Volunteers begin cleanup at the destroyed Vakarai Maaveerar resting place ahead of 2025 Great Heroes Day

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to verify the authenticity of medical reports submitted by former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe, as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged misuse of more than Rs. 16 million in public funds during a visit to the United Kingdom.

The former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge Navi Pillay, will receive the 2025 Sydney Peace Prize for what organisers described as her “lifetime of advocating for fundamental human rights, peace with justice and the rights of women.” The South African jurist, who is of Tamil heritage, will accept the award at a ceremony in Sydney Town Hall on 6 November, where she will deliver the keynote Sydney Peace Prize lecture.

Sri Lanka is set to invite international tenders for exploration and development licences for oil and gas in the Mannar Basin. 

The government has sought to expedite the process. Previously, they had announced that they would invite tenders for a consultancy to manage the international bidding process, but have instead decided to proceed directly with exploration and development licenses. 

Preparations have begun in Mannar for the Maaveerar Day commemoration on November 27, led by families of fallen heroes and community volunteers

An event was held at Osmania College in Jaffna last month to mark 35 years since Muslims were expelled from the peninsula by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In a significant victory for the people of Mannar, Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has ordered the termination of all new wind power projects on Mannar Island, instructing that no future developments take place “without the consent of the people living in the Mannar Island.”

Popular British Tamil DJ, music producer and entrepreneur, Robert Rajeswaran aka DJ Rob R, has released a statement online, expressing his experiences of repeated racial abuse, ethnic hatred and threats to his life as a Tamil business owner in the southern region of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake admitted a “black state” existed on the island, revealing links between the criminal underworld and Sri Lanka’s security forces in an address last week.

Speaking at the launch of the government’s new anti-narcotics drive, titled “United as a Nation – National Drive” (“රටම එකට – ජාතික මෙහෙයුම”), Dissanayake presented a series of allegations and findings he said underpinned the crackdown. 

Former Sri Lankan president and accused war criminal Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has begun moving out of her official residence on Independence Avenue, Colombo, following the government’s decision to strip former heads of state of their long-held privileges.