A series of commemorations events took places across Australia on Sunday, as Tamils across the country came together to mark Maaveerar Naal and remember the lives sacrificed for the liberation of the Tamil homeland.

Thousands of people in five different locations across the country - Syndey, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne - held memorial events in line with Eelam Tamils across the world.

See photos from the events below.

A group of 11 Tamils who were detained in Jaffna by Sri Lanka’s counter-terrorism police have been granted bail by a court in Colombo on Wednesday.

The Tamils were arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division for allegedly with committing offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). They have been granted bail in two sureties, worth one million rupees for each suspect. 

Reports indicate that the initial charges of violating the PTA would be dropped and instead the group would be tried for money laundering.

Student commemorations of Maaveerar Naal were held at the University College London, led by Tamil Youth Organisation UK last Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Sirisena would not agree to a federal set-up in the new Constitution said senior minister of transport, Nimal Siripala de Silva this week. 

Addressing reporters in Kandy, Mr. De Silva stated clearly, "[t]here are three things that our party believes very strongly in the current constitutional reform process...The position for Buddhism must not be diluted, the unitary character of the state must be preserved and there cannot be a federal system."

The Sri Lanka government earlier this month gazetted a new "List of Designated Persons" under Regulation 4(7) of UN Regulation No. 1 of 2012, removing 69 names from the list last amended in November 20, 2015. 

In March 2014, the Sri Lankan government proscribed 424 individuals and 16 Tamil diaspora organisations, alleging they had links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Karunasena Hettiarachchi called for investigations into events in the North-East marking Maaveerar Naal or Tamil national remembrance day over recent days. 

Mr Hettiarachchi said the law and order ministry and police should lead the investigation at a media briefing in Colombo on Tuesday. 

See here. 

Tamils in an undisclosed location in the Batticaloa district marked the Tamil national remembrance day on Sunday. Locals placed flowers on a replica tomb, draped in the Tamil Eelam national flag.

Tamil asylum seekers being held in detention at Nauru Island marked Maaveerar Naal on Sunday, in a ceremony held at the immigration detention facility.

The detained asylum seekers, who have been detained on the island after attempting to flee Sri Lanka for Australia, marked the event with the rest of the Tamil nation this week.

A ceremony was held in Vavuniya on Sunday to remember all those who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the Tamil homeland.
 

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena officially declared 2017, 2018 and 2019 to be tourism and investment years in Sri Lanka, as part of government attempts to kick start the island’s faltering economy. 

The aim within this period is to overcome challenges in the hotel and tourism industry by 2020, said Mr Sirisena.

The announcement was made at the inauguration ceremony of the first Asia Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (AHTIC) – with more than 300 investors estimated to be in attendance.