Residents and volunteers yesterday cleared the ground at Kanchikudiyaru thuyilum illam in Amparai ahead of Maaveerar Naal (Tamil Remembrance Day) on November 27. 

Thuyilum illams across the North-East have been cleared over recent weeks in preparation of the commemorations. 

Final preparations are taking place at Mulankavil thuyilum illam ahead of Tamil remembrance day (Maaveerar Naal) on November 27. 

Volunteers and locals on Monday continued clearing the site and making the area ready for next Thursday's event. 

<p>Sri Lanka's former finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera today warned the country was heading towards "a state of economic collapse".&nbsp;</p> <p>Condemning the President's sacking of the prime minister and appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new premier, Mangala said "as a result of these actions, Sri Lanka is on the brink of economic anarchy and chaos as never experienced before."&nbsp;</p> <p>"The cavalier and irresponsible actions of the president starting on October 26th based on personal animosities and precipitating a series of illegal acts, places at risk Sri Lanka's ability to meet its immediate debt obligations."&nbsp;</p>

<p>The British opposition has called on the Home Office to halt deportations to Sri Lanka and urgently review the UK’s asylum policy on Sri Lanka, reiterating similar calls from Labour MPs last week.</p> <p><a href="https://labour.org.uk/press/home-office-must-halt-removal-sri-lankan-na…"><u>In a statement on Tuesday</u></a>, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Minister Liz McInnes said:</p>

A Tamil asylum seeker who fled torture in Sri Lanka has been awarded almost £20,000 in damages from the UK Home Office for his unlawful detention.

The 29-year-old referred to as KG was unlawfully held in immigration detention for 30 days between January and February 2016 because of a failure to arrange a medical examination within 24 hours of his admission, Asian Image reports.

<p>The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed concern about threats to press freedom and journalist safety in Sri Lanka as a result of the ongoing political crisis.</p> <p>Responding especially to the attempted transfer of a senior police official who was responsible for investigating the assassination of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, as well as the high profile cases surrounding the targeting of other journalists, IFJ endorsed a statement by its Sri Lankan affiliate SLWJA who said:</p>

Tamils are likely to become the worst victims in Sri Lanka’s political crisis, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R Sampanthan said today.

Speaking to media after a meeting with heads of diplomatic missions in Colombo, the party leader said “the country’s minorities, especially Tamils, may become the victims,” according to The Hindu.

The father of the LTTE's political head for the Trincomalee district, Sasitharan (alias Elilan), died yesterday yearning for his disappeared son. 

Elilan was handed over to the Sri Lankan army by members of his family during the end of the armed conflict in 2009. 

His father has been searching for his son since then along with Elilan's wife, Ananthy Sasitharan. 

Moody's Investors Service announced that it has downgraded Sri Lanka’s senior unsecured ratings to B2 from B1, amidst a deepening political and economic crisis on the island, despite calls from the government to block the move.

The move, which is a significant blow to the Sri Lankan government’s economic policy, comes as both former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe claim to be Sri Lanka’s prime minister in a political crisis that has endured for several weeks.

“This is the first massive blow to the economy as a result of irresponsible #CoupLK by @MaithripalaS and Rajapaksa clan,” said the UNP’s Harsha de Silva on Twitter.

Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena met with extremist Sinhala Buddhist monks who had been calling for the release of the jailed Bodu Bala Sena leader on Monday, and pledged “immediate action to conduct an inquiry” after police launched tear gas at their demonstration.

Sirisena’s office stated that he had “expressed apology over the inconvenience caused to the Buddhist monks” and that he had “instructed to take immediate action to conduct an inquiry on this matter”.