June 26 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels have stepped up recruitment of child soldiers months after the release of hundreds of young recruits, UNICEF said on Saturday. UNICEF said they had about 160 reports of fresh recruits since the start of April, nearly one-third of which were in the eastern district of Batticaloa, more..

June 26 (DN) Why doesn't the UNP form a government if it can muster a majority of members in parliament as claimed by it asked JVP General Secretary Tylvin Silva at a provincial council election rally held at Daulugala, Udunuwara on Wednesday. more..

June 26 (NW) My action (bringing Karuna to Colombo) was on the request of the LTTE area leader Ramesh and I advised Karuna that he should give way as a direct confrontation would endanger life and property of the civilians who have still to recover from the ravages of war, former MP S. Ali Zahir Moulana has stated in his letter of resignation. more..

June 26 (NW) A home guard attached to the Serunuwara police and 18 civilians were taken into custody on a raid conducted on a kasippu den, by the LTTE police on Thursday afternoon in Punagal, an uncleared area beyond Serunuwara. more..

June 26 (NW) The Karuna faction distributed leaflets in the east yesterday vowing it would take back full control of the Batticaloa-Ampara districts from the Wanni cadres soon. "During the past few weeks we launched a heavy offensive against Prabhakaran's cadres. more..

June 26 (NW) The Catholic Bishops of Sri Lanka yesterday unequivocally condemned the alleged indignities inflicted upon the members of the Maha Sangha in the chamber of parliament on June 8. more..

June 26 (NW) Colombo Fort Magistrate and Additional District Judge Sarath C. Karunaratne said yesterday he would be seeking the assistance of the Attorney General in respect of the anticipatory bail application filed by former Minister and Colombo District UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake more..

June 26 (HT) The LTTE is angry with the Sri Lankan Muslim politician, Ali Zaheer Mowlana, because he helped the renegade, Col. Karuna, escape, after the amnesty offered by it had expired and a full scale military operation was on to catch him dead or alive. more..

June 27 (TN) The Liberation Tigers will take up the question of the Sri Lanka army backing renegade commander ‘Karuna’ with the Norwegian facilitators when they meet them next, LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said Saturday. more..

June 27 (TN) Major General Shantha Kottegoda will be appointed as the Sri Lanka army’s 17th commander from 1 July 2004. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the commander in chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces, has approved his appointment despite speculation that she might extend the present SLA commander’s term for six months. more..

June 27 (TN) A major fire broke out at the Sri Lanka Government Printers in Colombo Saturday evening. Fire fighters were struggling to put out the fire and bring the situation under control, Police said. "We are not sure whether it is sabotage or an accident," a Police source in Colombo said. more..

June 27 (PTI) MDMK on Saturday said it was of the firm opinion that there was no need for a ban on the LTTE in India, but it would not demand lifting of the ban. "A day will come when the ban will be lifted," MDMK chief Vaiko said, adding he was not demanding lifting of the ban. more..

June 27 (Rupavahini) President Chandrika Kumaratunge says that the new government would take prompt action to bring lasting peace to the country. The president expressed this view when the Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong called on her yesterday. more..

June 27 (Rupavahini) The Aurgambay area in the eastern sea belt of Sri Lanka is to be developed as a tourist destination Minister of tourism Anura Bandaranaike has directed officials to work out tourist promotion plans to popularize the Arugambay area. more..

June 27 (SL) Attempts by the government to restart the peace process and attract the US$ 4.5 billion pledged by the donor community suffered a major set back last week with clear evidence emerging of military intelligence involvement in manipulating LTTE's renegade Eastern Commander, Karuna. more..

June 27 (SL) Evidence has emerged that President Chandrika Kumaratunga has taken on rent a five-story building at Janadhipathi Mawatha without following any formal tender procedure or seeking a valuation from the government Valuation Department on the going rates in the area. more..

June 27 (SO) The spread of dengue has reached epidemic proportions with the number infected this year up to June 25 soaring to an all-time high of 6,342. The number of dengue infections during the same period last year was only 2,236, much less than half of this year's figure. more..

June 27 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga Saturday called for concerted efforts to alleviate the problem of high rate of addiction to harmful substances in the country, Xinhua reports. more..

June 27 (AT) Ceylon Workers Congress is to reassess and finalize soon regarding joining the UPFA Government after the Provincial Councils Elections. The polling for the six of the seven provincial councils - Southern, Western, Sabragamuwa, Uva, Central and North Central will be held on Saturday 10 July. more..

June 27 (TN) Sri Lanka’s hardline monks’ party, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), has called on the Sri Lankan government and opposition to work together in supporting the renegade LTTE commander, Karuna, “in the interests of national security.” more..

June 27 (TN) Over 700 children from 10 children's clubs in mine affected areas throughout the Batticaloa education zone marched from Eastern University, Chenkaladi junction to Tamil Maha Vidiyalayam in Eravur Saturday as part of the cultural day dedicated to Mine Risk Education (MRE) week activities more..

June 27 UNI) Tamil Tigers have accused Sinhala political leaders of seriously damaging the peace process by supporting renegade LTTE commander Colonel Karuna. more..

June 27 (LBO) A major fire broke out at the government Printer’s Dept., late Saturday, and officials are not sure if it’s an accident or sabotage. Situated in Borella, Colombo, the department publishes all official documents ranging from ballot papers to gazette notifications. more..

June 27 (PTI) Sabotage is suspected in the overnight fire that swept through the state printing presses in the capital Colombo, a senior police official said today. A police superintendent said they questioned 25 employees in connection with the fire at the Government Printing department presses at Colombo's Borella area. more..

June 27 (MCN) The Sri Lankan government has set up a village to house and promote home-grown handicrafts. It is also an effort to give artisans a place to reach their customers directly, thereby cutting down exploitation by middlemen. more..

June 27 (AT) Venerable Aparekke Punnananda Thero - rebel Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Member of Parliament in a letter sent to a party leader Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero asked why an organizing meeting regarding the ‘protest foot march’ of the JHU was held in the house of the former UNP Minister of Fisheries, Mahinda Wijesekera. more..

June 27 (TP) Vehicle robberies have reached alarming proportions in Sri Lanka with 25 persons being killed and about 300 vehicles robbed by underworld gangs in many parts of the country in the first half of this year, police told the Island newspaper. more..

June 27 (TP) Sri Lankan authorities are spending one million rupees ($10,000) per migrant worker to fly them home from the Middle East at state expense. Newspapers said a large number of expatriate Sri Lankan employees, who were being kept in a detention home in Kuwait after losing employment in that country, was being repatriated by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. more..

June 27 (CI) Tillakaratne Dilshan's patient 66 helped the Sri Lankans overhaul a modest fourth-innings target of 187 and record a confidence-boosting win in their tour game against the Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI at Darwin. Russel Arnold, with 34, and Thilan Samaraweera, with 32, also contributed to the chase. more..

June 27 (MD) The 12-year-old daughter of Murugan and Nalini, the husband and wife duo convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has applied for a visa at the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka to visit her parents in India. The girl, Aravaazhi, is staying with her paternal grandparents in Jaffna. more..

June 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka has been making exotic lingerie for western markets for decades, but some is now slipping into local clothing stores at low prices, triggering an undercover revolution. more..

June 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka's peace broker Norway will make a fresh attempt this week to salvage its faltering efforts amid fears that the country could return to war, diplomats and officials said. more..

June 28 (TN) Representatives of the Liberation Tigers and Muttur Muslim community in Trincomalee met at the offices of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Muttur Sunday, BBC Tamil service reported. This is the first meeting between the two parties in four months. more..

June 28 (TN) 55 year old K. Thevaraj was shot dead by unknown gunmen 7.30 pm Sunday while he was riding his bicycle along Pattakadu Road in Ganesapuram Vavuniya, Vavuniya Police said. Vavuniya Police Head Quarters Inspector K.Wijenayake said the deceased was from Manipuram in Vavuniya and the motive for the killings is not clear. more..

June 28 (AT) Erik Solheim, Norway’s special Peace Envoy is expected today in Colombo armed with a magic wand to finalise the agenda for Peace Talks with the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. more..

June 28 (AT) India will not have any truck with the LTTE at any given time said Subramanian Swamy. He said that the LTTE is a terrorist organization which moreover killed Rajiv Gandhi and has spewed poison online about India. more..

June 28 (LBO) Commercial Bank of Ceylon has tied up with 'Xpress Money', to provide Lankan expatriates facilities to transfer funds to Sri Lanka instantly. With this arrangement, remitters in any part of the world would be able to gain access to Commercial Bank's 121 strong on-line network of branches and 176 ATM’s. more..

June 28 (LBO) Health institutions may soon be classified according to their service standards as private sector health care is coming to the forefront with the failure of state system to meet patient needs and regular trade union actions. more..

June 28 (LBO) The government has scrapped reform plans for utilities like electricity, petroleum and water. A donor funded government agency Public Interest Program Unit (PIPU) setup to speed up reforms will be wound-up at the end of the month. more..

June 28 (LBO) The Fraud Bureau has sought Attorney General's advice on how to proceed with the GoldQuest case, after the Controller of Exchange who is conducting a foreign exchange fraud investigation, referred the matter to the Bureau. more..

June 28 (CT) High jumper Manjula Kumara Wijesekera, sprinters Susanthika Jayasinghe and Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando excelled for Sri Lanka at the Colombo leg of the Asian Grand Prix 2004 series that took place at Sugathadasa Stadium on Sunday. more..

June 28 (CT) The UAE is ensuring improved postal services to Sri Lanka and Indonesia by signing agreements with the relevant postal authorities. The agreements will cover services such as express mail service (EMS), international money order and parcels. more..

June 28 (CT) Fifteen of Sri Lanka’s leading blue chip and socially conscious companies have become part of the United Nations Global Compact program. The aforementioned Sri Lankan organizations include: more..

June 28 (SLA) A blue uniform-clad LTTE cadre, carrying an ICOM communication set plus some LTTE documents, cash and civil clothes, was arrested from the general area of SERUNUWARA on 26 June 2004. more..

June 28 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general sea area south west of DELFT TOWER, JAFFNA on 26 June 2004 observed four Indian trawlers poaching inside Sri Lankan waters.

June 28 (BBC) The number one subject consuming the lead-up to this two-Test series against Sri Lanka has been the withdrawal of world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan. We have heard all sorts of reasons why he is not here. more..

June 28 (DJ) Trading hours at the Colombo Stock Exchange will be extended by one hour, effective July 1, the Exchange announced Monday. The move is "consequent to increased market activity experienced in recent times and representations made by the Colombo Stockbrokers Association to permit longer trading hours," more..

June 28 (AP) The High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, General Srilal Weerasooriya, said here on Friday that signing of Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is a must, for it can open up new avenues of co-operation and trade between the two countries. more..

June 28 (PSL) President Kumaratunga will today launch General Information Technology (GIT) as the latest subject added to the GCE Advance Level syllabuses throughout the country at a ceremony in Gampola, Kandy. more..

June 28 (PSL) President Kumaratunga said Sri Lanka has much to learn from Singapore and much to benefit from closer economic interaction. The President in her address at the banquet in honour of the Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said she is aware that Singapore’s economy is predicted to grow faster than most economies in Asia this year. more..