Japan has initiated talks with Sri Lanka and India with the view of developing the deep water port in Trincomalee, reports Dailymirror.lk.

Speaking to journalists in Trincomalee, Japans Ambassador to Sri Lanka Kenichi Suganuma said, Trincomalee was an important strategically located deep sea port which had potential for future development.

“We have begun discussions with India on how best to develop the port in the future. There are no concrete plans yet,” he said.

Speaking on Japan’s approach to development in Sri Lanka, he said,

A federal and secular system with self-determination for the merged Northern and Eastern Provinces could be the solution for Sri Lanka’s ethnic issue, the Tamil People’s Council has said.

In a declaration made on Tuesday, TPC added that all Muslim and Sinhala people native to the merged North-East Tamil homeland would be entitled to all the rights in the Federal Unit, including a separate political unit for Muslims.

See full declaration below.

The Sri Lankan government is not interested in witness protection but is waiting for key witnesses to the 2002 Welikada shooting to be killed, said Sudesh Nandimal, one of the key witnesses to the shooting. 

This week, unidentified gunmen shot at the residence of Mr Nandimal, who is currently living with his sister's house in Moratuwa. He escaped unharmed but photographs of multiple bullet injuries to the property's front gate have emerged.

Tamil Nadu fishermen have reported being attacked by Sri Lankan navy on Wednesday off the coast of Katchatheevu island. 

Ten fishermen were injured in the attack, PTI reported, along side damage to 20 boats. 

Navy officers chased them away from the area, warning of "severe consequences". 

The attack comes just hours after the Sri Lankan navy transferred 80 released fishermen to Indian authorities. 

158 Tamils rounded up and forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan Army from the Eastern University were remembered in Batticaloa today, on the 27th anniversary of their disappearance.

On 5th September 1990, Sri Lankan soldiers surrounded the Vantharumoolai campus of Eastern University, rounding-up and arresting 158 Tamils that were sheltering there.

Protestors in Mannar called for the Myanmar government to end genocide against the Rohingya people.

The Sri Lankan Army continues in its mission of Sinhalising the Tamil homeland, specifically through the installation of Buddhist shrines within the premises of or in close proximity to Hindu temples in the North-East.

Unidentified gunmen on Monday fired shots at the house of one of the key eye witnesses to the 2012 shooting at Welikada prison. 

The witness, Sudesh Nandimal, wa not injured in the attack. He was residing at his sister's house in Moratuwa. 

Several shots were fired at the property's gate. The police were informed at 11pm last night, the Daily Mirror reported. 

In July, an inquiry was launched into the Welikada incident, where 27 inmates, who were mainly Sinhalese were killed during a prison riot by security forces. 

Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition on Tuesday called for Field Marshal and minister, Sarash Fonseka to be sacked from his position for his comments stating that he would be happy to stand as a witness against the former military general, Jagath Jayasuriya, who is accused of war crimes. 

“We do not trust him. He contradicts the President’s statements and attempts to betray the country,” MP Prasanna Ranatunga was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.

“It is doubtful whether the minister was plotting to betray the soldiers by accepting money from the LTTE Diaspora."

Dismissing criticism of his willingness to stand as a witness against the former Sri Lankan military general who has been accused of war crimes, Field Marshal and former army commander, Sarath Fonseka told the government, "don't betray people by protecting so called war heroes".