Japan and Sri Lanka this week held discussions on increasing military ties and maritime safety during the third Sri Lanka –Japan Dialogue on Maritime Security, Safety and Oceanic Issues, which took place in Colombo on July 19. 

“Sri Lanka expressed appreciation for the extensive support extended by Japan to improve the maritime safety capabilities of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard including through the provision of two patrol vessels and numerous training opportunities,” Sri Lanka's foreign affiars ministry said in a statement. 

A Sri Lankan parliamentarian claimed that the former regime in Colombo bribed at least five more British MPs today, after the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards suspended British parliamentarian Ian Paisley Jr for not declaring trips worth up to £100,000.

"There are at least five other British MP’s who similarly were bribed by the Rajapaksa regime to make statements supportive of it," claimed UNP MP Mujibar Rahuman. “We though these British MPs in tie and coat were honest respectable people, but they are worse."

A Buddhist monk has been arrested in Chilaw on suspicion of counterfeiting money.

Sri Lankan police arrested the monk who was in possession of counterfeit 1000 rupee notes after receiving information from businesses in the area, where the monk has attempted to make purchases using the counterfeit money.

Counterfeiting equipment including two printers, a scanner and 200 sheets of special printing paper used for counterfeits were found by police when searching the monk’s resident temple in Mahameddewa, Navagaththegama.

Sri Lankan troops accused of war crimes have been deployed as United Nations peacekeepers in conflict zones around the world according to a confidential report by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP).

A document drawn up by the organisation and submitted to the United Nations names several senior Sri Lankan commanders who have been deployed in peacekeeping operations, since a massive military offensive in 2009 which saw tens of thousands of Tamils massacred by the Sri Lankan army.

Amongst the regions senior Sri Lankan personnel have been deployed to include Mali, Darfur and South Sudan.

The executive director of the ITJP Yasmin Sooka stated that,

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded approximately 1.6 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($10,000,000) in grant assistance to an American NGO to engage local communities in reconciliation activities in Sri Lanka.

The three-year initiative by Global Communities will partner with the Government of Sri Lanka and local civil society to address underlying challenges to reconciliation, the US Embassy in Colombo said in a statement.

The project is supposed to “promote a shared and inclusive Sri Lankan identity, reduce socio-economic disparities, and strengthen resilience among multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities.”

“Our people should be in constant touch with each other. So that we know each other better and become even closer friends,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a gathering in Jaffna on Saturday.

Sri Lanka’s president pledged that he would press ahead with implementing capital punishment on the island, despite facing a barrage of criticism for the decision.

"I will go ahead with executing drug convicts," said Maithripala Sirisena at an event in Polonnaruwa on Saturday.

At least 50 bodies have been excavated from a mass grave in Mannar, including those of women and children, reports Journalists for Democracy.

"After examining the dental structure of the skeletal remains we can clearly identify three children with milk teeth," lead investigator Dr Saminda Rajapaksha told JDS.

That number is set to rise as excavations continue at the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (SATHOSA) premises.

The Indian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sri Lanka this week to build 3400 toilets in Batticaloa as part of a sanitation project. 

The project is to involve a 300 million SL rupees grant from the Indian government. 

The MoU was signed by High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Taranjit Singh Sandhu and the secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development and Rural Economy, Renuka Ekanayake. 

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is to launch its own online channel named 'TGTE TV'. 

In a statement announcing the launch event, TGTE said the free channel would be for news and entertainment.