The Sri Lankan government is considering launching a bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games according to a report in the BBC, following a previous failed attempt under Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2011 and ongoing controversy over the island’s human rights record.

The BBC quoted “insiders” as stating that Sri Lanka, alongside Australia, Canada and India and Sri Lanka have “expressed interest in staging the 2026 Games but, as yet, a host has not been secured”.

The next set of games in 2022 are set to be held in Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

As Sri Lankan singer Yohani Diloka de Silva continues to feature in news across the Sinhala press for her music, for many Tamils it is her Sri Lankan military connection that has drawn controversy. 

The singer, who went viral with her cover version of the Sinhala song "Manike Mage Hithe", is the daughter of former Sri Lankan army Major General Prasanna De Silva, a military commander who is credibly accused of overseeing war crimes and a commander who Yohani has repeatedly praised as a "hero".

October 10th 2021, marks thirty-four years since the death of 2nd Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose her life in the Tamil armed struggle.

Across the world, the day is being commemorated as Tamil Women’s Day, an opportunity to honour women’s involvement in the fight for Tamil rights.

Speaking at a debate in Scottish parliament over the government's international policy, Scottish Labour spoke out against the Scottish government's inaction regarding Police Scotland providing training to the police forces of countries, such as Sri Lanka, which it considers are engaging in human rights abuses and repression”.

"What is the Scottish Government’s response to that alarming activity? To repeatedly pass the buck to Police Scotland. There is no point in having a justice secretary who is not prepared to stand up for human rights and hold the police to account when things go wrong, yet we have exactly that in Keith Brown." Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, told parliament.

Responding to the revelation that members of the Rajapaksa family stashed millions of dollars in anonymous offshore trusts and shell companies, Sri Lankan State Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, C B Ratnayake blamed the Tamil diaspora.

Speaking at the a confrence held by the British Tamil Conservatives, UK ministers and parliamentarians thanked the British Tamil community for their contribution to the country and reaffirmed their committment to "truth, justice, and reconciliation" in Sri Lanka.

^{For more information about the TCC or to submit your feedback on the first design visit www.tamilcentre.ca}

The first design of the groundbreaking Tamil Community Centre (TCC), to be built in Toronto, has been released. 

Despite crackdowns by the Sri Lankan state across the Tamil homeland, several Tamil politicians and civil society members held private memorials for Lt Col Thileepan on Sunday, the 34th anniversary of his passing following his twelve day fast-unto-death.

Students at the University of Jaffna defied threats and held a vigil at an undisclosed location on campus.

Speaking at the event hosted by Tamils for Labour, during the British Labour Party's annual conference, Shadow Foreign Secretary, Lisa Nandy, maintained that the party has been pushing for "concrete steps" on Sri Lanka, such as a referral to the International Criminal Court.

"We pushed in March for the UN resolution to include concrete measures, such as an International Independent Investigative Mechanism (III-M) and for a referral of cases to the international criminal court. These concerete steps are really important to us" she told the conference.

She further maintained that "human rights, the rule of law, freedom and democracy, will always be an essential component of Labour’s foreign policy". She also added that "if you threaten human rights anywhere you threaten human rights everywhere".

Today marks 34 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

Thileepan began his fast on the September 15, 1987, with 100,000 people gathered around the historic Nallur Kandwaswamy Temple in Jaffna.

On September 13, 1987, Thileepan put forward five demands  to the Indian government following the signing of the Indo-Lanka accord in July 1987: