A Tamil father who has spent the last 17 years looking for his forcibly disappeared son has passed away this week. 

Vaiyapuri Chandran from Chinnathampanai, Vavuniya died at the age of 69 from an illness. 

Chandran has been protesting alongside other Tamil families in Vavuniya to know the fate of his son Jayakanthan who was forcibly disappeared in 2008.

2025 has been an interesting year for Tamil cinema. There have been no film releases for Vijay, whose next film ‘Jana Nayagan’ is awaiting release in early 2026. The much anticipated collaboration between director Lokesh Kanagaraj and Rajinikanth was a middling disappointment. Dhanush released two films as director, neither of which show much improvement in his trajectory as a writer. Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan’s reunion following their 1987 classic ‘Nayakan’ was unanimously panned by critics and audiences alike. In the midst of all this negativity, there were a few releases which act as a silver lining to an otherwise lacklustre year of film.

Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Douglas Devananda  yesterday, over the alleged transfer of a firearm to an underworld drug kingpin. 

Eelam Tamils held commemorative events in the North-East to mourn the victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. 

On December 26th, 2004, over 35,000 people perished during the catastrophic tsunami that hit the coasts of the North-East and South of the island of Sri Lanka.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said five days after the disaster that almost two thirds of those killed across the island were in the Tamil homeland of the North-East.

 

On December 26th, 2004, over 35,000 people perished during the catastrophic tsunami that hit the coasts of the North-East and South of the island of Sri Lanka.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said five days after the disaster that almost two thirds of those killed across the island were in the Tamil homeland of the North-East.

Eelam Tamils are celebrating Christmas across the North-East today. 

Tamils gathered at St Mary's Church in Jaffna for midnight mass. This year's service was held on a smaller scale as the churches had requested worshippers to help those affected by the recent Cyclone Ditwah. 

British MP Uma Kumaran called on the UK's Foreign Secretary to expand on the government's sanctions on Sri Lankan war criminals. 

During a Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on December 16, the MP for Stratford and Bow highlighted the lack of accountability and political will from the current Sri Lankan government to address war crimes and mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka. 

December 20 marks 25 years since the Mirusuvil massacre, where Sri Lankan soldiers murdered eight Tamil civilians in Jaffna, including three children, before dumping their bodies in a mass grave.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment, Arun Hemachandra, will lead a Sri Lankan delegation to Israel to discuss employment opportunities for Sri Lankans across the country and to strengthen ties between the countries in the sector. 

Residents of Gankankulam staged a protest march demanding an immediate halt to illegal gravel excavation and protection of their village’s environment and resources