A ceremony was held in Batticaloa this week to mark 50 years since Father Chandra Fernando, a Tamil activist that was assassinated in 1988, was ordained as a priest.

Speaking before the UN General Assembly during its 77^th session, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Ali Sabry gave a wide-ranging address touching on issues of democracy, economics, and defending Palestinian’s right to self-determination.          

Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe is in Japan today, as he attended the second international state funeral since he took office earlier this year and also engaged in discussions with senior Japanese officials.

Wickremesinghe attended the funeral of the former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead whilst giving a speech in the city of Nara in July. He was accompanied by his Chief-Of-Staff Sagala Ratnayake at the funeral, which was attended by several other leading figures from around the world.

The Sri Lankan navy arrested 12 persons, including women and children, who tried to flee the island and escape to a  foreign country via sea through Mannar on September 22nd. 

The apparent confessions of three Tamil political prisoners were today rejected by the Vavuniya High Court, and the case has been fixed for trial on October 14^th.

The confessions were filed by the political prisoners Rasathurai Thiruvarul, Mathiarasan Sulakshan and Ganeshan Tharshan in 2013.

Senior US Ambassador Cindy McCain met with the Sri Lankan president and other officials in the country, as she highlighted the “United States’ long-standing commitment to the people of Sri Lanka,” on a visit to the island.

McCain, the US Permanent Representative to the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome, will reportedly “assess humanitarian needs, inspect US-funded assistance, and advocate for long-term strategies to build food security for all Sri Lankans” during her trip.

The Chinese Government donated eight Chronic Kidney Disease screening vehicles worth LKR 660 million to the Sri Lankan government to screen for the disease in Trincomalee, Amparai, Vavuniya and other parts of the island.

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo said, "Sri Lankan people especially in the rural area are suffering in relation to CKD, known as the “silent killer”, as patients live with the disease for years before showing symptoms. Early screening and detection will spare the patients with limited healthcare access from pain."

The United Kingdom has announced a £3 million humanitarian package of food and farming support for Sri Lanka, which it said would be “lifesaving” as the island continues to struggle with soaring food prices.

 British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Sarah Hulton said that the new package “will provide multipurpose cash, livelihoods and other support to those most in need across the country including: pregnant and nursing mothers, children, low-income fisherman and daily wage labourers”.

Sri Lanka’s notorious Buddhist monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) had participated in the Saudi National Day event organised by the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Colombo.

He was seen seated with diplomats and holding discussions with them and others at the event.

The BBS said that the the Gnanasara was invited to attend the event as a special guest.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran said Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe did not have the authority to declare parts of the Colombo as High Security Zones under the country's Official Secret Act.

"A president without a people's mandate is trying to implement non-existent laws to suppress public dissent," Sumanthiran told reporters in Jaffna.