யாழ் திரைகடலோடி

By Murali Vallipuranathan – Murali Vallipuranathan Few days ago, “The Hindu” an Indian newspaper published a news citing an information purportedly given by Indian Intelligence that LTTE was regrouping in Mullivaikal on May 18th on the day of Tamil genocide Remembrance Day for an attack (1). While reading this news, one may recall the Sri Lankan radio news during the war, where many blatant lies and fabrications were unraveled quoting a news agency called “Lanka Puvath“. Whenever India makes a major political move in Sri Lanka the Indian intelligence Agency publishes similar blatant and fabricated stories either directly or through their news agencies li…

media captionAerial footage shows the X-Press Pearl breaking up and sinking off Sri Lanka's western coast A chemical-laden cargo ship is sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka, sparking fears of an environmental disaster. The Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl had been on fire for almost two weeks before the blaze was put out this week. Hundreds of tonnes of oil from fuel tanks could leak into the sea if it sinks, devastating nearby marine life. The Sri Lankan and Indian navies had worked jointly over the past days in an attempt to put out the fire and prevent the ship from breaking up and sinking. …

FEATURE-Sri Lanka's war widows trafficked as slaves to Gulf by Amantha Perera | @AmanthaP | Thomson Reuters Foundation Wednesday, 9 August 2017 00:01 GMT "People who have not gone through a conflict will not understand how difficult it is to take care of young children on your own. We suffered during the war and we are suffering now" By Amantha Perera JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Aug 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Nathkulasinham Nesemalhar took a flight from Colombo to Muscat in March she believed the boarding pass she clutched in her hand was her golden ticket to a better life after decades of war where she lo…

The Federal Reserve announced an emergency rate cut Tuesday of half a percentage point in response to the growing economic threat from the novel coronavirus. The move was the first such cut since the financial crisis. Markets had been widely expecting the U.S. central bank to take some type of action, with anticipation of a 50 basis point cut by the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting later this month. The move comes the same morning the G-7 announced that it would commit unspecified tools to help the global economy deal with the threat, and as Wall Street was in the midst of another market sell-off. Markets immediately turned higher on the announceme…

In an emergency move Sunday, the Federal Reserve announced it is dropping its benchmark interest rate to zero and launching a new round of quantitative easing. The QE program will entail $700 billion worth of asset purchases entailing Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities. Markets responded negatively, with Dow futures pointing to a drop of 900 points when the market opens Monday morning. The Federal Reserve, saying “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” cut interest rates to essentially zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing progra…

Feeding the Tiger - how Sri Lankan insurgents fund their war Omar Karmi 10 August 2007 The ethnic separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the only known insurgent organisation with its own army, navy and now even a rudimentary air force. With the group having undertaken three air strikes since March this year, the LTTE has shown that it has access to financial resources and weapons that not only prolong its campaign, but also give it the luxury of introducing bold, new dimensions to the conflict. While the LTTE's force presence the Sea Tigers, Air Tigers and various land forces is mainly in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, the o…

Although Swiss embassies abroad can no longer grant asylum requests, they can award humanitarian visas. But only 48 visas were awarded between September 2012 and mid-June 2014, the cabinet said on Thursday in response to a parliamentary interpellation. The possibility of applying for asylum at a Swiss embassy in a foreign country was discontinued on September 29, 2012. Between January 1, 2009, and September 29, 2012, almost 20,000 asylum requests were granted to persons whose lives or physical integrity were deemed to be seriously threatened. At the time the option of applying for asylum abroad was discontinued, 16,425 applications were pending. Of those, 4…

Fighting erupts in Northern Front [TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 20:32 GMT] Heavy exchange of gun and mortar fire was reported Sunday night for at least 3 hours from 10:00 p.m., sources in Thenmaraadchi said. The fighting continued till the latest update from the area at 1:00 a.m. Monday. Further details are not available at the moment.

GENEVA/NEW DELHI – The Sri Lankan military committed numerous war crimes during the final months of the country’s 26-year-long civil war, according to a documentary aired for the first time Friday, amid vigorous protests from Colombo. However, in an interview published Saturday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa firmly denied the allegations made in the documentary and also denied that government troops executed the 12-year-old son of separatist chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009. Rajapaksa told India’s Hindu newspaper in the interview: “Had it happened, I would have known (it). It is obvious that if somebody (from the armed forces) had done that, I must take responsibi…

Films are my means of keeping sanity, says Sri Lanka's Prasanna Vithanage (Interview) Acclaimed Sri Lankan auteur Prasanna Vithanage, who is awaiting the release of "With You, Without You", the third film in his war trilogy after "Death On A Full Moon Day" and "August Sun", says he made these films because of his helplessness during the Sri Lankan war and to stay sane. "With You, Without You", which is about two characters who accidentally collide in the post-war Sri Lanka, releases in select cities in India June 13. "More than half of my life was spent in the war. We were mere spectators of carnage and brutal warfare. That's…

Statement by Minister MacKay on Escalation of Hostilities in Sri Lanka August 15, 2006 No. 94 The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, issued the following statement regarding the escalation of hostilities in Sri Lanka: "Canada is concerned by the escalation of hostilities in Sri Lanka between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to negotiations. "Canada believes that there can be no military solution to this lengthy conflict. Peace can only be achieved when all parties desist from violence…

Honda's withdrawal from Formula One racing came as a shock this week, but there were several signs over the past days that the auto industry's crisis would spill over into world sport. Less than a fortnight ago General Motors announced the premature end of their endorsement of golf star Tiger Woods, saving them an estimated $7 million (5.5 million euros) a year. On Thursday, the hopes of a future German America's Cup effectively ended when Audi announced that they won't be sponsoring a team. Audi followed up on Friday with the confirmation that it will stop auto racing after nine years in the American Le Mans series. Apart from banks and other financial companie…

Finding Father Francis

fire has broken out at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, one of the city's most iconic sights abcn.ws/2UG6dGH

First coronavirus deaths reported in indigenous communities in the Amazon “COVID-19 has fertile terrain to spread rapidly among the populations that live in Amazonia,” says president of prominent Brazilian rights group. April 11, 2020 Brazilian officials and rights activists are warning of an impending public health calamity as reports emerge of the first deaths linked to the coronavirus among highly vulnerable indigenous populations across the Amazon region. Health workers in the northern state of Roraima reported on April 9 that a Yanomami adolescent had died of COVID-19, heightening concerns that he may have spread the disease to s…

கொஞ்சம் வித்தியாசமாக பூர்வீக்குடிகளின் ஆடைவடிவமைப்பு வல்லுனர்களின் திறமையை பார்க்கலாம் Charlee Fraser and Luke Currie-Richardson wear First Nations Fashion and Design founder Grace Lillian Lee's designs.(Supplied: Lucas Dawson ABC Far North / By Carli Willis Posted 10hhours ago, updated 7hhours ago For the first time in its 25-year history, the internationally acclaimed fashion event — Australian Fashion Week — opened with a 65,000-year-old custom: a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony by the Gadigal people. It was made even more special by a performance by the Muggera dance troupe and First Nations Fashion and Design (FNFD) all-Indigeno…

First time channel 4 reporting directly from the concentration camps in Vavuniya...All kind of tortures and inhuman treatments are going on... What else we have to loose??? http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111 Shocking Claims [url="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1529573111"]

Act Now, Tamil Health Organisation (THO), Tamil Aid, White Pigeon, Technical Association of Tamils (TAOT) and The Tamil Support Foundation (TTSF), TSSA, Hindu Temples and Churches are preparing to send more than 500 tons of food, medicine and medical teams to help the civilians in the Vanni affected by the ongoing war in Sri Lanka. This mission aims to provide desperately needed medical supplies for thousands of sick and injured people, and raise awareness of the suffering of the civilians in the conflict zone.

 Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement on 13 March 2009 stated that bombing and shelling by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces in th…

Five killed, two wounded in Trincomalee grenade attack on civilians [TamilNet, January 02, 2006 14:58 GMT] Unidentified men riding in a three-wheeler lobbed a grenade into a group of people killing five persons and wounding two, on the Dockyard Road in Trincomalee town, Monday night around 7:50 p.m. The victims are yet to be identified, Trincomalee Police said. The victims were seated on a bench opposite the Dutch Bay sea beach along the Dockyard Road, sources said. Further details are not available at the moment. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=16721

The graduates are two men Santhirarasa Viikneswaran and Sipathasundaram Piratheepan, and three women Ethirmanansingi Kilaiman Kiristilda, Vikiramarasa Vijeyalatchumi and Sayanthan Mathini. The whole world admires their achievement overcoming untold hardships By N. Lohathayalan Five students graduated with Bachelor’s Degrees in University of Jaffna’s just concluded the 34th convocation on 4-6 December. While many earn degrees, what is noteworthy is that all five lost both eyes and a hand or a part in the civil war. During the evil events of the Vanni war, three of the five lost their eyes and hand. Santhirarasa Vikneswaran around October 2008 in the Suthanthirapu…

விக்டோரியா மாநிலமும் நியு சவுத்வேலஸ் மாநிலமும் காட்டு தீயால் பாதிக்கபட குயின்ஸ்லாந்து மாநிலம் வெள்ளத்தில் .... PHOTO Torrential rain left the Movie World car park at Oxenford underwater early on Saturday morning. INSTAGRAM: MICKEYLOU15 Dangerous storms described as a one-in-100-year event have swept through South-East Queensland overnight and into the morning, dumping heavy rain and causing flash flooding in parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Key points: Flash flooding closed the Pacific Motorway on the Gold Coast for several hours There were about 160 calls to the SES across the state's south-east …

[size=3] The bright white 70 meters (230Ft) tall bridge pylon can be seen from far away. Attached to the top are 24 cables that suspend a large bicycle roundabout, 72 meters (236Ft) in diameter, that seems to float over a large new junction for motorized traffic. This roundabout can be found in Eindhoven and it is called Hovenring. The exceptional piece of bicycle infrastructure was built to stand out. It is to be the iconic new landmark that signals ‘you are entering Eindhoven’. At night the slender bike ring is lit from below to further enhance that floating effect.[/size] [size=3] [size=2] A new landmark for Eindhoven/Veldhoven and Meerhoven: the Hovenring fl…

The final days of our war: Zero or 40,000 casualties? It is Monday 25 February 2020 as I hunt-and-peck my computer keyboard at Colombo International Airport Terminal 12 awaiting my flight to New York with my wife to attend a family funeral. I had been catching up on yesterday’s ‘The Sunday Times’. It announced that the Government, with cabinet approval, will withdraw from Resolution 30/1 of the UNHRC, solemnly co-signed by our Government in 2015. The UNP’s Sajith Premadasa has also promised to back the Government, following Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who promised during the presidential elections to protect soldiers who might be charged. I cringe in fear because t…

I WOMEN OF IMPACT I For these women, an age-old way of life is ending in the Horn of Africa Droughts are killing livestock, forcing herders to move to camps for displaced people, where they face an uncertain, often violent, new world. So many died at once “it was like they were poisoned,” said Rahma Hassan Mahmoud, a herder in Somaliland, of the catastrophe that befell her 300 goats and sheep and 20 camels. After the last camel died, she and her family lived off milk from their neighbors, but with everyone else’s livestock dying, it wasn’t long before there wasn’t enough to go around. The people of Rahma’s village pooled money to rent a truck. Fifty …

Foreign intelligence presence boosted in Sri Lanka (2007 Dec. 31, 9.40 AM) Colombo diplomatic sources say that with the Rajapakse regime's consideration 2008 as a year of war, world's leading intelligence services are interfering competitively in Sri Lanka's affairs. Indian RAW, Pakistan ISI, Russian KGB, US CIA and Israel Mosad are the leading intelligence services that are engaged in Sri Lankan affairs. Our sources say that an owner of a leading newspaper group in Sri Lanka is coordinating Mosad intelligence tasks in Sri Lanka, mostly in the Eastern Province.