May 25 (NW) President Chandrika Kumaratunga met the UPFA Parliamentary group including the JVPers at the President's House in Kandy yesterday for a two-day brainstorming session ahead of setting a date to resume the peace talks with the LTTE. more..

May 25 (NW) The Police are continuing their investigations into the alleged abduction of Jathika Hela Urumaya dissident MP for Colombo District, Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Thera despite the Thero insisting that he was not abducted. more..

May 25 (NW) The State electronic media have come are under heavy fire from various sides for their telecast of an explosive poorly edited sixty minute video film featuring a woman in the centre of the Rauff-Hakeem sex and blackmail scandal. more..

May 25 (AT) Batticaloa – Amparai – the Eastern region of Sri Lanka has turned out to be the epic centre of violence and violence related actives. On the heels of one killing another follows and at times a group is killed followed by abductions, threats, intimidations and the last but not the least by war of words and warnings. more..

May 25 (Kyodo) Norway's special peace envoy Erik Solheim returned to Sri Lanka on Monday hoping to set dates and a venue for renewed peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels as the Tamils dug their heels in on their demand for an Interim Self-Governing Authority for the claimed Tamil homeland in the country's northeast. more..

May 25 (LBO) The government component in the proposed Colombo South Harbour projects has propelled to about US$ 300 million from around US$ 220 million quoted earlier. The new Freedom Alliance Government is expected to start courting bilateral donors for the funds by June. more..

May 25 (LBO) The government is taking a second look at the labour retrenchment package due to stiff opposition from unions and employers, a top minister said. The previous government pushed through a labour retrenchment formula together with an insurance scheme in the guise of an 18-month dole. more..

May 25 (Reuters) Stocks fell on Tuesday as investors locked in profits in small counters after gains last week and amid uncertainty over a peace process with rebels. The key Colombo all-share index ended down 0.98 percent, or 13 points, at 1,317.98. more..

May 25 (TN) Mr.S.Pathmanathan, the Jaffna District Government Agent, said Monday that recipient families of dry ration relief in Jaffna peninsula would be reduced to 17,541. This accounts for about 27 percent of the total recipient families that benefited under the relief scheme. more..

May 25 (TN) The Supreme Court Monday directed the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense to submit a report on the question of maintaining high security zones in the Jaffna district. A three-member bench of the Court made the order on Fundamental Rights violation applications filed by five Tamil farmers and Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, TNA parliamentarian, more..

May 25 (TN) The Jaffna District Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (JDCHA) Monday handed over a memorandum to the SLMM in Jaffna with copies of complaints made by two internally displaced families who have not been allowed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to resettle in their houses. more..

May 25 (TN) Mr. E. Kausalyan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa, Tuesday condemned the murder of the Eastern University academic, Mr. Kumaravel Thambaiah, and demanded a full and independent inquiry by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, more..

May 25 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general area of KARAITIVU, JAFFNA were compelled to drive away four Indian fishing trawlers found beached on the shores of KARAITIVU island on 23 May 2004. more..

May 25 (SLA) LTTE had hoisted its flag within the school premises of the Tamil mixed school in VARANY during its sports meet on 23 May 2004. This LTTE violation was reported to the SLMM on the same day.

May 25 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed Charted Account and Management Consultant Nihal Sri Ameresekere as Chairman of Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC) yesterday. more..

May 25 (CI) Harbhajan Singh has come out in defence of Muttiah Muralitharan, saying he should have been questioned at the start of his career instead. Harbhajan spoke to a television channel about Murali, as well as his own injury and impending return to the Indian team. more..

May 25 (AFP) Even after the garment quota expires the United States will continue support to garment industry of Sri Lanka. Jeffery Lunstead, United States (US) Ambassador in Sri Lanka assured his country’s continuous support to Sri Lanka garment industry even afte end of garment quota. more..

May 25 (BBC) Sri Lanka are to make their first tour to Bangladesh later this year. The two teams will play three oen-day internationals, the first two in Dhaka and the third in Chittagong, on 10, 11 and 14 November. The one-day series will be followed by two Tests, more..

May 25 (NW) The newly elected Deputy Chairman of Committees, Murugan Satchithanandan refused to enter the Chambers when Parliament met on Wednesday saying he had been allocated a seat on the government side of the House. more..

May 25 (TP) Sri Lanka’s main Poultry Association is drawing up a five-year plan to revive a stalled industry that has failed to grow after a huge drop in sales due to the avian (chicken) flue scare and a subsequent increase in feed prices. more..

May 25 (TP) The government is taking steps to accelerate the period of releasing ETF dues to employees within seven days of the application instead of the present 21 days, newspapers said. more..

May 25 (TP) A shipment of illegal cigarettes found in a Colombo passenger baggage warehouse earlier this month has turned out to be part of a massive smuggling operation in cigarettes with several million more discovered in unaccompanied personnel baggage at the same warehouse, more..

May 25 (wsws) Sri Lanka’s new Labour Minister Athauda Seneviratna inaugurated his term of office on May 11 by announcing plans to dismiss around 500 contract workers from the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB). more..

May 25 (AT) The Tamil language regional daily – "Uthayan" published from Jaffna had alleged in its today’s lead story that in the name of Karuna’s group, it was a section of the Sri Lankan armed forces who are involved in the sporadic attacks in the East against the Tigers. more..

May 25 (DN) The leadership of the JVP and the EPDP, met in Colombo on May 20 and had a cordial discussion about the current political situation in the country. An EPDP release said the discussions mainly focused on the stand the two parties should take during the future peace talks. more..

May 25 (Gulf) The LTTE will seek a written commitment from the President Chandrika Kumaratunga government that it was prepared to establish an Interim administration in the north and eastern parts of the country. more..

May 25 (HT) Although the Government of India would have no truck with the LTTE, Indian public and private sector companies were free to participate in the rehabilitation and reconstruction (R&R) work in the LTTE-controlled areas of Sri Lanka, if they were welcome there, the Indian High Commissioner, Nirupam Sen, said more..

May 25 (HT) Last weekend, just as the Sri Lankan Tamils were hoping that the new dispensation in India presided over Sonia Gandhi would adopt a friendly policy towards them, came the disconcerting news that the Government of India had renewed the ban on the LTTE for another two years. more..

May 25 (Reuters) A Norwegian envoy began talks on Tuesday to finalise a deal that would allow Sri Lanka's stalled peace talks to resume, as an approaching donor meeting added pressure on the island to renew efforts to end 20 years of war. more..

May 26 (TN) Deputy Media Minister, Mr. M.S.Cegu Issadeen, Tuesday cancelled his meeting with Jaffna based journalists and a planned discussion with Sri Lanka government officials at the Jaffna district secretariat in the afternoon because of a protest by members of Jaffna district civil groups and Jaffna University students, more..

May 26 (EUO) Sri Lanka may receive millions of euro in EU aid if peace talks are resumed with the Tamil Tiger separatist group, it has emerged. The EU is dangling the prospect of 25 million euro being transferred to the Sri Lankan authorities if the peace process – aimed at ending the 20 year-old civil war more..

May 26 (Bloomberg) Indian Oil Corp's Sri Lankan unit plans to raise 10 million dollar in an initial share sale and will use the money to upgrade gas stations and build a lubricant plant. The shares will be sold next month and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, more..

May 26 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army Monday allowed five internally displaced Muslim families to resettle in their houses located in the high security zones in Thenmaradchchi in Jaffna district. more..

May 26 (TN) The Norwegian special peace envoy, Mr. Erik Solheim, is to meet President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, after holding talks with the leadership of the LTTE in Kilinochchi Wednesday, State controlled SLBC reported in its night news broadcast Tuesday. more..

May 26 (AT) LTTE started the war of liberation in response to an unambiguous mandate given by the Tamil people to their representatives to win back their lost rights, and as a reaction to state terror. more..

May 26 (CI) The prospect of hosting a second-string Zimbabwean outfit has forced the Pakistan board to contemplate organising a triangular one-day tournament instead of a bilateral one-day series involving Zimbabwe in October-November this year. more..

May 26 (Hindu) India said today that it was willing to carry out reconstruction work in the "uncleared areas" of Sri Lanka, which are under the control of the LTTE, but asserted that it would not have any engagement with the Tigers. more..

May 26 (DT) A four-member Pakistani delegation will visit Sri Lanka from June 3 to June 10 to finalise the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the government of Sri Lanka and to attend the third meeting of the Committee of Experts (COE) on carrying forward the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) process. more..

May 26 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves took a 2.2 percent dip in March, slightly above a 5.7 percent drop in January 2004, according to latest data released by the Central Bank. Official or Central Bank reserves slipped to US$ 2,261.5 mn, while total reserves, which also includes private holdings, rose 3.0 percent to US$ 3,313.3 mn. more..

May 26 (LBO) The Sri Lanka Banks Association (SLBA) warned the public not to invest in get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, which may result in losses. Pyramid schemes are money making methods that have one person recruiting several others, with each person paying a recruitment fee, or overpriced goods. more..

May 26 (LBO) The Ceylon Electricity Board has sought government clearance to write off Rs. 30 bn of its outstanding short-term debt, to give it much needed breathing space. The state power monopoly’s total liabilities including long and short term debt will hit Rs. 86 bn by the end 2004, more..

May 26 (LBO) Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, rolled out its new global electronic ticketing system last week, ushering in coupon-free travel to and from Colombo and 26 other destinations throughout its global network. more..

May 26 (SLA) Several trainee students attached to the WANNI Teachers’ Training faculty received injuries on 24 May 2004 after two factions ended in a brawl over a dispute related to their meals on the campus. more..

May 26 (SLA) LTTE (Prabhakaran) faction’s RAMESH and a total of twenty seven male LTTE cadres were provided security escort from VAVUNIYA to BATTICALOA on 26 May 2004 at the request of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). more..

May 26 (SLA) Four children in the general area of AGBOPURA, KANTALE, who unknowingly played with a hand grenade after they had recovered it from somewhere, received injuries when it exploded on 25 May 2004. more..

May 26 (LT) Construction work of fish canning factory that was abandoned by the UNP government will be re-started next month said Mr. Chandrasena Wijesinghe, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. The factory which will be started as a BOI project will be funded by Russian investors. more..

May 26 (LT) In the process of wining over rights of the Tamil people the Tamils in the estate sector should not be considered as a separate nationality requests Ceylon Workers’ United Front from the tiger organization. more..

May 26 (TN) Mr. Lei Brouns, South Asia Director of the Netherlands based Terre Des Hommes(TDH), Tuesday declared open the new building of the Trincomalee St. Jospeh Technical Institute, constructed at a cost of about nine million rupees and funded by THD. more..

May 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka's cricket captain Marvan Atapattu has warned international teams visiting Zimbabwe to expect the worst, saying his team's recent visit to the troubled African nation was "fairly chaotic." more..

May 26 (TN) President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge in a surprise move Wednesday appointed Professor Visva Warnapala Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was also given the additional post as the Deputy Minister of Defense as already speculated in the political circles, more..