Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and an extraordinary theoretician within the Tamil struggle, is remembered by Tamils across the world today.

His death at his home in London on 14 December 2006, a few weeks after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, shook the Tamil nation.

As over 50,000 Tamils across Britain, Europe and the diaspora came to pay their respects, and many thousands more marked his death in Canada and other diaspora centres across the world, tens of thousands of Tamils in the homeland attended memorial events in Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu. It was a day of national grief.

Honouring his three decades of service to the Tamil struggle, the LTTE conferred the title 'Voice of the Nation'.

Pope Francis met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at the Vatican today, to discuss matters regarding peace and reconciliation on the island, according to an official press release.

A statement from the Holy See Press Office said "cordial discussions... focused on certain aspects of the country’s recent history and the process of peace and reconciliation that is underway, with the hope that it may contribute to promoting stable social harmony".

Crowds gather at Nallur as the first day of the commission began. Photographs: Tamil Guardian

Tamil families in Jaffna testified before Sri Lanka’s presidential commission into disappearances this week, pleading for information on their whereabouts of their missing loved ones.

The first phase of the sittings took place in Nallur where 235 complaints were filed, with proceedings continuing today.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP E Saravanabavan asked why the new government had investigated the murder of journalists in the South and not attacks and disappearances of Tamil journalists in the North.