British Tamils gathered in London on Monday for an evening filled with an array of performances to celebrate Thai Pongal and mark Tamil Heritage Month. 

Guests filled the iconic Church House in Westminster, which hosted the first UN Security Council in 1946, to watch dance and musical performances depicting the richness of Tamil culture and to hear from British parliamentarians who praised the Tamil community for their contributions to the UK. 

The eleventh annual ‘Kings of Gaana’ took place at Troxy on 10th December, helmed by King’s College London's Tamil Society.

Speaking with Sri Lanks’ Public Security Minister, Tiran Alles, extremist Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, Asgiri Anunayake Vendaruve Upali, advocated for the establishment of a dictatorship to rebuild the country.

This is not the first time that Upali’s comments have caused outrage. On the 69^th birthday of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Upali urged the war crimes accused former defence secretary to come to power, even if it means establishing military rule.

At a remembrance event held at Jaffna University last week, students gathered to pay tribute to members of the Malayaga Tamil community who had fought for the rights of their people.

Students laid flowers and lit candles before a portrait that showed the scarred hands of a tea plantation worker.

British Tamils gathered at the Prime Minister’s residence at Downing Street today to celebrate Thai Pongal, a festival marked to give thanks to the sun for the harvest.

A private meeting was held at Kurunthurmalai, involving members of the illegally constructed Buddhist vihara and alleged members of Shiv Sena, in what locals fear may be an attempt to ward off international condemnation of Sinhalisation in the Tamil homeland.

Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to participate in the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Uganda, even as he pledged to send a navy ship to the Red Sea to join a Western coalition against Yemen’s Houthis.

A protest was held in Jaffna on Tuesday January 16, as demonstrators gathered to demand justice for the beleaguered farmers of Batticaloa, who have faced repeated attacks by Sinhala settlers.

The Sri Lankan navy has arrested 18 Indian fishermen in a special operation on Tuesday, alleging that the fishermen illegally entered 'Sri Lankan waters' in two trawler boats near the low-lying sea area of Mannar District.

Leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (an ultra-nationalist Sri Lankan political party), Udaya Gammanpila, has alleged a global and well-financed conspiracy to denigrate Buddhism.

In his speech at the party headquarters yesterday, Gammanpila claimed that “leaders and priests of other religions fearlessly insult Buddhism” adding that “secularists who insult Buddhism also receive money from abroad”. 

The statement comes as there is increasing alarm of Buddhist majoritarianism in Sri Lanka.