May 3 (TN) A five member group from Kilinochchi Non-Governmental Organizations left for Manila, Philipines Sunday to undergo three weeks training in Rural Development funded by the Worldbank, sources from Kilinochi said. more..

May 3 (TN) Norwegian peace delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgessen Sunday morning met with President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge at the President House in Nuwara Eliya in the Central Province on the latter's invitation. more..

May 3 (AP) An international media rights group criticized Sri Lankan police for not doing enough in the investigation of the killing of a British Broadcasting Corp. reporter nearly four years ago. more..

May 3 (HT) India should support the Sri Lankan Government in solving the LTTE imbroglio, but should avoid any kind of military involvement, experts in New Delhi have said. "India should be supportive of the Sri Lankan Government in resuming the dialogue with the LTTE to resolve the ethnic problem. more..

May 3 (CI) Thilan Samaraweera laid the foundations, and Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene applied the flourish, as Sri Lanka took command on the second day of their tour match against Zimbabwe A in Harare. more..

May 3 (Hindu) As Sri Lanka prepares for a possible resumption of peace talks with the LTTE, its Foreign Affairs Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, said the "day-to-day problems" of the people would be "a starting point" in the next phase of negotiations by the UPFA Government. more..

May 3 (TN) “We are militarily and politically strong that no Sri Lanka Government will be able to deceive the LTTE or the TTNA with cosmetic gestures or by engaging us in disingenous peace talks. Our future attitude towards having a constructive dialogue with the Sri Lanka Government depends on its next move towards the peace process," more..

May 3 (LBO) Women are climbing the corporate ladder in record numbers but only a handful manages to get top executive positions in big companies. Experts say the numbers of top jobs held by women are not a reflection of the number of females completing higher education. more..

May 3 (LBO) The government is expected to amend the Value Added Tax Act to legalize the introduction single tax rate despite opposition to the amendments on political platforms. The combined rate for VAT has been effective since the beginning of the year but the amendments to the Act are yet to be approved by parliament. more..

May 3 (TN) Ponniah Jeevaratnam, from Arayampathi in Batticaloa district, was shot dead at the 5th mile post junction in Batticaloa-Manmunai road at 6.40 pm Sunday by an unknown gunman, Jaffna's daily Uthayan reported. The deceased was brought in a motorbike from Arayampathi to the scene of the killing before he was shot, more..

May 3 (wsws) UPFA has hailed the outcome of council elections in the northwest province (Wayamba) on April 24 as a “massive victory” for the government. But the facts speak otherwise. The Wayamba poll confirms the deep-seated alienation of broad layers of the population toward the entire political establishment. more..

May 3 (PRIU) Pope John Paul II has appointed Rt. Rev. Dr. Malcolm Ranjith as Papal Nuncio to Indonesia and East Timor transferring him at the same time to the see of Umbriatico as Archbishop, the Holy See announced on Thursday April 29, 2004. more..

May 3 (PRIU) Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network in Shanghai on 26th April 2004. The Minister was in Shanghai leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 60th Session of the ESCAP. more..

May 3 (LT) India should act as ceasefire monitors if Norway is used as a facilitator in the talks with the tiger organization for a solution for the National question in Sri Lanka says the JVP. JVP makes its stand on the talks by the Government of Sri Lanka with the tiger organization known in a letter to the President. more..

May 3 (Rupavahini) It has been planned to seek the assistance of the L.T.T.E. towards this end. The Norwegian delegation held a special discussion with the president today. They will leave for Wanni tomorrow. The Norwegian delegation headed by deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesson arrived in the island yesterday. more..

May 3 (Dawn) A considerable part of LTTE armoury belonging to the dissident LTTE eastern wing militant, Karuna has reached Colombo, police sources said. The ammunition is said to have been discarded by the LTTE breakaway leader when he and his troops fled to the South of the country amid fears of attacks by the Prabhakaran faction of the LTTE almost a month ago. more..

May 3 (NW) Five global oil giants have expressed interest in drilling for oil and equivalent in Pesalai by upstreaming the possible hydrocarbon accumulations lying in the offshore of that area. more..

May 3 (DN) Today the prevention of crime is one of the most important tasks of the government. All the religious leaders including the Maha Sangha must work together on a common programme. This is very essential, said K. Karunadasa, Propaganda Secretary of the Colombo YMBA and Secretary General of All Ceylon affiliated YMBAs Federation. more..

May 3 (IE) Shantini is not allowed to get married till India finishes voting. Her prospective grooms from France and England have been told to wait till May 10, when the 25-year-old Sri Lankan refugee is finally permitted to leave Okkur, a village six kilometres outside the town of Sivagangai. more..

May 3 (SLA) A fruit vendor, believed to be a supporter of one of the LTTE fractions, has been shot dead on 02 May 2004 around 4.30 p.m. after an LTTE pistol man took the victim to the general area of MANMUNE, KATTANKUDY. more..

May 3 (SLA) The dead body of an LTTE activist, who had reportedly died following a claymore explosion in the un-cleared area of PONDUKALCHENAI, BATTICALOA, was transported by suspected LTTE men across the MANKERNI Entry/Exit point on 01 May 2004 around 6.00 p.m. towards VAKARAI area. more..

May 3 (SLA) Two men, who behaved smart and tried to meddle with duties of policemen on duty at PUTTUR checkpoint, were arrested and delivered to ACHCHUVELI Police station on 30 April 2004 around 6.30 p.m. more..

May 3 (SLA) Two girls, accompanied by an LTTE cadre, who were to enter into un-cleared areas across the UYILANKULAM Entry/Exit point on 02 May 2004, were prevented from doing so by the Police since they failed to give any substantive reason for their passage. more..

May 3 (SLA) LTTE men, regardless of the provisions of the ceasefire agreement in effect, raised LTTE flags in MANNAR and VAVUNIYA on 01 May 2004. The LTTE flag was hoisted at MANNAR Municipal Ground on Saturday (1) in connection with a meeting they have had in the premises. more..

May 3 (Gulf) Norwegian negotiators and President Chandrika Kumaratunga had four hours of talks yesterday in Nuwara-Eliya in the central highlands in a bid to jump-start the stalled peace process with the rebel LTTE, but officials were pessimistic of a quick return to the negotiating table. more..

May 3 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today said Sri Lanka wanted India to play a direct role in the peace process and India was not averse to playing a role to establish "home grown" peace in the island. more..

May 3 (TN) Ambassador for Norway in Colombo Mr. Hans Brattskar, Norway's special peace envoy, Mr. Eric Solheim, and Advisor to Norway Foreign Ministry, Lisa Golden met with Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi. The talks, started at 10.45 a.m. lasted for more than two hours more..

May 3 (AFP) A Norwegian envoy opened talks with Tamil Tiger rebels a day after meeting with Sri Lanka's president and warning it would take time to revive stalled negotiations, officials said. more..

May 3 (NT) India has asked Sri Lanka to come out with a concrete proposal about the role it could play in the ongoing peace process to solve the ethnic strife in the island nation. External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said his Sri Lankan counterpart Kadirgamar urged India to play a greater role in the peace process. more..

May 3 (Reuters) Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels said on Monday they were ready to resume peace talks with the government if it accepts their proposal for power-sharing, a plan the president has previously rejected. more..

May 3 (AFP) Sri Lankan authorities Monday sought divine intervention to calm a colony of venomous wasps who stung more than 200 tourists at the fifth-century rock fortress of Sigiriya, a World Heritage Site. more..

May 3 (OW) Post April 2 parliamentary polls, violence and ethnic clashes continue unchecked, a sign that a change of political guard has failed to better the situation. The days following the elections saw bomb attacks, violent clashes between the two factions of the LTTE, and the intimidation of monks who entered the political fray with this year's polls. more..

May 3 (HT) Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber in May 1991, might have been saved if his government had heeded an advice tendered in June 1989 to either withdraw from Sri Lanka lock, stock and barrel, or open negotiations with the LTTE to solve the Tamil problem there. more..

Mar 3 (AP) A prisoner has contracted tuberculosis after a police officer in Sri Lanka forced an infected inmate to spit into his mouth, a human rights group alleged Monday. K.P. Tissa Kumara, a respected local artist, was arrested by police in early February for allegedly possessing a hand grenade, more..

May 3 (BBC) Trevor Gripper and Prosper Utsaya shared a stand of 193 as Zimbabwe A staved off the possibility of defeat by Sri Lanka in Harare. The game was ended as a draw after the home side declared their second innings on 306-8, a lead of 139. more..

May 3 (TN) Hundreds of thousands of plantation workers in the central province Monday went on a token strike, protesting against the killing of two Tamil youths, Mr.Weerasamy Jeyarajan and Alagan Wimalanathan, last Wednesday in Kandapola, when police opened fire following a traffic accident, sources said. more..

May 4 (SIA) Amid the glow of rows of homemade lanterns, hundreds of people gathered last night at the Staten Island Buddhist Vihara in Port Richmond for the Buddhist calendar's holiest day. more..

May 4 (RSF) President Chandrika Kumaratunga risked a return to civil war when she carried out an institutional coup d'état in November 2003. The institutions she took control of included the state-owned news media. The cease-fire between the government and LTTE nonetheless allowed journalists to work in a better environment. more..

May 4 (LBO) Police raided a Tamil journalist’s home in Colombo Monday night, as journalists around the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day. The journalist, Sivaram Dharmeratnam writes the popular ‘Taraki’, Tamil affairs column for The Daily Mirror, and also contributes to several Tamil publications. more..

May 4 (LBO) The insurance watchdog is getting tough with the industry by re-introducing fire tariffs with a few modification starting June 1. Present fire tariffs have not been revised for nearly 30 years, and insurers have effectively honoured the regulations in breach. more..

May 4 (LBO) Ensuring the life of the Sinhalese language in the computers era, a fresh draft font standard is now in circulation for public comment. This proposed standard provides a coding of the set of Sinhala characters for use in computer and communication. more..

May 4 (LBO) Trade to the North East has taken to the road, washing away business for the seaports in the region. The Trinco harbour saw the number of ships calling there drop to 121 ships, down 78 ships from 2002, adding that this was mainly due to the improved land transport in the North and East after the ceasefire. more..

May 4 (TN) “In the history of the Tamil liberation struggle, we have faced several crises, and it is as a result of weathering all those crises that the Liberation Tigers are today powerful militarily and politically,” said Mr.E. Kousalyan, more..

May 4 (TN) The Liberation Tigers’ theoretician and political strategist, Mr. Anton Balasingham, will travel to Vanni this week to meet the movement’s leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan, to map out its strategy for future peace talks, TamilNet learns. more..

May 4 (SLA) Some war like items have been recovered by the Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) of the MANNAR Police station during a search operation conducted in the general area of MANNAR town on 03 May 2004 around 7.30 a.m. more..

May 4 (SLA) Ministry of Defence with concurrence of the Security Forces Commander (East), the SLMM and the LTTE has decided to keep all Entry/Exit points in Batticaloa and Ampara Districts closed for passenger traffic on a daily basis from 10.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m. the following day. more..

May 4 (LT) Norway should be used as a facilitator but not as a collaborator in future peace talks says the JVP. JVP made this observation expressing their stand on the invitation made to Norway for future peace talks. more..

May 4 (LT) The child soldiers who were recently handed over by tiger organization to their parents in the presence of the members of UNICEF are being forcefully re-recruited complaints EPDP. This is stated by EPDP in a letter to International Human Rights Organization. more..

May 4 (KT) Availing themselves of the five-day long weekend, many residents from the Capital Colombo and its suburbs have been since May 1 heading in various directions particularly the central hills on vacation. more..

May 4 (TL) A man is fighting for his life after being punched to the ground for accidentally stepping on a child's foot. Police said Vipaul Prasanna's condition is critical with massive head injuries after the attack, which happened outside Wembley Park Tube station on Sunday morning. more..