Feb 23 (AP) Kenya takes on Sri Lanka Monday knowing that victory against one of the World Cup's form sides will give the East African team a decent chance of getting beyond the tournament's first round for the first time. more..

Feb 23 (GD) British Club African and Eastern Cameos and Sri Lanka Club drew 22-22 in a thrilling DHL Bahrain Netball match played at the Bahrain Rugby Club in Saar. The result guarantees both sides a top five finish and a place in the first division of the league in the second phase of the competition. more..

Feb 23 (PTI) On the first anniversary of a ceasefire with separatist Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka's Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe brushed aside opposition to his peace moves, saying talks did not mean "kneeling down" to the rebels and there was no "alternative". more..

Feb 23 (AFP) Sri Lanka is seeking international pressure to end three decades of ethnic bloodshed, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said as he marked a full year of a Norwegian-brokered truce Sunday. more..

Feb 23 (VOA) Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says Tamil Tiger rebels should be allowed to join the state police, military and judiciary as part of a final political settlement to the island's ethnic conflict. the Sri Lankan leader says his government is determined to continue with the peace process, which began a year ago. more..

Feb 23 (IL) While vowing to continue its protests against the government and it's so-called peace process, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna said that they were not at all surprised regarding Thursday's incident, when police attacked their supporters. more..

Feb 23 (IL) The Legal Aid Foundation (LAF), of the Bar Association in coordination with the lawyers of the Vavuniya Courts would be conducting a Legal Aid Rally and Clinics in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps in Vavuniya tomorrow from 9.30 a.m.to 2.30 p.m. more..

Feb 24 (TN) The Charge d'Affairs of the Swedish Embassy in Sri Lanka Ms Ann Marie Fallenius Sunday said in Trincomalee that the Chambers of Commerce in districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara in the northeast province would be given a boost to expand their institutional capacity and professional competence building program more..

Feb 24 (TN) The SLMM in Trincomalee Sunday intervened to diffuse the tension between the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the LTTE following an attempt by the SLN personnel to arrest cadres of the LTTE at Kallampathai, a LTTE held area, about forty km north of Trincomalee town, sources said. more..

Feb 24 (TN) The arrival of a group of one hundred Buddhist monks from south to Jaffna Sunday has been delayed by one day. The group will arrive Jaffna Monday to hold a prayer meeting lighting oil lamps at the historic Nallur Kandasamy Temple on the same day evening, sources said. more..

Feb 24 (Island) A leading lawyer and a local cease-fire monitor recently filed a motion in the Trincomalee Magistrates’ court requesting the release of two female Tigers, accused of abducting two 14-year-old girls at Sambaltivu, informed sources said. One of the abductors is only 16 years of age and the other 20. more..

Feb 24 (Hindu) The Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has refuted allegations that his administration was "kneeling before the LTTE". He asserted that the latest attempt was "the last chance" to regain peace and said he was "happy with the progress" made during the year-long ceasefire. more..

Feb 24 (AFP) Scandinavian truce monitors Sunday helped pull Sri Lankan navy troops and Tamil Tiger rebels back from the brink of a gun battle breaching the ceasefire on its first anniversary, officials said. more..

Feb 24 (Reuters) Stocks finished lower on Monday as investors kept an eye out for developments over a possible war in Iraq, brokers said. The key Colombo all-share index closed down 0.48 percent, or 3.69 points, to 764.80 points. more..

Feb 24 (DOI) Sri Lanka is seeking international pressure to end three decades of ethnic bloodshed, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said as he marked a full year of a Norwegian-brokered truce Sunday. more..

Feb 24 (DOI) Minister of Defence, Transport, Highways and Civil Aviation Tilak Marapana has restructured and reactivated the Railways Management Council, giving it wide decision making powers and also powers to implement them. more..

Feb 24 (DOI) 'War or Peace', as the Minister of Smallholdings Development, he would not allow the Tea Industry to fall, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, during his tenure of office, said Minister Susantha Punchinilame at Ratnapura recently. more..

Feb 24 (DOI) The ultimate objective of the current peace process is not to introduce piecemeal amendments on devolution to the Constitution but to introduce a completely new Constitution that will reflect the aspirations of the people, Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said yesterday. more..

Feb 24 (Xinhua) Seven members of the Sri Lankan separatist Tamil Tiger rebels detained by the navy for entering a government-controlled area with weapons were released on Sunday following the intervention of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM), the official Daily News said on Monday. more..

Feb 24 (DM) Key changes including compulsory lecturing in English would be introduced to the country's 19th century legal education system, Bar Association Secretary Kalinga Indatissa said. more..

Feb 24 (DN) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was in Denuwala, Weligama on Saturday to watch the annual elephant polo tournament at the Weligama beach. The Premier was accompanied by Mrs. Maithree Wickremesinghe. more..

Feb 24 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga addressing the NAM summit stressed the need for an appraisal of a new role, vision and plan of action for NAM, “focusing on the urgent need for sustainable economic development of each Member State.” more..

Feb 24 (PRIU) Sri Lankan Vimukthi Jayasundara’s film Vide pour l’amour (Empty for Love) has been invited to be presented at the International Cannes Film Festival, May 14 – 25, 2003. more..

Feb 24 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's state-owned oil refiner and marketer said it was considering issuing an import tender for 40,000 tonnes of gas oil for delivery in early April, an official with Ceylon Petroleum Corp (Ceypetco) said on Monday. more..

Feb 24 (Reuters) Sri Lankan marine fuel bunker barge operator, Lanka Marine Services Ltd (LMSL), is likely to ink a maiden term contract to import fuel oil and gas oil in March, a company official said on Monday. more..

Feb 24 (Time) It wasn't so long ago that tourists tried their best to avoid troubled Sri Lanka. Tour operators still remember the grim conditions of more than a decade ago when constant terrorist attacks led to wholesale cancellations. more..

Feb 24 (Reuters) A powerful Sri Lankan trade union is fighting to block economic reforms the government hopes will attract foreign aid as a "peace dividend" if it succeeds in ending the island's 19-year ethnic war. more..

Feb 24 (AFP) Sri Lanka's main Marxist party launched a scathing attack Monday against the government for freeing seven armed Tamil Tiger rebels involved in a tense stand-off with naval troops. more..

Feb 24 (BBC) Landmines and unexploded ordnance in Sri Lanka have killed 26 civilians and injured 100 others since a cease-fire came into effect a year ago, the United Nations says. The majority of those hurt are adult males - breadwinners for their families. more..

Feb 24 (PTI) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is due to visit India this week, officials said. Wickremesinghe, who travels to New Delhi on February 27, will hold talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and return on March 2, officials said.

Feb 24 (AP) Kenya produced the biggest shock of the eighth cricket World Cup on Monday by beating 1996 champion and group leader Sri Lanka by 53 runs. After opener Kennedy Otieno hit 60 in a creditable 210 for nine at the Gymkhana Club in Nairobi, the Kenyans bowled Sri Lanka out for 157 more..

Feb 24 (TN) "It is the duty of the southern religious leaders to organize the masses in the south to thwart all attempts by the Sinhala hard-line JVP and other forces from derailing the peace process," said Mr.C.V.K.Sivagnanam, former commissioner of the Jaffna Municipal Council more..

Feb 24 (TN) The Trincomalee Magistrate and Additional District Judge Mr.S.Thiagendran Monday ordered the human skeletal remains recovered from the sea beach of the east port town last Wednesday and Thursday and soil samples of the site to be sent to Colombo Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) for full report. more..

Feb 25 (Hindu) The chief negotiator for the LTTE, Anton S. Balasingham, is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on March 2 for a meeting with his leader, V. Prabakaran, before the next round of talks to be held in Japan. more..

Feb 25 (Island) The stand-off between the Navy and seven armed LTTE cadres in Kuchchuveli - Thiriyaya road was solved with the intervention of the SLMM after striking a deal to exchange a police constable and a soldier held by the LTTE for the seven armed cadres who entered the government controlled area on Sunday, more..

Feb 25 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s 13 bus companies may continue under state control for longer, as attempts to bring in private management steers off course. Industry watchers say plans for a state lead restructuring programme were being touted as a contingency measure in case the government fails to seal any deals. more..

Feb 25 (LBO) An International Labour Organisation study has found the Tharuna Aruna scheme for unemployed graduates highly dysfunctional and run like a Rotary Club. Around Rs. 165 mn has gone into the scheme, but only 600 graduates have found permanent work over a five-year period, notes ESP Consult, more..

Feb 25 (TN) A committee of top-level officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) visited Vavuniya Monday to hold consultations on planned projects on road reconstruction and electrical power distribution, sources said. more..

Feb 25 (TN) A senior lawyer from Jaffna unofficial bar Mr.S.Paramarajah Monday assumed duties as the Eastern High Court Judge. He took oaths as a High Court Judge before the Chief Justice Mr.Sarath N.Silva last week in Colombo, legal sources said. more..

Feb 25 (HT) The LTTE rapped its parliamentary ally, TNA on Sunday for not protesting against the recommendations of the retired Indian General Satish Nambiar on the question of dismantling the Sri Lankan Army's high security zones (HSZ) in the Jaffna peninsula, more..

Feb 25 (Reuters) Stocks closed lower on Tuesday on selling pressure in blue chips because of fears about a possible war in Iraq. The key Colombo all-share index lost 1.56 percent, or 11.91 points, to 753.24, to post one of the sharpest drops in recent weeks. more..

Feb 25 (SLA) Three teenagers who ran away from the LTTE custody had sought protection from Police after they arrived at MUTTUR Police station, about 13 km south of TRINCOMALEE town on 24 February 2003 around 7.15 a.m. more..

Feb 25 (SLA) An LTTE cadre, who attempted to extort money and snatched away the National Identity Card (NIC) from a trader in the general area of PERIYAKADAL in MANNAR town on 22 Feb, has been arrested and released on bail after being produced before the Magistrate in MANNAR. more..

Feb 25 (SLA) Three sixty mm. Mortar shells, one forty mm grenade, one K 400 hand grenade, three SFG hand grenades, one T-56 magazine, one 84 S magazine, one hundred and twenty nine rounds of T-56 ammunition, twenty one T-56 LMG links, twenty two rounds of 84 S ammunition, recovered by Police from the general area of the railway track at SARDHAPURA, about 9 km southwest of TRINCOMALEE on 24 Feb. more..

Feb 25 (DM) Parliamentarian and former Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle has complained to the Chief Justice regarding what he terms the humiliation and pain of mind caused to him when he was asked to leave the High Court of Colombo for not being "properly attired". more..

Feb 25 (DOI) The World Bank has granted Rs. 1 billion to implement the Government's Tharuna Aruna job orientation programme which will help 25,882 registered unemployed graduates find jobs in public and private sector institutions from May 1, said Employment and Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. more..

Feb 25 (DOI) The European Union notes with satisfaction that 22 February, 2003 marks the first anniversary of the coming into effect of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. more..

Feb 25 (DN) The Netherlands has written off Rs one billion (9.9 million euro) from Sri Lanka's debts to that country, said Minister for Economic Reform, Science and Technology Milinda Moragoda and Dutch Ambassador Susan Blankhart yesterday. more..

Feb 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's trade deficit in 2002 widended to $1.41 billion from $1.16 billion in 2001, the central bank said on Tuesday. It said imports rose 2.2 percent to $6.12 billion last year compared to 2001, while exports fell by 2.4 percent to $4.70 billion.

Feb 25 (Reuters) It is doubtful whether Sanath Jayasuriya and his Sri Lankans had ever heard of the Luo tribe before their extraordinary World Cup defeat by Kenya on Monday. Steve Tikolo's side, however, who beat the 1996 world champions by 53 runs in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history, were heavily stocked with the tribesmen from the west. more..