May 28 (UO) The Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy Malaysia) on Wednesday said it was preparing to visit districts in Sri Lanka ravaged by the worst flash floods in half a century. more..

May 28 (AP) Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka gives the thumbs up sign after winning the 100 meters in the opening leg of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix 2003 in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday May 28, 2003. Jayasinghe won the race in 11.30 secs. more..

May 29 (AP) Asian ace woman sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe overcame a slow start to win the 100-meter gold Wednesday in the first event of the four-leg Asian Grand Prix Circuit in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. more..

May 29 (PTI) Bodritskaya Svetlana of Kazakhstan today staged a major upset defeating Busan Asian Games gold medallist Damanyanthi Darsha of Sri Lanka to win the women's 400 metres gold clocking 52.59 seconds in the first leg of the second Asian Athletics Grand Prix event at the GMC Balayogi Stadium here today. more..

May 29 (TN) Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE in the Trincomalee district met for the first time Wednesday evening at the no man zone near Kattaiparichchan bridge which separates the LTTE held Muttur east and SLA held area in Muttur division in the presence of the Trincomalee head of the SLMM, security sources said. more..

May 29 (Hindu) The Government today formally offered a "development oriented structure" as an alternative to the demand by the LTTE for an interim administration. The proposals were made through the Norwegian facilitators, to be conveyed to the Tigers. more..

May 29 (TS) Sri Lanka's new High Commissioner to Malaysia, Rose Senanayake, has despatched her first official note to the Malaysian Government on what will shape her strife-torn country's destiny. more..

May 29 (LBO) Hoarders who played hide and seek with revenue officials have been coming clean in droves in response to the governments tax amnesty, Finance Minister K N Choksy said Thursday. Inland Revenue has set up a special unit under a deputy commissioner to deal with the declarants. more..

May 29 (LBO) Hoarders who played hide and seek with revenue officials have been coming clean in droves in response to the governments tax amnesty, Finance Minister K N Choksy said Thursday. Inland Revenue has set up a special unit under a deputy commissioner to deal with the declarants. more..

May 29 (LBO) Encouraging value addition in the jewellery trade, Sri Lanka will push for Free Trade pacts with Thailand and Madagascar. The Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Ravi Karunarathne says the two countries have rich sources of precious stones, a potential for local jewellers to add value to. more..

May 29 (SLA) Two soldiers returning to their camp at TRINCOMALEE on push bicycles after a tour outside were shot and hacked around 12.35 noon today (29 May 2003) on CENTRE ROAD, ORR’S HILL, TRINCOMALEE by two LTTE men. more..

May 29 (SLA) The death of a soldier, who went missing on 26 May 2003 from the general area of THANANKILAPPU, about 5 km. southwest of CHAVAKACHCHERI, has been caused due to explosion of a hand grenade, according to investigations. more..

May 29 (SCOPP) In preparation for the “Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka”, to be held 9 -10 June 2003 in Tokyo, Japan, the documentation relating to development needs is being compiled for distribution among the donor community. more..

May 29 (SCOPP) Heads of Mission for France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in Sri Lanka sent a letter, dated 27 May 2003, addressed to Ambassador Bernard Goonetilleke, Director General of the SCOPP, and Mr S P Tamilselvan, Head of the Political Division of LTTE. more..

May 29 (Gulf) Sri Lanka's constitutional crisis over the issue of powers of President Chandrika Kumaratunga shows no signs of subsiding with the President insisting that her previous order to take control of a state run lottery remains unchanged. more..

May 29 (Zenit) Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo made an urgent appeal to the faithful of the island to aid Sri Lankan populations stricken by the worst flooding in half a century. more..

May 29 (DN) The legal status of Chief Ministers of three provinces have come under scrutiny following Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling which held that no vacancies to the Provincial Councils could be filled from persons outside the nomination lists. more..

May 29 (DM) A student of Asoka Vidyalaya who was allegedly assaulted by former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga in 2001, yesterday filed a fresh case in the District court claiming Rs. 2 million as damages from Mr. Ranatunga and his brother Prasanna. more..

May 29 (PSL) The Minister responsible for Hindu Affairs T. Masheshwaran called on President Kumaratunga on Tuesday and discussed a range of issues which included the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the North and East and the early release of Tamil detainees. more..

May 29 (Reuters) India's Reliance has submitted the best offer into Sri Lanka's tender to buy gas oil and gasoline for June 16-17 delivery, a company source said on Thursday. more..

May 29 (DJ) A cessation of hostilities in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict has helped stimulate enthusiasm to rebuild the country's road network, although that needs to be supported by a sustained peace process, an Asian Development Bank consultant said Thursday. more..

May 29 (AFP) A Norwegian peace envoy has left Sri Lanka with no immediate breakthrough in attempts to revive the island's stalled peace bid, officials here said Thursday. more..

May 29 (BS) India has proposed using Sri Lanka's Trincomalee storage depots, which were recently acquired by Indian Oil Corporation, for stockpiling strategic oil reserves to meet contingency requirements. more..

May 29 (BBC) Ranil Wickramasinghe also asked the Tamil Tiger rebels to be "more understanding" if there was to be permanent end to Sri Lanka's long-running civil war. But he said the current deadlock in the Norwegian-backed peace bid would give both sides the chance to review their current positions. more..

May 29 (PTI) Warning that the country risked being relegated to the "backwaters of history" if the peace talks did not succeed, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today that he realised the frustration of Tamil Tiger rebels at the slow progress of peace talks but asked them to be "more understanding." more..

May 29 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's prime minister said on Thursday that Tamil Tiger rebels had to be more flexible for the current peace bid to succeed and permanently end the island's long civil war. more..

May 29 (AFP) Sri Lanka's prime minister warned that his country risked being relegated to the "backwaters of history" if peace talks failed and asked Tiger rebels to be "more understanding." more..

May 29 (HT) The LTTE is unlikely to accept the Sri Lankan government's latest proposal for an interim structure in the North East Province (NEP) because it is nowhere near what the militants had asked for, says the pro-LTTE daily Sudar Oli on Thursday. more..

May 29 (IPS) H M Bandara Menike, a 52-year old widow with three children who cultivates two acres at Karuwalagaswewa, about 140 kilometres north-west of Sri Lankan capital, says: "I don't know anything about poverty reduction reforms." more..

May 29 (AFP) Sri Lanka is seeking urgent help to provide books, clothing and basic stationery for thousands of children who had lost their homes in recent floods, officials said Thursday. more..

May 29 (OW) Apart from battling an outbreak of diseases and destruction of over 100 schools, the flood-hit Sri Lankan government is preparing to evacuate over 15,000 people threatened by landslides in 169 areas across the country. more..

May 29 (Reuters) Sri Lanka Telecom , the island's largest stock, announced lower three-month profits on Thursday but added it expected higher profits for the year despite the opening up of the international call market. more..

May 29 (Rediff) The parents of Velupillai Prabhakaran, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief, have left Tiruchirapalli for native Sri Lanka. Accompanied by their Canada-based daughter, Vinodhini, and her husband, Rajendran, they left earlier this week after obtaining necessary clearances from the Centre, Tamil Nadu government and intelligence agencies. more..