The ‘North-East Development Conference: Quest for Knowledge’ which took place in Scarborough, Ontario, brought together representatives from the North-East of Sri Lanka, as well as diaspora members involved in development and education.

The conference provided a space for representatives from the North-East to present information on the state of education in their respective provinces, as well as overlapping concerns.

On January 10, a Canadian Federal Court judge upheld the deportation order of Mr. Suresh Manickavasagam, an alleged LTTE fundraiser who has been resident in Canada for 26 years. 

Mr. Manickavasagam's case has wound its way through Canadian Courts for over 2 decades since he was first arrested in 1995 for allegedly posing a security risk. The Canadian authorities alleged that Mr. Manickavasagam, as co-ordinator of the now banned World Tamil Movement in Toronto, was fundraising for the LTTE and tried to deport him on a 'security certificate'. 

The European Commission's decision to restore GSP+ to Sri Lanka sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the EU compliance regime, the British Tamils Forum has said.

In a statement on Monday the BTF said it was disappointed in the decision, highlighting that "Sri Lanka has a long history of consecutive governments failing to deliver on its international commitments."

Full statement reproduced below.

Chief Minister Wigneswaran and City of Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti signed a memorandum of understanding to officiate the friendship agreement between Markham and Mullaitivu.

The CM reiterated the Northern Provincial Council’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goals, while emphasizing the need to address issues of violence, militarization, accountability, rule of law, access to justice and representative governance in order to achieve sustainable and holistic development. 

A Tamil National Alliance MP has promised to build statues to honour the sacrificies of Maaveerar, fallen LTTE cadres, in his Mullaitivu constituency.

TNA MP Dr Sivamohan spoke on Monday at the unveiling ceremony of a new statue of Thiruvalluvar - the Sangam era Tamil poet and philosopher - built under his budget in his constituency of Puthukudiyiruppu.

"No matter what obstacles lie in the future of my political journey, I will build statues for the Maaveerar who fell for us," he said.

A racial-hate group from the South has been found by Sri Lankan intelligence to be responsible for the vandalism of Buddha statues in the North-East, reports the Uthayan.

While some incidents of damage to Buddha statues was attributed to wild elephants, special police forces investigating have reportedly found that the majority of incidents were perpetrated by a racial-hate group in order to stoke ethnic tensions and undermine reconciliation.

Police have reportedly identified the perpetrators and are preparing to arrest them.

Kilinochchi locals have criticised the recent appointment of two Sinhalese workers to a local government office.

The new appointees at Karaichchi Divisional Secretariat reportedly do not speak any Tamil, drawing criticism from locals who have questioned the new recruits’ suitability to serve an entirely Tamil-speaking division.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be compelled to leave the Sri Lanka's constitutional reform process unless the government commits to finding a solution to the national question through further devolution, said the Dharmalingam Siddharthan. 

"If the Government abandoned the idea of finding a solution for the National question, we won't be part of the Constitution making process and we would be compelled to leave it," Mr Siddharthan was quoted by the Sunday Times as saying. 

A Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander Mapa Mudiyanselage Dhammikka Anila Mapa, was remanded on Monday over the disappearance and abduction of two Tamils in 2009, Vaduveli Pakkilasamy Loganathan and Ratnasamy Paramanandan. 

The officer was working with the navy intelligence wing at the time, the Daily Mirror reported. He has been remanded until January 26. 

A complaint was previously filed with the CID by Mr Loganathan's wife. Both men were athe time employed by the Colombo Municipal Council. 

A former LTTE cadre was arrested on Saturday evening by the Terrorism Investigation Department.

Murugaiyah Thavendran from Thiruvaiyaaru, Kilinochchi, a former cadre that had been through Sri Lanka's 'rehabilitation' process, was arrested by persons identifying as TID police.

Mr Thavendran's whereabouts are currently unknown to his family, who have filed reports with Kilinochchi police and the Kilinochchi citizen's committee.