Despite Sri Lanka refusing to cooperate with European Union’s (EU) investigations into human rights violations, it was announced that a European trade concession scheme for the garments industry in Sri Lanka would be extended for a year whilst the probe take place.

India can end decisively end the now naked Sinhala oppression

A leading human rights group accused government backed paramilitary outfit in eastern Sri Lanka of being behind a worsening wave of killings and child abductions.

Even as Sri Lanka and some members of the international community tout the 13th amendment and the provincial council system as a viable method to devolve power to Tamils, Chief Minister of the newly formed Eastern Provincial Council and Rajapakse ally Pillayan has announced that the Eastern provincial Council is powerless.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has sidelined Pillayan, a key paramilitary leader operated by the Sri Lankan government and the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, on the utilisation of funds allocated for 'development'.

The government says that the 'liberated' east is an example of democracy in action and a model for areas recaptured from the LTTE. The reality is anything but. Killings and abductions are rife, and there is total impunity for horrific abuses.

In 2006, an internationally brokered ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE broke down. Since then the government has been determined to win the civil war that began 25 years ago and has cost well over 70,000 lives

Warning that the LTTE's separate state ideology is a "threat" to India, the Sri Lankan Army chief says he is confident that New Delhi would not listen to "political jokers" in Tamil Nadu to force Colombo to broker a ceasefire with the LTTE.

The meeting of the representation from Tamil Nadu led by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi with the Prime Minister of India on Thursday failed to achieve its basic objective of convincing the Indian government to take a stand against Colombo’s war on Tamils, revealed journalistic circles in Chennai.

Even as Tamil Nadu leaders pressed for an immediate ceasefire and India reiterated that there could only be a political solution to the Tamil national question, both the Sri Lankan government and the main opposition, UNP, rejected calls for a ceasefire during a debate on the defence budget.

THE UN strongly condemned the killing of an aid worker in late November and called for safety guarantees for humanitarian aid staff. The European Commission also condemned the killing but announced an increase of 2 million euros in aid to the Sri Lankan state, which is accused of killing number of aid workers

A RULING Friday by Sri Lanka's Supreme Court's to halt payments to an international bank in connection to a badly judged oil hedging deal entered into by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) could harm Colombo's ability to obtain credit from global markets, an international rating agency warns.

INTERNALLY Displaced persons in Vanni who were receiving the humanitarian supplies sent by the people of Tamil Nadu, while expressing their gratitude for the timely help, urged the leaders of Tamil Nadu to help them to win their freedom by voicing for the political aspirations of Eelam Tamils.

As the ongoing war in Sri Lanka displaces yet more people, the indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations by the Sri Lankan government and mother nature have also added to the miseries of the displaced populations.