Oct 25 (LBO) One hundred and fifty four (154) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 13 October 2003 and 20 October 2003. more..

Oct 25 (TN) Hundreds of fishermen and women from Munai carrying placards and shouting slogans against the Sri Lanka army marched into Pt. Pedro town in Jaffna Saturday. more..

Oct 25 (KT) Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in the Gulf are expected to gain significantly with the opening up of the India-Sri Lanka air corridor to private operators, as international airfares could drop substantially with this move. more..

Oct 25 (wsws) On September 29, just hours after trade union leaders had called off a 13-day strike of 80,000 health workers, a high-ranking government delegation met representatives of a number of “left” parties at Visumpaya, a top security state complex in the heart of Colombo. more..

Oct 25 (HP) Commandant Army Command and Staff College Sri Lanka Maj-Gen D S K Wijesooriya, currently on a visit to Pakistan, heading a 19-member delegation, called on Corps Commander Lt-Gen Zarrar Azim in his office at the Corps Headquarters here on Friday. more..

Oct 25 (BBC) As well as promising billions of dollars for Iraq, donors at the Madrid donor conference have come up with some less usual offers. Rice, tea and even busloads of high-spending tourists have been pledged, as well as hard cash. more..

Oct 25 (Gulf) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party – the SLFP – yesterday launched a campaign to oust the UNF government. Hundreds of supporters of the party arrived in the city for a major rally as President Kumaratunga, ignoring security concerns, watched her supporters entering the city. more..

Oct 25 (DM) As the PA gathered hundreds of thousands of people in Colombo for a massive protest against the rising cost of living and other burdens, the government also made a major counter-move with the Cabinet approving a proposal to appoint a permanent salary revision committee which would recommend pay increases for public servants at regular intervals. more..

Oct 25 (UNI) President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is on an uneasy cohabitation with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his United National Front (UNF) government, has warned of a new Government under her leadership. more..

Oct 25 (Reuters) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to meet President George W. Bush next month, the U.S. embassy said on Saturday, in the latest show of international support for his drive to end a 20-year ethnic war. more..

Oct 26 (TN) Night curfew which was in force on Thursday and Friday was lifted from Saturday and normalcy returned to Kinniya town in Trincomalee district after two days' unrest, sources said. more..

Oct 26 (TN) The SLMM in Sri Lanka said Saturday that the President's letter asking the Norwegian Prime Minister to remove the SLMM head would not affect the SLMM monitoring activities in the island, the State controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation reported more..

Oct 26 (TN) The Political Head of the LTTE, Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, is to continue his dialogue on the northeast interim administration proposals with the hill country Tamil leaders this Sunday. Last week he held discussions with the TNA leaders, sources said. more..

Oct 26 (TN) A delegation of Muslim politicians and intelligentsia, led by Mr.Rauff Hakeem, left for United Kingdom, Saturday at the invitation of the British government on an official visit to study the constitutional arrangements in Ireland and Scotland in devolving powers over land, police and other important spheres to minorities, more..

Oct 26 (SL) People's Alliance plans to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickreme-singhe's government by December suffered two devastating body blows last week and sent President Chandrika Kumaratunga scurrying back to the drawing boards in a bid to salvage a hopeless situation. more..

Oct 26 (SL) The Norwegian government will take a decision on President Chandrika Kumaratunga's request for the removal of the Head of the SLMM, Major General Tryggve Tellefssen after conducting its own inquiries. more..

Oct 26 (SO) With several DIGs seeking Supreme Court intervention to determine their seniority, the post of IGP may continue to remain unoccupied for an extended period. The Constitutional Council, which met last week put off making a decision upon learning that the issue of seniority had not been resolved. more..

Oct 26 (Island) Nobody would have been surprised that President Chandrika Kumaratunga chose to keep away from Friday’s SLFP rally at the Colombo Town Hall despite the strident announcements that she would preside over the event. more..

Oct 26 (DM) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has told the armed forces commanders they need not take instructions or advice from the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), retired Norwegian Major General Tryggve Tellefsen whom she wants removed. more..

Oct 26 (DN) Sri Lanka 'A' won their fourth straight match of their Kenya tour when they beat their hosts by 46 runs at Sir Ali Muslim Club yesterday. The match was reduced to 25 overs as the some sections of the 30-metre circle were wet. more..

Oct 26 (SLA) A Muslim civilian has been attacked by a group of Tamil people in the general area of TRINCOMALEE town on 25 October 2003 around 3.00 a.m. The victim H.M HASAN of NO 7, AKKARACHANE, MUTTUR was going to the mosque at the time of the attack. more..

Oct 26 (Gulf) Saeed Ali Al Nuwais, the UAE's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, laid the foundation stone for a Rs20 million Muslim girls hostel here. The Sheikha Fatima Muslim Girls Students Hostel is sponsored and financed by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the President's wife more..

Oct 26 (TN) Police declared curfew in Mutur, south of Trincomalee, from Sunday noon after four Tamils were attacked and injured by Muslim mobs. Superintendent of Police for Trincomalee Mr. Daya Samaraweera told TamilNet that the curfew would extend till Monday 6 a.m. more..

Oct 26 (TN) The Batticaloa branch of the TULF resolved Sunday that the party’s leader Mr. V. Anandasangaree MP should step down. “If he fails to do so the secretary general of the TULF should convene the central committee and take necessary measures to remove him from his position as the party leader”, more..

Oct 26 (PTI) Sri Lanka's Tamil tiger rebels have for the first time included Tamils of recent Indian origin in their comprehensive power-sharing plan aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed. more..

Oct 26 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will seek expanded powers in a plan to be released next week, and also want the option of a separate state if constitutional reforms are rejected, media reported on Sunday. more..

Oct 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, who are due to unveil a landmark power-sharing plan this week, will seek a six-year interim council before a final deal, a press report here said Sunday. more..

Oct 26 (TN) Representatives of the LTTE and Jemiyathummal Ulama Council (JUC) in Kinniya Sunday at a discussion held at the office of the SLMM in Trincomalee agreed to identify elements who are working to derail the peace process and not to relentlessly work together to identify such elements. more..

Oct 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka's stock market is tiny and the country's GDP is less than the turnover of a Japanese car maker, yet the island is surging to be a new tiger economy, touting a truce with Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Oct 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka 'A' sealed a whitewash of their five-match one-day series when they beat Kenya by 18 runs in the final match at the Simba Union. Unlike the previous four matches, the final was evenly contested, with Kenya giving as much as they got from the tourists. more..

Oct 27 (Island) Armed forces, police and its paramilitary wing, the Special Task Force (STF), will continue to abide by the Oslo-brokered cease-fire agreement monitored by the Scandinavian monitors, Defence Secretary Austin Fernando emphasised yesterday. more..

Oct 27 (AP) Police Sunday fired tear gas to disperse around 600 people who were protesting knife attacks on two ethnic Tamils in eastern Sri Lanka, where tensions between Tamils and Muslims have been escalating, a military official said. more..

Oct 27 (LBO) Five firms have shown interest to act as a financial advisor to privatise the State Timber Corp. The Public Enterprise Reform Commission said Monday that Ernst & Young, Ford Rhodes Thornton & Company., Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Vanik Incorporation Limited have responded. more..

Oct 27 (LBO) Maintaining a positive growth trend over the past few months, Sri Lanka’s export earnings posted a double-digit growth for the first eight months of this year, a momentum that will help achieve better than forecasted year-end growth. more..

Oct 27 (LBO) Customer service focus helps Emirates to a record half-year profit Emirates has achieved record half-yearly profits of US$ 167 mn (Dhs 612 mn), 51 percent up on the same period last year, thanks largely to a series of initiatives to upgrade customer service. more..

Oct 27 (TN) The Department of Agrarian Services has refused to provide subsidies for seed paddy and fertilizer to farmers to cultivate paddy lands adjoining the high security zones in the Thenmaradchi division in the Jaffna district, as the Sri Lanka Army has not officially informed the department of its decision to release one fifth of the roughly five thousand acres of land in the HSZ, more..

Oct 27 (TN) Vast tracks of farmlands in impoverished villages close to the northern and western coast of Vanni face imminent danger from ocean waters penetrating inland making the arable land unsuitable for cultivation. more..

Oct 27 (TN) The Point Pedro Police have started providing police protection to four fisher families of Munai area on complaints lodged by them at the police station that soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army are likely to take revenge on them, human rights sources said. more..

Oct 27 (TN) More than two thousand people blocked the Mannar- Medawachchiya road Monday morning, demonstrating against alleged molestation and rape of women in Uyilankulam by Sri Lankan armed forces last week. more..

Oct 27 (PSL) Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik of Norway assured President Kumaratunga that her request to remove the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Maj. Gen. Tellefsen was receiving serious consideration. more..

Oct 27 (DJ) Sri Lanka is making plans for a workshop in the capital Colombo in November to promote oil and natural gas exploration in the country, an energy ministry official said Monday. more..

Oct 27 (BBC) Sri Lanka's trade deficit for the first eight months of the year has edged higher, but the country's overseas trade has maintain its recent strong growth. Official figures showed exports rose 11% in the eight months to August over the previous year to $3.34bn, while imports grew 9% to $4.22bn. more..

Oct 27 (DJ) Manila-based Asian Development Bank said Monday that distance learning is an affordable way for the government to boost post- secondary school enrollment in Sri Lanka. "Every year, one quarter of Sri Lanka's secondary school graduates qualify for university, but only 3% of these gain admission," more..

Oct 27 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Ceylinco Consolidated Ltd plans to build the island's tallest building, a 43-storey tower for $63 million, encouraged by a peace process in the island, a company official said on Monday. more..

Oct 27 (AFP) Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando met his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Dy Nien in Hanoi Monday for talks on improving bilateral relations. more..

Oct 27 (SLA) Tension in trouble-torn areas of KINNIYA, SINNA KINNIYA, MUTTUR, PAHAL THOPPUR, PUVARASANTHIVU and few other place in TRINCOMALEE district remained high throughout the weekend despite measures adopted by authorities to restore peace in the area. more..

Oct 27 (SLA) A political activist of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), abducted by LTTE on 19 September 2003, has managed to flee LTTE and reported to the Police post at KODDAMUNAI bridge, about 01 km north of BATTICALOA on 23 October 2003. more..

Oct 27 (SLA) Troops on duty in the general area of BATTICALOA have been informed of disappearance of three teenagers by their next of kin after their children went for some masonry work in un-cleared areas on 14 October 2003. more..

Oct 27 (SLA) An attempt by LTTE to provoke villagers against Police who came to investigate into a traffic accident in the general area of MAVADIVEMBU, about 19 km northwest of BATTICALOA on 23 October 2003 was foiled after taking the ill-fated vehicle to ERAVUR Police station. more..

Oct 27 (SLA) An Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) activist in a complaint to BATTICALOA Police on 22 October 2003 claimed that he was threatened with death by unidentified LTTE cadres while he was at home on 04 October 2003. more..