July 10 (TN) Voter turn out for elections to six provincial councils in Sri Lanka on Saturday is very low, polls officials and monitors said. "Less than 15 percent of the voters cast their votes until early afternoon", one of them said. more..

July 10 (TN) European Union (EU) in a statement issued Saturday expressed its concern about the escalation of violence and urged all parties to continue to respect the Cease-fire Agreement and to work towards resuming the peace talks. more..

July 10 (SLA) The government official for KARADIYANARU Grama Sevaka Division has been shot and killed by unidentified gunmen at his residence, BATTICALOA on 09 July 2004 around 5.45 p.m. The deceased has been unidentified as KUNJITHAMBI SIVARAJA (43) of NO. 17/10, Old KALMUNAI Road, KALLADY, UPPODAI. more..

July 10 (SLA) One thousand four hundred and thirty (1430) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 02 July 2004 and 08 July 2004. more..

July 10 (SLA) Mr. Jeffrey J. Lunstead, US Ambassador for Sri Lanka on Thursday (09) paid a courtesy call on the newly appointed Commander of the Army, Lt Gen S. H. S Kottegoda at Army Headquarters. more..

July 10 (LBO) A proposal to reduce transaction fees for equity investments is now being debated among regulators and stockbrokers. SEC Director General Palitha Silva Gunawardene has long been an advocate for negotiable brokerage. more..

July 10 (AN) A new project sponsored by the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD) will see the Kingdom pitch in with a SR40 million credit line for the construction of a new bridge and the widening of a highway in Sri Lanka. more..

July 10 (DT) European truce monitors were set to meet top Sri Lankan officials on Friday after warning that this week’s suicide bombing and other violence could seriously damage efforts to end two-decades of civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

July 10 (OI) Peace of mind seems an impossible attainment in the searing noon sun at Paravai, in Tamil Nadu’s Perambalur district. Yet, the majestic calm on the expression of the Enlightened One seated in the town’s bus stop belies an immunity to mere extremes of climate. more..

July 10 (TP) Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has been hospitalised on the eve of provincial council elections today raising questions as to who will take important decisions during and after the polls as no appointment could be made as Acting Elections Commissioner, the Daily Mirror reported. more..

July 10 (AT) Another extra-judicial killing reported of Kunchuthamby Sivarasa (44), Grama Servaga Officer of Iluppaiyadi Chenai, located in the Karadiyanaru region in the uncleared area controlled by the LTTE. more..

July 10 (AT) Sri Lanka has told the Norwegian facilitators to clarify from the Tamil Tigers their specific objections to the broadcasting of programmes from the London-based Tamil radio station TBC over the Sri Lankan broadcasting corporation's Tamil service. more..

July 10 (DN) The Army has a very responsible role to play in the peace process where the slightest mistake would be costly in a sensitive time of a truce, the Army Commander Lt. General Shantha Kottegoda said yesterday. more..

July 10 (CI) The best wicketkeepers, they used to reckon, are the ones you barely notice. They reckoned without Adam Gilchrist. One typically swashbuckling innings and one untypically sprawling catch, all unfurled in the space of half an hour, spiced up an otherwise grinding second day's play at Cairns. more..

July 10 (AT) Polling for the six provincial Councils ended by 4 pm today and in the beginning the voters turn out was as low as 15 percent but by the end of the day, according to some statistics voters turn out remained staggered at 40 to 45 percent. more..

July 10 (TN) The Chamber's Biz College Trincomalee held a one day Career Guidance Seminar for Trincomalee students supported by CIMA Sri Lanka Division, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) and Impact House of Advertising. more..

July 10 (AT) Barely two days after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commemorated the 17th anniversary of its first suicide mission, a suicide blast in Colombo, believed to be the work of the LTTE, left five dead and about 12 seriously injured. more..

July 11 (PT) Deputy Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has drawn President Kumaratunga's attention to the reopening of Kabul Lanka Pvt Ltd. The Deputy Minister in a letter requested an allowance for the employees if the company is reopened. more..

July 11 (Geo) Sri Lanka has expressed its willingness to participate in the tri-nation cricket tournament to be played in October in Pakistan. Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Shaharyar Khan told that he had a detail discussion with the Sri Lankan officials during a meeting of ICC in England. more..

July 11 (IL) The country's main minority political parties including the Government's main Muslim ally, yesterday urged the Government to resume peace talks with the LTTE as soon as possible. more..

July 11 (IL) As the Colombo city was rocked by the news of a suicide bomb blast on Wednesday, the LTTE-backed TNA was making preparations to meet foreign diplomats to urge them to pressurise the Government and the Opposition to seriously consider establishing the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) soon. more..

July 11 (SL) Hours before the Provincial Council (PC) election campaign officially closed on Wednesday (7) to elect members to six provincial councils, Colombo was rocked by a suicide bomb attack that occurred inside the Kollupitiya police station killing four policemen and injuring 10 others. more..

July 11 (SL) A government minister last week admitted that he was continuing to have links with former LTTE Eastern Commander Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Colonel Karuna even after President Chandrika Kumaratunga told the Norwegian facilitators that the government was not helping the renegade leader. more..

July 11 (AT) AChandra Nehru – a former TNA Member of Parliament from the Digamadula district castigated the Tamils, in no uncertain terms, that if they are desirous of achieving Tamil Eelam, then Tamils in thousand should come forward to join the Black Tigers. more..

July 11 (AT) The Tamil Foundation in London has decided to intensify its activities in the Vanni by sending more volunteer doctors, and Teachers from England and also more funds. more..

July 11 (AT) I am honored by the invitation extended to me by the International Tamil Foundation, to make a presentation to you on the occasion of your 16th Annual Lunch. I have been requested to speak to you on the "T.N.A’S Thrust in Parliament", which would encompass a comprehensive review of the crisis relating to the Tamil question in Sri Lanka, - at present. more..

July 11 (AT) Photo Exhibition on Sri Lanka’s War and Peace is coming to an end by tomorrow – an exhibition no one should miss, where the country’s horror and subsequent relative calm is recorded for posterity. more..

July 11 (Rupavahini) The chief monk of the Diya Bubula Sri Bodhirukkaramaya temple in Hingurukkgoda the Ven. Imbulgoda Sugathapala Thera who sustained critical injuries in a grenade attack passed away at the Colombo national hospital today. more..

July 11 (Rupavahini) Commissioner of elections Dayananda Dishanayake says that the provincial council elections concluded without any major incidents. The voting ended peacefully he said. The election secretariat has announced that the counting of postal votes began at 4.30 p.m. more..

July 11 (SO) If commissioning of the Norochcholai Coal Power Project (NCPP) pushed further, purchasing of power from the private sector is inevitable to cater to the increasing demand for electricity, which grows at a rate of 10 percent annually, Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha told the 'Sunday Observer'. more..

July 11 (TN) Advanced level students from Vembadi Girls school, Jaffna, and teachers who were on a science expedition to study coral developments along shallow waters along Mandaitivu beach were refused permission to enter the shores by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) checkpoint at the Mandaitivu junction Thursday, Jaffna daily Uthayan reported. more..

July 11 (TN) The Mannar magistrate Saturday remanded until July 22 four boatmen and their assistants for illegally ferrying twelve refugees and two alleged smugglers from South India. Talaimannar Police arrested the smugglers with gold jewellery and clothes, legal sources in Mannar said. more..

July 11 (TN) A live claymore mine was discovered by members of public Saturday afternoon near an abandoned Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp situated near the Jaffna district Secretariat. On receipt of information the SLA bomb disposal squad rushed to the site and removed the explosive, civil group sources said. more..

July 11 (TN) Jaffna district emerged champions in the first Thamileelam Junior Track and Field meet held in Jaffna during the weekend. Trincomalee district became the runners-up and the third place went to Mannar district. more..

July 11 (PTI) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party looked set to win Saturday's key local council elections despite a unusually low voter turnout, officials said. First results indicated that Kumaratunga's leftist Freedom Alliance was headed for a predicted victory. more..

July 11 (TN) "Many UPFA critics have argued that the LTTE's ISGA proposals are a stepping-stone to secession. But, a government that is serious about negotiated peace in Sri Lanka should also be able to see a negotiated ISGA as the prelude to reunion after years of a secessionist war," said Professor Jeyadeva Uyangoda more..

July 11 (TN) A top US military intelligence team visited the sprawling Sri Lankan armed forces base of Palaly-Kankesanthurai in Jaffna for high level discussions on security and defence issues, according reports in the Tamil press Sunday. more..

July 11 (TN) Sri Lanka’s most senior Buddhist monks last week called for a strong army, saying it would be an asset to the country, whether there is war or peace, press reports said Friday. The top monks of the powerful Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters, made their comments when bestowing official blessing on the new Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda last Wednesday, more..

July 11 (TN) The outbreak of the dengue epidemic in Sri Lanka has resulted in a sharp drop in tourist arrivals this week, The Sunday Leader quoted government officials as saying. There has in any case been a great reduction in the number of tourist arrivals in the country compared to the first six months of last year, more..

July 11 (TN) Major General (Retd.) Trond Furuhovde, Head of the SLMM met with Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan in the Peace Secretariat building in Kilinochchi Sunday, LTTE's website said. Director of the Peace Secretariat, Pulithevan, accompanied Mr. Thamilchelvan for the discussions. more..

July 11 (TN) It is "too early" to say when the peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers would start again, Norway's Foreign Minister, Jan Petersen, said last week in an interview to The Hindu newspaper. more..

July 11 (LT) Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe has planned to restructure the UNP with a new group of youth intimate to him after the defeat of the provincial Council polls say internal sources of the UNP. more..

July 11 (SLA) An unidentified group had fired a couple of shots at the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) political office in the general area of VALAICHCHENAI on 10 July 2004 around 7.30 p.m. Police personnel who were on duty at EPDP office also had retaliated. more..

July 11 (AT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has saluted the electorate for giving a strong mandate to the UPFA at the provincial council polls. According to the President, this victory by the UPFA far surpasses and establishes its win at the last general election. more..

July 11 (PTI) Wimal Ratnayake, the Municipal Commissioner of Central Sri Lanka's Nuwara Eliya - an area starved of funds for development - is surprised that though the Japanese, Russian and even Chinese have come forward with financial assistance, no such help has come so far from Indians despite it being a Tamil-dominated region. more..

July 11 (LT) Strongly emphasizing that the recent explosion of a suicide bomb at Kollupitiya is the handiwork of the LTTE the leader of the JVP Somawansa Amerasinghe said that the United States of America should be congratulated for its bold statement that they would not remove the name of LTTE from the list of foreign terrorist organizations. more..

July 11 (Gulf) The Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is discouraging the practice of sending housemaids abroad to minimise the harassment cases and non-payment of salaries. The move also intends to reduce the strain on their families back home. more..

July 11 (CI) Australia have not lost a Test in Queensland in 15 years, which is almost as long as Joh Bjelke-Petersen - implausibly undemocratic yet unfailingly popular - spent running the joint. For two hours this morning Sri Lanka, led by their admirable captain Marvan Atapattu, made slow but steady inroads into one of cricket's safest fiefdoms. more..

July 11 (IANS) India has assured Norway it will continue to back the Oslo-brokered peace process in Sri Lanka but made it clear that it remains opposed to any break-up of the island nation. more..

July 11 (AT) United People’s Freedom Alliance has secured a major win in the provincial council elections held yesterday compared to the provincial council elections results in 1999. The Colombo district which was won by the UNP in the previous provincial council elections was also won by the UPFA. more..