Oct 27 (SLA) Troops on duty at a roadblock in the general area of KUMBURUMULLAI junction, 06 km. South of VALAICHCHENAI arrested an LTTE cadre carrying a hand grenade on 26 October 2004 around 7.45 p.m. when he was on a three wheeler. more..

Oct 27 (TN) Mr.Yasushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy who is scheduled to arrive in Colombo evening has agreed to meet the political leadership of the JVP, major constituent of the UPFA government, during his seven day stay in Sri Lanka, more..

Oct 27 (SN) Police headquarters plan to increase the number of policewomen based in the Jaffna peninsula. IGP Chandra Fernando said that in his first visit to the peninsula after taking over the department, he discussed many issues including security to persons vulnerable to attack. more..

Oct 27 (LT) The JVP has decided to refrain from supporting the governing party in Provincial councils if the MoU is not strictly adhered to. This decision was taken by the political bureau of the party which met on Saturday. more..

Oct 27 (LT) All constituent organizers of the UNP have been strictly forbidden to do political activities outside their stipulated areas according to a directive by the party leader Ranil Wickremasinghe. more..

Oct 27 (LT) They have no liking for the propaganda carried out by the Government that peace talks would be commenced according to Oslo agreement says the tiger organization. more..

Oct 27 (Dawn) Over 200 handicapped and underprivileged children had fun for over three hours at a local five star hotel, but they were more overwhelmed with joy when the Sri Lankan national cricket team walked in and joined them in their programme held on Tuesday evening. more..

Oct 27 (TN) Supreme Court granted special leave to Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, incumbent Deputy defence Minister and Buddha Sasana Minister, to proceed with his appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal that it has jurisdiction to hear the Writ Application challenging his appointment as a MP of the UPFA National List. more..

Oct 27 (BBC) Star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya is considering to retire after reaching the milestone of 10,000 runs in the One Day International (ODI) games. Speaking exclusively to BBCSINHALA.com from his hotel room in Faisalabad Jayasuriya said "I have no long term plans. more..

Oct 27 (DR) A Tamil association in Denmark has been passing on information concerning Tamils living in Denmark to Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka. In July, this information exchange led to the arrest of two expatriate Tamils who had become Danish citizens when they visited Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 27 (DN) The Samurdhi scheme is not only a subsidy scheme for providing a monthly allowance to low income group families but also a massive program which extended beyond it for achieving greater goals and objectives, said President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Monday. more..

Oct 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have not abandoned their right to secede despite agreeing to explore a federal solution, the rebels said amid fresh diplomatic moves to salvage a faltering peace bid. more..

Oct 27 (HT) Sri Lanka's two major communities, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, seem to have discovered yet another issue to fight over the ethnicity of Rama, and Ravana. Was Rama a Tamil or a Sinhalese? Was Ravana, a Sinhalese or a Tamil? more..

Oct 27 (Reuters) Despite a two-year ceasefire, violence and suffering are still a fact of life for many in Sri Lanka. Some 64,000 have died in 20 years of bitter civil war. An uneasy standoff between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels has left the country deeply fractured and the after effects of the war linger. more..

Oct 28 (TN) "Electoral laws in Sri Lanka need to be critically reviewed and reformed if future elections are to be free and fair," said Mr Bandula Kulatunge in a discussion meeting in held in Vavuniya organized by PAFFREL and Sarvodaya attended by several civil organizations, more..

Oct 28 (TN) Mr.Ponniah Venugopalavanithasan (53), Theevagam Zonal Director of Education in Jaffna district died on the spot Wednesday morning around 11.10 a.m. at Manthikai Therumoodi Madam along Jaffna Point Pedro road when a vehicle crashed into a house, Nelliyady Police said. more..

Oct 28 (Rupavahini) Bodies of four Sri Lankan women who died in a tragic traffic accident in Saudi Arabia, has been brought to the island. Relatives of the deceased were at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayaka to receive the bodies. more..

Oct 28 (NIP) Seven months ago his best was not enough for Sri Lanka to stave off a 3-0 whitewash by the marauding Australians. It’s that winning experience, and the lessons learned from it, that the Australians have invoked at every point in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. more..

Oct 28 (IT) A local long-term care facility is providing a culturally rich environment for members of the Tamil community with the opening of new wing geared towards meeting the needs of Scarborough's Sri Lankan population. more..

Oct 28 (UTPD) The monks who represent JHU in the parliament have been attempted to frighten by various extremist elements who try to dominate the political party of the monks. As a result of these extremist involvemets Kolonnawe Dhammaloka thero resigned preferring the normal bikku life. more..

Oct 28 (AT) At a time when the obnoxious ISGA proposal of the Wanni Tigers are being rejected by the intellectuals and politicians belonging to the Tamil community itself, UNP’s insistence to commence the so-called peace negotiations urgently on the ISGA proposal is very strange, and amazing. more..

Oct 28 (BBC) The President needs to take a bold step and commence peace talks says peace activist Kumar Rupasinghe. In an interview with BBC Sandeshaya he said the divisions among the various parties are minimal. more..

Oct 28 (BBC) Five Tamil youths abducted by the Tamil Tigers have been detained with two LTTE carders, the security forces say. The Tigers were forcefully taking them to Sampur LTTE camp, the youths told the Sri Lanka Navy officers, more..

Oct 28 (Xinhua) Japan's special envoy Yasushi Akashi arrived here on Wednesday to start a seven-day visit to push for an early resumption of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, governmental sources said. more..

Oct 28 (NW) With two murders of journalists and several cases of harassment reported during the first ten months of this year Sri Lankas rank in the world press index has plummeted by 20 slots according to the latest press freedom index. more..

Oct 28 (NW) The JVP politburo has decided to express its disappointment with the Government over the appointment of four new Deputy Ministers and also warn the Government that its support to the SLFP in the provincial councils could be withdrawn if the Government continued to breach the SLFP-JVP MoU. more..

Oct 28 (NW) A high ranking special committee has been appointed by the Defence Ministry to face any possible resumption of hostilities in the near future and map out future military action. more..

Oct 28 (TP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga is planning a visit to Iran shortly, the foreign ministry said. Iranian ambassador Behnam Behrouz, who met Deputy Foreign Minister Prof Wiswa Warnapala, said the planned visit of the Sri Lankan president to Iran would be a historic event more..

Oct 28 (TP) Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Kuala Lumpur is preparing to repatriate 89 stranded Sri Lankan workers under an amnesty offered by the Malaysian government to illegal foreign workers to leave the country. more..

Oct 28 (TP) The Foreign Employment Bureau, following the death of four migrant workers in a road accident in Saudi Arabia while going to the airport to return home, says it would in future bear full cost of repatriating the bodies of Sri Lankans employed abroad. more..

Oct 28 (AT) Denmark State Radio and Metroxpres a Danish language daily news paper have screamed in their headline news of a Tamil association in Denmark - a mole of the Sri Lankan terrorist group, of passing on information concerning Tamils living in Denmark to Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 28 (AT) Sri Lanka Navy has intensified its patrolling in the sea off Mannar in view of the planned protest by Indian fishermen from Rameswaran against Sri Lanka Navy today - on October 28. more..

Oct 28 (TN) The stalled inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case is to resume before the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar (TAB) on the instruction of the Supreme Court that TAB could continue its proceedings although the confession made by one of the accused soldier Mr.R.M.S.Ratnayake was declared inadmissible, more..

Oct 28 (TN) The release of 4.5 billion dollars aid pledged at the Tokyo conference to Sri Lanka should not take place until the stalled peace talk with the LTTE resumes on the basis of ISGA proposals, delegation of the TNA parliamentarians told Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi during a discussion in Colombo Thursday, more..

Oct 28 (TN) Two members of the PLOTE, an ex-Tamil militant group in Vavuniya, were abducted by unidentified gunmen in a suburb of the northern border town, Sri Lanka Police said Thursday. Their whereabouts are not yet known, according to Police. The PLOTE cadres have been missing since Tuesday night, relatives said. more..

Oct 28 (TN) Liberation Tigers delegation lead by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, met with Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Ireland, led by Mr Connor Lenihan, Minister of State, in Dublin Thursday morning, LTTE sources from Ireland said. more..

Oct 28 (SLA) Four teenaged boys and one twenty-year old youngster were rescued by naval troops on duty at the SAMBALTIVU roadblock in the general area of UPPUVELI on 27 October 2004 around 1.30 p.m. while they were being abducted by LTTE. more..

Oct 28 (SLA) A twenty-two year old youngster abducted and subsequently detained by LTTE at the KARADIYANARU LTTE camp for five days has managed to escape and surrendered to the roadblock at KAHAWATTAMUNAI on 27 October 2004 around 9.15 a.m. in search of protection for his life. more..

Oct 28 (SLA) The Special Crime Investigations Bureau (SCIB) at BATTICALOA Police station, assigned to conduct special investigations into the murder of the Swiss national, HANS ULRICH HERPOS (60) confirmed that the victim’s eldest son who divorced his wife has been ordered by LTTE to pay Rs. 30,000/= as compensation to his ex-wife for her maintenance. more..

Oct 28 (SLA) Next of kin of two civilians resident in the general area of VAVUNIYA in two separate Police complaints made to the VAVUNIYA Police station stated that their loved ones had been abducted by LTTE after they left their homes on motorbikes. more..

Oct 28 (SLA) A twenty-six year old self-claimed LTTE cadre from its WANNI faction with a hand grenade in his possession was arrested from the general area of KALMADU on 27 October 2004 around 8.30 a.m. while he was on a motorbike with another. more..

Oct 28 (wsws) The two meetings addressed by US Socialist Equality Party (SEP) candidate Bill Van Auken in Sri Lanka were followed by animated discussion among those who took part. Members of the audience congregated around Van Auken, gathered at the literature table to speak to SEP members and spoke among themselves. more..

Oct 28 (AP) Government plans to develop an eastern port city as a center for tourists hoping to spot whales migrating along its coastline, an official said Thursday. Blue whales and sperm whales can often be spotted between July and August from the shore near Trincomalee city, 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo. more..

Oct 28 (PRIU) President Kumaratunga who also holds the Cabinet portfolio for Education has decided to enhance facilities for tertiary education. Work in this regard will commence with immediate effect. A sum of Rs. 1, 000 million will be allocated for the new Uva University in Badulla. more..

Oct 28 (AT) Secretariat involved with the Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP, in a letter written to the “Asian Tribune” confirms that Jayantha Dhanapala, a veteran UN diplomat, “- continues to function as Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) more..

Oct 28 (PIS) The British Library, one of the largest libraries in the World Has agreed to assist in planning the future development of the Jaffna library and for that purpose it will make available the services of necessary experts, Foreign Ministry said yesterday. more..

Oct 28 (PIS) Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi who arrived in the country yesterday is to visit the Eastern province this week to get a first hand view of the situation there. Mr. Akashi is to visit Trincomale and Batticaloa on Saturday for a first hand study of the situation more..

Oct 28 (AFP) Canada vociferously denied charges from Sri Lanka that some Buddhist monks, seeking visas at the Canadian embassy in Colombo, were forced to strip during an anthrax scare. Police in Colombo said the monks were forced under a shower and disrobed at the Canadian High Commission on Monday after they triggered an anthrax scare. more..

Oct 28 (DN) The Security Forces heads and the LTTE leaders in Batticaloa are scheduled to meet in Batticaloa on Saturday to discuss the security situation in the area, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Spokesman Oskar Solnes told the Daily News yesterday. more..

Oct 28 (CI) Adbul Razzaq grabbed five of the last six wickets to fall, as Sri Lanka limped to 208 all out by the close of the first day in Karachi. After Danish Kaneria had made the early incisions, Pakistan grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck, with only Romesh Kaluwitharana holding his own with the bat. more..