A new documentary aired on TRT World last week, travelled to the Tamil homeland and spoke to former LTTE fighters, activists and journalists on the situation almost 16 years after the end of the armed conflict.

Amongst those interviewed were former LTTE fighter Kokilavany Navalan, Tamil politician Ananthy Sasitharan and journalist Kumanan Kanapathipillai.

They spoke about the ongoing struggles in the North-East such as alcoholism and drug abuse, the push to find those who were abducted and disappeared by the Sri Lankan state and the ongoing attacks, intimidation and surveillance of journalists in the North-East.

Watch the full documentary below.

India is set to increase services along a historic maritime route with the launch of a second passenger ferry service between Rameswaram and Talaimannar this July. 

The Tamil Nadu Maritime Board has received an expression of interest from an operator to run an all-weather ferry service, capable of carrying 250 passengers and covering the distance in just one hour.

Sri Lanka’s ongoing campaign to Sinhalise Tamil sites continued last week as a large number of Buddhist monks, escorted by military and police personnel, marched towards the Vedukkunaari temple in Nedunkerni, Vavuniya. 

The controversial march began on Shivaratri, a sacred day for Saiva Tamils.

A groundbreaking archaeological discovery in Tamil Nadu is set to rewrite global history, with new evidence suggesting that iron smelting in the region dates back to as early as 3,345 BCE—over a thousand years earlier than previously believed. 

The findings challenge long-held assumptions that the Iron Age began in the Hittite Empire in present-day Turkey around 1300 BCE and instead position Tamil Nadu as one of the earliest known centres of iron production.