The Sri Lankan government has appointed two military figures accused of committing war crimes – including a general who is banned from entering the United States – in charge of the country’s sports institutions.

Shavendra Silva was made chairman of the National Sports Selection Committee this week.

All photographs courtesy of Thaarakam

Tamils in Australia marked Maaveerar Naal with a series of remembrance events across the country. 

Events took place in Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. 

All photographs courtesy of Ninaivukal

Tamils in Toronto, Canada, held a commemoration event on November 27 to mark Maaveerar Naal. 

See more photographs here and below: 

Across Tamil Nadu, thousands of Tamils, including prominent politicians, gathered to commemorate Maaveerar Naal, as Tamils across the world remember those who lost their lives in the Tamil struggle for liberation. 

 Tamils in Paris, France joined Tamils in the homeland and across the diaspora in marking Maaveerar Naal. 

A teenage Tamil boy was tortured to death according to his family, after being arrested by Sri Lankan police and sent to a reformatory home in Amparai.

13-year-old Ananthadevan Darsanth, from Kokuvil in Batticaloa, was arrested by Sri Lankan police officers for allegedly stealing a bell and lamp from a local temple in the area.

Tamils gathered in Finland to mark Maaveerar Naal. 

Tamils gathered in Antwerp to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

Tamils gathered in Palermo to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

The Governor of the City of Palermo and several Italian dignitaries were also present.

Amidst the United National Climate Conference (COP 28) in Dubai, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met to discuss a variety of issues.

In the Mayilathamadu Madhavanai area in Batticaloa, tensions are escalating between Sinhalese occupiers and Tamil cattle farmers, as a disturbing trend of brutal attacks on cattle by Sinhalese settlers continues to unfold. The situation, which poses a direct threat to the livelihoods and safety of Tamil farmers, has reached a critical point.

Oddusuddan police disrupted an event to remember the 32 Tamils that were massacred in Othiyamalai, Mullaitivu by the Sri Lankan army in 1984. 

As many as 11 Tamils, including a Batticaloa schoolboy, have now been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), after Maaveerar Naal commemorations this week.

Sri Lanka will aim to have a military numbering at 150,000 said a state minister last week, as he rebuffed calls for further demilitarisation and stressed there would be “no impact on national security”.