DMK leader M K Stalin called on Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to press Sri Lankan leaders on the issue of Eelam Tamils, stating that the issue needs to be “seriously” acted on.

Sri Lanka’s newly appointed defence secretary vowed to push ahead with Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election pledge of freeing imprisoned Sri Lankan soldiers, as he slammed efforts to prosecute those who committed human rights abuses.

Photographs from across the North-East displaying Tamil culture and the nation’s history of resistance and remembrance were showcased at the Jaffna Photography Festival this weekend.

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko Gopalaswamy has urged for support from the Indian Government to maintain diplomacy and protect the interests of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka, as he called for protests ahead of newly appointed Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's visit to India.

^{Plainclothes Sri Lankan security officers in Mullivaikaal earlier today}

The Sri Lankan security forces have threatened Tamils who have helped organise activities across the North-East ahead of Maaveerar Naal next week.

Tamils in the North-East have continued preparing for Maaveerar Naal on November 27, despite threats and intimidation from Sri Lankan police and security forces.

In its election manifesto unveiled Sunday, Britain’s Conservative Party emphasised its continued backing for “international initiatives” for reconciliation, stability and justice “across the world” and in “former and current conflict zones”, singling out the situations of divided states in Cyprus, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

Tamil language signboards have reportedly been vandalised by unidentified persons across Sri Lanka, just days after Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as president.

Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inherits more than US$34.4bn worth of debt, a quarter of which are owed to China alone, reports Al Jazeera.

Newly-elected Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that he will seek a snap parliamentary election “at the earliest opportunity”, in the wake of his resounding victory at Sri Lanka’s presidential polls last week. 

Though Sri Lanka's existing parliamentary term ends next August, the constitution allows the president to dissolve the legislature and push for an election as early as March 2020.

Following Sri Lanka’s presidential elections, former cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is said to be spoken for as the Sri Lankan governor for the Northern Province, according to reports in the Indian press.

Britain’s former prime minister David Cameron described how he refused to shake Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s hand when he met the Rajapaksa brothers in a “showdown” in Colombo in 2013, that was described as one of “the worst tempered foreign meeting(s)” during his tenure.

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, General Kamal Gunaratna, issued instructions to Sri Lanka’s police to take tougher measure to 'curb the drug menace'. 

This state came yesterday during a special meeting with senior officers of the Police Narcotic Bureau at the Defence Ministry and increasing securitisation by the Sri Lankan state.