Increasing its presence in cilivian life the Sri Lankan army distributed cement packets to temples in Jaffna this week. 

Over 600 cement packets were given to 30 temples at an event on May 23 at Vasavilaan Central School. 

Several Sri Lankan government websites were hacked on May 18, with messages left commemorating the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils by Sri Lankan security forces 9 years ago in Mullivaikkal.

US president Donald Trump has nominated Alaina Teplitz to be the next US ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Ms Teplitz, the current US ambassador to Nepal, is reported to be a career diplomat and has been with the US State Department since 1991.

A boycott campaign has taken off in the North-East with customers of Sri Lanka's Hatton National Bank (HNB) closing their accounts, after the bank suspended two employees at its Kilinochchi branch for holding a remembrance event on May 18.

The body of a 28 year old man was found in Selvapuram, Mullaitivu on Wednesday with his throat slit and multiple knife wounds over his body. 

The victim, Varatharajah Sathanisan, had been reported missing by his family the day before after he failed to return home. 

Tamils in Vadamarachchi held a vigil at Point Pedro beach on Wednesday evening in memory of protesters in Thoothukudi shot dead by Tamil Nadu police. 

Nine people were killed and 65 injured on Tuesday in Tamil Nadu after police opened fire at protesters in Thoothukudi, who had been seeking a ban on Sterlite Industries' copper plant. 

A former LTTE cadre has been ordered by Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division to the 3rd floor at its headquarters in Colombo for questioning after he chaired a remembrance event for the Mullivaikkal genocide in Kilinochchi on May 18. 

The father of three children who has one leg amputated, K Jayakumar was released in 2010 from government custody after undering the notorious 'rehabilitation programme'. 

Two employees of the Kilinochchi branch of Sri Lanka's Hatton National Bank (HNB) were suspended today after the bank's Colombo headquarters accused them of commemorating the LTTE. 

Staff at the Kilinochchi branch held a remembrance event on May 18 to remember the tens of thousands massacred by Sri Lankan state forces during the end of the armed conflict. 

Families from Iranaitivu who led a daring protest to reclaimed their lands were promised resettlement last week by officials but told that the Sri Lankan navy would continue its presence. 

Stating that the navy was needed to ensure the security of the residents and prevent drugs smuggling, a committee comprising the Secretary of the Ministry of Resettlement, B Suresh, the Additional Secretary from the Ministry of Defence R Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's Navy Commander, Admiral SS Ranasinge and other local government officials, said the navy would retain 9 acres of land. 

As many as 10,000 people attended a rally in Chennai last week, to mark 9 years since tens of thousands of Eelam Tamils were massacred by Sri Lankan security forces at Mullivaikkal.

^{File photograph: STF troops in Jaffna. Oct 2017.}

With ongoing protests in Thoothukudi, telecommunication companies have received orders from the Chief Secretary to halt data services in the Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts in Tamil Nadu.  

The protests started months ago in an attempt to have Sterlite Industries’ copper plant shut down due to pollution and health concerns.

Several British MPs and other politicians have released messages of solidarity as the Tamil nation around the world marks Tamil Genocide Remembrance day today.

See some of their messages of support below.

Stephen Timms Member of Parliament for Eastham, Executive Member of APPGT

Despite years of suppressing memorial events when it was in government, the Sri Lankan Freedom Party held an event to commemorate Tamils killed during the massacres at Mullivaikkal 9 years ago.

The event, which was met with scepticism by local Tamils, was held at the party office in Jaffna on Friday. Party officials lit candles before a banner which read “Mullivaikkal Atrocity Remembrance Day”.