Apr 6 (CI) Mathew Sinclair's breezy 107 propelled New Zealand to their second successive win against Sri Lanka A at Lincoln. Hamish Marshall chipped in with a run-a-ball 96, as New Zealand A posted a massive 328, after being asked to bat in the second one-dayer. more..

Apr 6 (AP) After hours of deliberations, the president Monday appointed Mahinda Rajapakse to be the country's new prime minister. The president's coalition emerged from voting Friday as the single largest political force but failed to win a majority, forcing it to seek partners in new government. more..

Apr 6 (IAAF) Indian Piyush Kumar and Sri Lankan Jani Chaturangani Silva were crowned the fastest man and woman in South Asia respectively on the fourth day of the 9th South Asian Games as athletic competition continued at the Jinnah Stadium here in Pakistan. more..

Apr 6 (BBC) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party has won the country's parliamentary elections, but without enough seats for a majority. Her United People's Freedom Alliance party won 105 seats while Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe's party got 82. more..

Apr 6 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army has allowed fishermen of the Vadamarachchi division in the Jaffna district to use fishing boats with 40 horse power outboard engines for fishing in the northern seas. more..

Apr 6 (TN) President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Monday put off the naming of a new Prime Minister of the thirteenth parliament for Tuesday due to the differences of opinion prevailing among the leaders of constituent parties of the UPFA. more..

Apr 6 (TN) The annual festival of the centuries old historic Pathirakali Ambal Temple in Trincomalee concluded Sunday with the water-cutting ceremony held in the Back Bay Sea, which is known locally in Tamil as "Theertha Kadatkarai." more..

Apr 6 (TP) New Middle East-based airline entrants on the Colombo-UAE route are involved in a fierce price war, outpricing older established airlines which monopolised these sectors for long in a campaign that is seen benefiting Sri Lankan migrant workers in the region. more..

Apr 6 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels are ready to talk to a new government when it is created, a senior representative said hereyesterday. His statement at an annual rally of Tamils in Switzerland came just hours after the group warned of a return to war unless they were granted self-rule. more..

Apr 6 (Asahi) National security has traditionally been thought of in terms of relations among nation-states. But many of the armed conflicts and terrorist acts that have broken out after the end of the Cold War cannot be handled with such a way of thinking. more..

Apr 6 (LBO) Financial markets open shop on Tuesday with great deal of trepidation of a spike in interest rates, falling rupee and stumbling stockmarket. The absence of a coherent economic policy, ranging from fiscal discipline, economic reforms, together with how fast new government will woo foreign donors to resume stalled aid, still remain a relatively grey area. more..

Apr 6 (SLA) Men suspected to be from LTTE leader PRABHAKARAN’s Wanni faction have reportedly exhumed the remains of slain Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate for BATTICALOA district, RAJAN SATHYAMOORTHY and his relative during early morning on 04 April 2004. more..

Apr 6 (SLA) Houses of two civilians of JAFFNA origin, resident in the general area of VALAICHCHENAI came under arson attack during the night on 03 April 2004. The house of JAFFNA-born NIRMALA KADAN of HINDU KOVIL Road, VALAICHCHENAI was completely gutted after unidentified men set fire to it around 10.00 p.m. more..

Apr 6 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general areas of POINT PEDRO, DELFT ISLAND and PESALAI continued to observe flotillas of Indian poachers inside Sri Lankan waters during 01-03 April 2004. more..

Apr 6 (LT) All TNA candidates elected to Parliament representing the Eastern Province were invited for a discussion with Karuna Amman’s faction. Accordingly, the discussion was held today in LTTE office in Batticaloa where four of the candidates were present and had discussions with Vishu, the political leader of Karuna’s faction of the tiger organization. more..

Apr 6 (LT) Tilak Karunaratne and Champike Ranawake are to enter Parliament through Jathike Hela Urumaya. Earlier the plan was to appoint them from the national list but Ven. Omalpe Sobhithe Thero one of the Bhikkus elected from JHU has pointed out that those who voted for JHU did so for the Bhikkus and lay men entering Parliament taking cover of the Bhikkus’ robes would jeopardize all their plans. more..

Apr 6 (LT) 20 political parties and 192 independent groups which contested April 2nd General Election have not been able to get more than 5% of votes says Election Secretariat. Though various political parties had put forward about 6000 candidates most of them failed to receive even a single vote. more..

Apr 6 (TN) "My first priority is to secure a majority for my government in the parliament," said Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse soon after he assumed office as Prime Minister Tuesday morning. He declined to reveal the details of which minority parties he is likely to woo to join the UPFA to obtain a majority in the parliament. more..

Apr 6 (SN) Hela Urumaya has emerged as the new king maker in Sri Lankan political arena as a result of receiving 6% of votes for a campaign of six weeks. The JVP took 36 years to achieve the same level. With this new bargaining power, both major alliances are seeking the support of Hela Urumaya to form a government. more..

Apr 6 (SN) Being new comers to Manape hatana or preferential vote competition, the JVP has handsomely defeated the SLFP in this competition. The JVP defeated traditional SLFP leaders in every district except in Hambantota, Matara, Polonnaruwa and Ratnapura. more..

Apr 6 (Xinhua) New Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was sworn in Tuesday by President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the Presidential Secretariat. Rajapakse, born on Nov. 18, 1945 to Sinhalese parents, was a popular leader from the southern district of Hambantota. more..

Apr 6 (Rediff) Sri Lanka's new prime minister is widely seen as a moderate who supports a negotiated settlement to the island's long-running ethnic conflict. He is lesser known for his roles in local films. more..

Apr 6 (Dawn) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Monday that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance would not get the support of the Muslim Congress (SLMC) in the formation of a coalition government. more..

Apr 6 (Rupavahini) It’s reported that they will be involved in achieving the goals set forth by the UPFA election manifesto. Meanwhile ministers from the JVP for the new government have already been named. more..

Apr 6 (CI) The Sri Lankan board has denied receiving an official report on Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action, and officials said that the results of the analysis would not be published until the receipt of an official report from Professor Bruce Elliott. more..

Apr 6 (BBC) The Sri Lankan stock exchange has shed 10% on the first day of trading since general elections returned a left-leaning minority government. Replacing the pro-business Ranil Wickramasinghe, new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse heads a collation that includes some Marxists. more..

Apr 6 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new prime minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, is a part-time film star but his new role requires a major balancing act to keep a minority government from collapsing in a hung parliament. more..

Apr 6 (DN) Nine women have been elected to the 13th Parliament. Of them, five are from the UPFA and four from the UNF. Sumedha G. Jayasena (Moneragala), Pavithra Wanniarachchi (Ratnapura), Anjan Umma (Gampaha), Sujatha Alahakoon (Matale) and Ferial Ashraff (Digamadulla) have been elected from the UPFA. more..

Apr 6 (IANS) Tamil Tiger guerrillas may soon unleash a military campaign against a breakaway faction that has seriously threatened their political and military dominance in the country's northeast. This is the consensus here among the diplomatic community, Tamil sources and the Sri Lankan security establishment. more..

Apr 6 (IANS) Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakshe Tuesday called for a more active role for India in the island's peace process and said he was confident the Tamil Tiger guerrillas would never again renew their separatist campaign. more..

Apr 6 (KO) Fans across the country shared the disappointment of the national soccer team which lost the bronze medal to Sri Lanka in the penalty shoot out 2-3 in the SAF Games in Pakistan yesterday. more..

Apr 6 (AT) Sri Lanka's general election has, as expected, thrown up a fractured mandate. While President Chandrika Kumaratunga's UPFA has emerged as the largest single party, it has fallen short of a simple majority. more..

Apr 6 (DJ) Sri Lankan shares took a severe beating Tuesday on heavy retail selling amid worries that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's win at the elections would spell bad news for the economy and efforts to end a 20-year civil war. more..

Apr 6 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse assumed office vowing to pursue the peace efforts of his predecessor and seek a greater Indian involvement to end ethnic bloodshed. more..

Apr 6 (HT) The new Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, has said that the United Peoples' Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government will seek close cooperation with India in the field of defence. more..

Apr 6 (Reuters) New prime minister was sworn into office Tuesday and said hardline President Chandrika Kumaratunga was now in charge of reviving peace talks with Tamil rebels. "They (talks) should start as soon as possible," new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse told reporters as he left his house for the swearing-in ceremony. "We need peace." more..

Apr 6 (Reuters) Mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's 13th prime minister, is known for his trademark red scarf, big smile and ability to surf through the backrooms of the country's shifting political alliances. more..

6 (AP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga, left, swears in new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, right, at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. Rajapakse, 58, took oath of office on Tuesday to become the country's 13th prime minister. more..

Apr 7 (TN) The Chavakachcheri Magistrate, Mr.B.Balasubramaniam, Tuesday ordered remand for four persons on a report by the Police that they had attacked a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) activist with sword, causing grievous hurt to him, legal sources said. more..

Apr 7 (TN) Dismissing reports carried by the State-controlled electronic and print media that they had decided to function as a separate group, the 5 Tamil National Alliance MPs from the Batticaloa and Amparai districts participated at the first TNA parliamentary group meeting more..

Apr 7 (TN) Thirty-five-member cabinet of the UPFA government is to be sworn in on Thursday or Friday. UPFA leaders have decided to limit the number of cabinet ministers to thirty-five, government sources said Tuesday. The UPFA cabinet would comprise four JVP parliamentarians and another four as deputy ministers. more..

Apr 7 (TN) The leader of the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF), Mr. Periyannan Chandrasekaran, speaking to the Press after he met with Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, on Tuesday, said that on behalf of the UPF, he would request the 22 TNA MPs to speak up about the problems of the Upcountry Tamil people, more..

Apr 7 (TP) Four out of five chief ministers of Provincial Councils who contested the recently-concluded general election as candidates from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), were defeated at the election, newspapers said. The UPFA won the poll. more..

Apr 7 (IL) You have carried a news item in your prestigeous News Room from Lanka Truth which is untrue and baseless. It says Messrs Thilak Karunaratne and Champika Ranawaka would enter to the parliament on the national list of JHU. It further states that Ven Omalpe Sobhitha thero objected to the move. more..

Apr 7 (HT) The UPFA, which emerged as the single largest party after the parliamentary elections, is finding it difficult to form a government with a simple majority. While it needs at least 113 MPs to support it in a house of 225 members, it has only 106 supporters as on date. more..

Apr 7 (SLA) A suspected LTTE youth in his early twenties has been shot dead by an unidentified gunman, suspected to be from an LTTE’s rival faction while the victim was in the general area of KATTANKUDY close to the MARI AMMAN KOVIL on 06 April 2004. more..

Apr 7 (SLA) Eight LTTE cadres stormed the house of a woman in the general area of KARUVANKERNY and assaulted her with a club, stated a complaint made to the VALAICHCHENAI Police station on 06 April 2004. more..

Apr 7 (Reuters) Stocks rose on Wednesday on blue-chip buying, with stability returning to the market after it plunged nearly 10 percent on Tuesday in the first reaction to the election of a left-leaning minority government. more..

Apr 7 (PRIU) Sri Lankan athletes had won 15 gold medals on the penultimate day of the 10 day South Asian Federation Games which concluded in the Pakistani capital Islamabad today. Yesterday Sri Lanka were placed third with a total medal tally of 103, more..

Apr 7 (wsws) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday swore in Mahinda Rajapakse, a leading figure in her own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), as the country’s new prime minister. more..