, using money sourced from the “black market”. 

Rajapaksa, who holds US citizenship, told The Sunday Divayina this week that during the peak of Sri Lanka’s military offensive, he and other Sri Lankan officials would personally visit the ‘Pettah’ Business District in Colombo to speak with traders and obtain dollars in the black market. 

The money would then be used to purchase arms from North Korea, he continued.

Journalists a held a protest in Jaffna today to mark 'Black January' and to demand investigations into the numerous assassinations and disappearances of media workers on the island. 

Protesters hoisted black flags as they drew attention to the lack of impartial investigations into the murders and attacks on journalists.  

Sri Lanka's 40 billion LKR package to compensate farmers who have been impacted by the governments failed inorganic fertiliser ban, has been rejected by the All Ceylon Farmers Federation due to it being inadequate and discriminatory. 

A group of Sri Lankan politicians met in Colombo last week and urged the government “to protect the poor” as the island went through what parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran termed a “historically unprecedented” economic crisis.

In a statement released after the meeting, the Tamil National Alliance lawmaker said a group of “leaders from over half a dozen key political parties” met in Colombo last week to “brainstorm ways to tide over this crisis”.

Tamil farmers from Mulliativu protested earlier this week against the continuation of illegal sand mining conducted by the Sri Lankan Forest Department in the farming lands of Puthukkudiyiruppu West. 

The protests took place last Friday in front of Puthukkudiyiruppu Police Station whence the protesters marched to the office of the Divisional Secretariat. 

They submitted a petition to the Assistant Divisional Secretary detailing their grievances. The land in question has been used for agriculture since 1972 and the farmers still possess documents that give them the title to their land.

Tamil fishermen from Vadamarachchi, Jaffna have taken to streets to call on China to resolve fishing disputes in the Indian Ocean.

Demonstrators complained against disruptive practices which they note have damaged their fishing nets and have called for other fishermen to abstain for fishing for a day in protest.

A Tamil man was granted indefinitely leave to remain after having lived in the UK for almost 40 years without formal immigration status. Ponnampalam Jothibala, 69, moved to the UK with a view to pursue his accountancy studies in 1983 and was instead left destitute due to a series of Home Office failures and delays. 

In a massive rally this morning, Eelam Tamils in Jaffna have come out to protest against the 13^th amendment and have demanded recognition of Tamil nationhood and sovereignty through a federal structure.

A candlelight vigil was held in Batticaloa yesterday to mark ‘Black January’, a day to commemorate the intimidation, murder and enforced disappearance of journalists in Sri Lanka.

Demonstrators lit candles in remembrance of the journalists who had lost their lives in pursuit of democratic accountability and reiterated their demands for an independent international investigation into these murders.