July 25 (AFP) At least 10 people, including four women and a two-and-half-year-old child, were killed Saturday in an accident involving a van and a bus in southern Sri Lanka, police said. Eight others escaped with injuries in the crash at Tissamaharama, police said, adding an investigation was underway. more..

July 25 (TS) Police have issued a warrant of arrest for a Sri Lankan gems trader who had allegedly hurled abuses at the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in the Kapitan Keling Mosque compound after Friday prayers. more..

July 25 (HT) The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, says that India is welcome to join any international effort to convince the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE of the urgent need to uphold the ceasefire and come back to the negotiating table. more..

July 25 (LT) A programme to enhance the fisheries industry has been launched by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources with the support of National Aquatic Resources Research Institute (NARA). more..

July 25 (LT) Manel Jayasena, a reputed artist, died in a private hospital yesterday. Ms. Jayasena, who was suffering from a kidney ailment, was hospitalized when the ailment became acute. more..

July 25 (LT) Four people have been killed in a shooting incident at Weeraketiya. According to Weeraketiya police assailants who had come in three motorbikes have shot dead the four people. None has been taken into custody regarding the incident. more..

July 25 (AT) It is very intriguing to note that India which provides asylum to persons like Varatharajaperumal, deporting a man like me who seeks goodwill and friendly relationship with India. more..

July 25 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's minority government would gain allies to support them next month, enabling it to prove parliamentary majority, a senior government minister was quoted assaying by the state radio on Sunday. more..

July 25 (HT) The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Sunday killed eight persons, including two women, believed to be closely associated with the dissident rebel leader Col Karuna, in a village near Colombo. more..

July 25 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels killed eight rivals in the worst outbreak of violence in three months as Norway prepared to launch a fresh bid to save the island's peace process. more..

July 26 (Rupavahini) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse stresses the need of bringing all politicians to agree on a single view with the aim of solving the national problem. The prime minister was speaking at the launching ceremony of the reconstruction work of Abhayagiriya Sthupaya in Anuradhapura. more..

July 26 (TN) The World Tamils Confederation came out strongly Sunday against any move for a defence pact between India and Sri Lanka, cautioning that New Delhi was being lured into a "trap to use its army to crush" Tamils in the island. more..

July 26 (CI) Shoaib Malik kept Pakistan alive in the Asia Cup with a dashing 143 that propelled them to 300 for 9, and a 59-run win at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. There were some climactic moments at the end, with India just managing to avoid conceding a bonus point – a factor that could have a huge bearing on deciding the finalists. more..

July 26 (HT) The LTTE have said that the killing of seven of dissident leader Col Karuna's close associates in a village near Colombo on Sunday, was due to a division within the renegade's group. more..

July 26 (TN) In a media release Sunday, the LTTE said that dissidents within the renegade Karuna group killed seven associates of Karuna because of differences within the group. The dissidents then escaped and surrendered to the Tigers in the Amparai district on Sunday morning, the release said. more..

July 26 (AFP) First came the allegations of heresy, the death threats followed, then came the start of an impeachment process. The formerly peaceful world of Thai Buddhism has been rocked by an issue that has riven religions worldwide - the role of women within the ranks. more..

July 26 (AT) Reliving the Welikade Prison massacres of 25 & 27 July 1983, is ‘horror revisited’ said M.Nithyanandan (54 yrs), a former Lecturer of the University of Jaffna and at present Head of the news and events divison of Deepam Television - a Tamil Language TV channel based in London. more..

July 26 (AT) Recent trends proves beyond doubt that “Peace” has been made use as the most prostituted word in the political lexicon of Sri Lanka, to cover all forms of violations connected with the ceasefire agreement. more..

July 26 (AT) JVP castigated and condemned the LTTE for yesterdays killing of nearly seven unarmed Tamil cadres said to be belonging to the rival Colonel Karuna Amman’s group at a house located at Malebe Road, Kotawa, Pannapitya and for the continuous ceasefire violations with impunity. more..

July 26 (TP) The jobs of some 90,000 Sri Lankans working in garment factories in the Middle East are at stake with the expiry of the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in December 2004. more..

July 26 (TP) The government and the opposition are considering a “you scratch-my-back, I’ll scratch yours” policy to resolve issues relating to Chief Justice Sarath Silva and two former ministers. more..

July 26 (BBC) Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has urged his team to raise their game when they meet Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup in Colombo on Tuesday. Despite Sunday's defeat by Pakistan, their fate remains in their own hands and victory over the hosts would see them into the final. more..

July 26 (TN) "We regard Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge's public apology for the 1983 pogrom against the Tamils as a deceptive attempt, driven by political expediency rather than principles, to placate the Tamils," said Mr.S.Elilan, more..

July 26 (TN) Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, met with LTTE Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, at the LTTE Political Head Quarters Kilinochchi Monday morning, for discussions on the stand of the LTTE on the recommencement of peace negotiations with the Government of Sri Lanka, more..

July 26 (SLA) Three soldiers and two civilians fell victim to an explosion that occurred in the general area close to SANDASIRI FLORISTS in POLONNARUWA on 25 July 2004 around 10.15 p.m. while soldiers were transporting remains of a soldier (38) who had died due to kidney failure. more..

July 26 (SLA) Japanese philanthropists, a nation that witnessed the brutalities of war some decades ago during the World War II, volunteered once again to offer their humanitarian assistance to the Sri Lanka Army, following an initiative undertaken by the Lion Club of Sri Lanka. more..

July 26 (Hindu) THE DECISION BY the Sri Lankan Government to pay compensation to victims of the 1983 anti-Tamil riots deserves to be praised. It is long overdue. Money can never pose as compensation for victims of an atrocity. more..

July 26 (Sify) Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will sit out of Sri Lanka's last Super League match against India in the Asia Cup in Colombo on Tuesday following the death of his grandfather. Muralitharan has gone to Kandy to be with his family, Sri Lankan team sources said on Monday. more..

July 26 (UNI) Holders Sri Lanka thrashed India 99-14 in the opening match of the Asian Youth Netball Championships at the Sugathdasa Indoor Stadium here. The hosts, aiming for a hattrick of titles having won in 1998 and 2002, played with better coordination and led in all four quarters (23-5, 18-5, 31-0, 27-4) more..

July 26 (TP) A stranded Sri Lankan expatriate in Qatar has made a passionate appeal to the authorities to help him return back home immediately to be with his wife who is critically ill. more..

July 26 (AFP) A group of enterprising Sri Lankans are taking their recycling business to jumbo heights - by turning elephant dung into paper fit for use even by US President George W. Bush. more..

July 26 (AT) America today denies the canard by the greenhorn propagandists in Sri Lanka regarding Colonel Karuna. The US Embassy in Sri Lanka termed “absolute nonsense” the news item that appeared in a weekly news journal and subsequently in a section of the local press in Sri Lanka about the renegade leader Karuna. more..

July 26 (AT) The CID has been called in to investigate the killing of eight people at a house in Kottawa early yesterday morning. Sri Lanka’s Police DIG K.P.P. Pathirana said that in addition two police teams have been deployed to conduct investigations into the murders. more..

July 26 (DN) The Sri Jayawardhnapura University is set to re-open for academic activities on Wednesday, as an Education Ministry-appointed committee began work on ensuring its smooth functioning. The University was closed early last month following the fatal stabbing of final year student Sampath Bandara more..

July 26 (AFP) Norway's top peace envoy Vidar Helgesen left for talks with Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, a day after the guerrillas killed eight rivals from a breakaway group, officials said. more..

July 26 (HT) During the recent visit of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse to New Delhi, India clearly signalled that it was backing the Kumaratunga government's left-of-centre and rural development oriented policies would benefit the majority of Sri Lankans and at the same time draw them closer to the Big Brother up north. more..

July 26 (HT) With the killing of seven of his close associates near Colombo on Sunday, the renegade LTTE commander, Col Karuna, seems to be isolated, says the pro-LTTE Tamil daily Sudar Oli. The paper said that most of Karuna's closest associates were either dead, or had surrendered to the mainstream LTTE, or had fled from Sri Lanka. more..

July 26 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's main opposition Monday called for a probe into a shooting incident that has resulted in the deaths of eight members loyal to a renegade Tamil Tiger rebel faction in the east. more..

July 26 (OW) As part of a major Information Technology (IT) exercise, the government has launched a pioneering island wide program to train school principals and teachers in the troubled island nation, and introduce IT in the school curriculum. more..

July 26 (LBO) A US mission is due in August, exploring financing opportunities in civil aviation, after state requests to look at plans for a second runway and upgrade domestic airports. more..

July 26 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s trade deficit for May expanded, on the back of a heavy oil bill and a drop in apparel sector revenues, the Central Bank said Monday. Trade deficit for May rose to US$ 173 mn from US$ 50 mn in 2003, bringing the cumulative deficit for Jan-May up to US$ 894 mn. more..

July 26 (AT) Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen who arrived in Colombo yesterday visited Kilinochchi this morning to meet with LTTE leaders to discuss about the possibilities of recommencing the stalled peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. more..

July 26 (AA) The slow and dangerous work of Sri Lankan de-miners, to clear the northern and eastern part of the island littered with landmines that maim and kill, is under study by Ethiopian officials currently in Sri Lanka. more..

July 26 (CI) With their place in the Asia Cup final secure, Sri Lanka are set to rest several key players in their final group match against India tomorrow, to give other members of the squad an outing. But Marvan Atapattu, their captain, has insisted that they will be approaching the game with the same intensity as ever. more..

July 26 (IL) A threat of a drought is looming over Anuradhapura district, with people in some areas having to trek for miles in search of potable water, the Daily Mirror reported today. more..

July 27 (SA) Rural communities in Sri Lanka make up approximately 40 percent of the republic's population. Many of the people who live in the rural parts of Sri Lanka don't have access to the power grid, but Hydro Tasmania Consulting has contracted with the Asian Development Bank to help change the situation. more..

July 27 (IAAF) Twenty-year-old soldier, Manjula Kumara Wijesekera set a new Sri Lanka record and qualified to compete at Athens Olympic Games at the 82nd Sri Lanka National Championships concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo here last evening. more..

July 27 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's government condemned on Monday the weekend killing of eight people thought to be supporters of a breakaway rebel group, saying the violence made it harder to restart peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

July 27 (AT) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Donald A. Camp will visit Sri Lanka this week. While in Colombo, Camp will meet with government officials, political leaders, civil society groups, and private individuals. more..

July 27 (AT) “I was in Vanni this March. I felt proud that vast stretch of lands and seacoast from Omanthai to Muhamalai is under the control of the LTTE. The people are happy. They breathe the air of freedom though economically poor,” writes V. Thangavelu in response to the appeal made by Vimukthi Jayadeva. more..