Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, commonly known as Pillayan, former State Minister and leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), has been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for an ‘abduction and disappearance’, said Sri Lankan police today.

Sri Lankan opposition MP Harsha de Silva has claimed that the recent release of a 22-year-old youth detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was timed to coincide with the upcoming visit of a European Union delegation.

Pro-Sri Lankan government paramilitary leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, widely known as Karuna Amman, has claimed that the UK’s sanctions against him are politically motivated and driven by elements within the Tamil diaspora.

Temperatures are rising, impacting women led businesses in the north writes Amita Arudpragasam for the Himal Southasian, as extreme heat events linked to climate change become more frequent.

Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, better known as Pillayan, a former chief minister and current head of the paramilitary Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), was arrested by Sri Lankan police in Batticaloa on Tuesday night.

Throughout the past few weeks the Sri Lankan military's activities in civilian spheres in the Tamil homeland continued unabated.

A complaint against 10 British nationals accusing them of committing war crimes while serving with the Israeli military in Gaza will be submitted to the Metropolitan Police on Monday.