Freelance Journalist Malika Abeykoon, who was assaulted and arrested by Sri Lankan police on April 7 has been granted bail after being held in detention.

Abeykoon was arrested while he was covering a health workers’ protest rally organised by the United Health Workers Union (UHWU) on April 7. Following his arrest, he was brutally assaulted whilst being detained inside Maradana Police station.

Families of the disappeared in Vavuniya marked 1,515 days of protest on Wednesday, demanding support from the international community, including intervention from the United States government. They highlighted the systemic issues within Sri Lanka and continued negligence to "find even a single child" after thousands were forcibly disappeared at the end of the armed conflict.

The Sri Lankan government signed a US $500 million loan agreement with the state-run China Development Bank (CDB) last week, less than a month after it signed a currency swap deal worth USD 1.5 billion with Beijing, amidst rising concerns of the country’s ability to meet its debt payments.

Following concerns raised by opposition parties, civil society groups, and labour unions, over Sri Lanka’s “Colombo Port City Economic Commission”, State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal has denied allegations that the government is transforming Sri Lanka into a “Chinese colony”.

Celebrated Kollywood actor and comedian Vivek passed away in the wee hours of Saturday aged 59. He was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai on Friday due to a sudden cardiac arrest and succumbed to it on Saturday. 

Tamil actors, politicians and the general public flooded to Vivek’s residence in the neighbourhood of Virugambakkam to pay their last respects where he lay in state. 

Five Tamils, including one former LTTE cadre, were arrested by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) on Saturday morning.

Four people in Jaffna were arrested in the early hours on charges of forming groups aimed at reestablishing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), reportedly after having a telephone conversation with individuals arrested on weapons charges in India. Out of the four arrested, two were from the Ilavalai police division, whilst the other two were from Irupalai and Palali.

(Ottawa, 11 April, 2009. Photo Credit: Ninaivukal)

The Tamil Canadian Centre for Civic Action has organised a physical and virtual exhibition showcasing interview, documents, photographs, and untold stories of the 2008-2009 Toronto Protests against the genocidal war in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) have hospitalised two Tamils in eastern Vadamarachchi, Jaffna, as they opened fire on their vehicle.

The two people were shot and seriously injured before being admitted to Point Pedro Base Hospital.

The STF has claimed that they opened fire as the two individuals were engaged in illegal sand mining and tried to escape. The individuals were from the Thunnalai area. The police have said that they are investigating the issue.

Responding to concerns raised over a government Minister’s call for Sri Lanka’s President to act more like Hitler, government spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella defended the Minister’s statement as a “personal opinion” and maintained that they should not be taken seriously.

In his statement, Dilum Amunugama, Sri Lanka’s Minister for Transport, claimed that;

“6.9 million people who voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanted him to be a Hitler”, when speaking about the Sri Lankan president’s 2019 election victory”.

Canadian parliamentarians, including their Prime Minister, have wished the Tamil community in Canada and worldwide a happy new year and thanked them for their contribution.