• Rajapaksa lashes out at constitution proposals and warns of ‘federal state’

    Sri Lanka’s former president and opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa lashed out against constitutional reform proposals that were present to parliament earlier this month, calling on the Buddhist Maha Sangha in particular to be wary of Sri Lanka becoming a “federal state”.

    Rajapaksa, who oversaw the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009, said the new constitution would weaken the parliament and "immeasurably strengthen provincial legislatures".

  • Keppapulavu families continue protest for land in front of army camp

    Tamil families in Keppapulavu continued their protest demanding the release of their land from Sri Lankan military occupation on Sunday.

    Over 100 displaced families from Keppapulavu in Mullaitivu began their protest on Saturday, with Sri Lankan security forces deploying police and military personnel in the area and photographing the families from within the camp in apparent acts of intimidation.

  • Kokkadichcholai massacre by STF officers remembered in Batticaloa 32 years on

    Residents in Batticaloa gathered at the Kokkadichcholai memorial to remember the massacre of 87 Tamils by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force officers at a prawn farm. 

    On January 27, 1987 STF officers raided a prawn factory in the village, shooting dead the workers, which including seven boys aged between 12 to 14.

  • 2 Sinhalese men arrested in Mannar with 2kg cannabis

    Two Sinhalese men were arrested on friday in Mannar for being in possession of cannabis. 

    The arrest was made by the Sri Lankan navy near the main bridge in Mannar. 

    The navy state 2kg of cannabis was found in the vehicle in which the two suspects were travelling. 

  • Evoking the armed struggle - the kites at VVT festival

    Crowds at Valvettithurai beach cheered as kites bearing motifs of the Tamil armed struggle took to the skies for the annual Thai Pongal kite festival on January 14.

  • Ariyalai residents force back surveyor in land grabs protest

    Residents in Nedunkulam, Ariyali, Jaffna District on Friday forced the government's surveyor to stop measuring and leave as they protested vehemently against the decision to acquire 300 'parappu' units of land in the area. 

  • Government pledges 4750 houses in North-East within 6 months
    <p>The Sri Lankan government pledged this week to build 4750 houses within six months in the North-East.&nbsp;</p>
  • Journalist murdered after exposing Trinco 5 massacre remembered in Batticaloa

    Residents in Batticaloa on Saturday remembered the 13th anniversary of the murder of the Tamil journalist, Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, who was shot dead in Trincomalee after exposing the Sri Lankan Special Task Force's killing of 5 Tamil students, known as the 'Trinco 5'.  

    Sugirdharajan, who was a journalist at the Sudar Oli paper, had accompanied one of the father of the murdered students, Dr Manoharan to the mortuary and published photos showing the bodies with point-blank gunshot injuries, thereby disproving government claims that the students had been killed by a grenade explosion.

  • Court revokes arrest warrant for Sri Lankan brigadier to mull over diplomatic immunity

    A British court has revoked the arrest warrant for a Sri Lankan brigadier who was found guilty of intentionally harassing Tamil protestors, pending a further hearing on February 1st to determine the status of his diplomatic immunity.

  • Mannar mass grave samples handed to US company for carbon dating

    Samples of bones found in the Mannar ‘Sathosa’ mass grave were handed over for carbon dating to an American analytics company in Florida on Friday.

  • Elderly man found dead in Mannar

    The body of an elderly man was found in Santhipuram salt fields in Mannar on Saturday. 

    The man is believed to be 82-year-old Kathirkamanathan Arulananthan from the village of Pannankaddikkodu. 

  • Sirisena tells Singapore - expect FTA amendments
    <p>Sri Lanka's president Maithripala Sirisena told the Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong today to expect amendments to the Free Trade Agreement in place between the two countries.&nbsp;</p> <p>"A few mistakes had been made by Sri Lanka when drafting the FTA," Sirisena explained during a meeting with Loong in Singapore today.&nbsp;</p>
  • Heavy rains again in Mullaitivu after recent floods

    Heavy rains fell in Mullaitivu today just weeks after families recovered from recent flooding across the Vanni area. 

    Families continue to watch apprehensively as the rains fall, fearful of further flooding and damage to agricultural land. 

  • Soldiers intimidate Keppapulavu families demanding release of land

    Over 100 displaced families from Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu today moved their ongoing protest to outside the military camp sited on their occupied lands. 

  • Justice demanded for murdered journalists at Jaffna rally

    Tamils demanded justice for murdered journalists today at a rally in Jaffna. 

    The rally marked the 13th anniversary of the murdered Sudar Oli Tamil journalist, Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, who was shot dead after exposing the Sri Lankan Special Task Force's killing of 5 Tamil students, known as the 'Trinco 5'.  

    Sugirdharajan had published photos showing the students' bodies with point-blank gunshot injuries, thereby disproving government claims the students had been killed by a grenade explosion.

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