Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran revealed how he, and others in the party, had called on leader R Sampanthan to step down, but the 90-year old politician refused to do so.

Sampanthan has led the TNA since its formation in 2001, but in recent years has fought growing unpopularity, rifts within the coalition, and bouts of ill health.

"Every single Tamil person will be cut into pieces!" exclaims the monk. "They will all be killed! All the Tamils in the south will be cut into pieces and butchered! The Sinhalese will massacre them."

A parliamentarian with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) claimed Sri Lanka’s defence secretary and army chief threatened him inside the parliament, after he proposed possible budget cuts to the military.

Chaminda Weerakkody claimed that the incident occurred as the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security discussed possible budget cuts to Sri Lanka’s military, given the ongoing economic difficulties the government faces.

A group of Eelam Tamil asylum seekers being held in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) of Diego Garcia have been granted a small reprieve in their battle against being deported to Sri Lanka, as more details of bullying, sexual assault and suicide attempts continued to emerge.  

A total of 61 asylum seekers are being held on Diego Garcia and are waging a tedious legal battle to claim asylum.

Today marks 27 years since two Tamil activists were shot dead in a Parisian neighbourhood, a murder that shocked the Tamil diaspora worldwide and remains unsolved to this day.

Kandiah Gajendran, also known as Gajan, was the editor of Paris based Tamil weekly 'Eelamurasu' and Kandiah Perinpanathan, known as Nathan, was in-charge of LTTE's international finance. The two men aged 30 and 32-years old respectively, were strolling down Boulevard de La Chapelle on the 26th of October 1996 - a neighbourhood which had a long established and thriving Eelam Tamil community.

A Sri Lankan state minister boasted of paying off a long unpaid wedding bill for Namal Rajapaksa, son of accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, as a sign of respect and admiration for his father.

The bill in question was reportedly for the electricity used at Namala Rajapaksa’s extravagant wedding ceremony and had remained unpaid for four long years. The total came up to over 2.5 million rupees.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Aviation has reportedly approved a Rs. 200 million upgrade for the Jaffna International Airport, as it looks to operate an increasing number of flights to India and the south of the island.

Nimal Siripala de Silva visited the airport earlier this month, which remains within a Sri Lankan military-controlled ‘High Security Zone’.

The violence in Israel and Palestine over the last month has been horrific. Thousands have already been killed and it shows no signs of abating in the days and weeks to come. For many around the world, Eelam Tamils included, it has been difficult to observe. But what has added to the dismay for Tamils in particular, is the hypocritical response by Sri Lankans across the political spectrum to the violence in Gaza.

Frontline Defenders condemned the “persecution and reprisals” by Sri Lankan authorities against Tamil protestors in Madhavanai and Mayilathamadu, Batticaloa, as they continue to demonstrate against land encroachment by Sinhalese settlers.

Author Roy Ratnavel visited London for the launch of his novel ‘Prisoner #1056.’ Ratnavel’s book, a bestseller in Canada, details an introspective journey, recounting his idyllic upbringing in Point Pedro before turning to the horrors of imprisonment during the armed struggle, leading to his resettlement in Canada.