Oct 28 (BBC) Sri Lanka has complained to Canada after allegations that a group of Buddhist monks were forced to disrobe at Canada's mission in Colombo. The monks, who were seeking visas, had to shower because of an anthrax scare. more..

Oct 28 (BBC) Japan's special envoy to Sri Lanka has arrived in the capital, Colombo, for talks with officials on resuming the stalled peace process. Yasushi Akashi is meeting both the president and prime minister as well as senior Tamil Tiger rebel leaders and leading opposition figures. more..

Oct 28 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's government has drawn up a new blueprint to convert a truce with Tamil Tiger guerrillas into lasting peace after two decades of civil war, but the rebels must resume stalled talks to see it, officials said on Thursday. more..

Oct 28 (AFP) Japan's special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi has opened talks with Sri Lankan leaders at the start of his latest mission to help revive the island's stalled peace process. Akashi who arrived late Wednesday, met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and was later scheduled to see several other political leaders. more..

Oct 28 (HT) The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) is starting a college in Colombo in November, to provide quality higher education at an affordable price. more..

Oct 28 (PTI) Indian Navy today stepped up patrols and set up an "effective" blockade to prevent hundreds of Tamil Nadu fishermen from leading a flotilla to Sri Lanka to protest at frequent arrests, officials here said. more..

Oct 29 (TN) The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), a Non-Governmental Non-Profit Sharing Organization registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, opened its Mannar district office in Aandankulam in Adampan district Wednesday, sources in Mannar said. more..

Oct 29 (TN) The UPFA government Thursday announced that the incumbent Presidency will expire only in December 2006. "The UPFA government is not keen in holding Presidential election in December 2005 or a referendum to extend the current term," said Mr.Mangala Samaraweera, more..

Oct 29 (TN) One of the two old buildings constructed during colonial days in Jamaliya area in the suburbs of Trincomalee town and currently being used as refugee camps collapsed Thursday afternoon wounding three internally displaced persons including two women. more..

Oct 29 (Rupavahini) A high-level committee has been appointed to streamline the spending of foreign aid received by Sri Lanka. Cabinet spokesman minister Mangala Samaraweera said that this decision was taken at the cabinet meeting held under the patronage of the president. more..

Oct 29 (TS) TOMAS WEERARATNE has come a long way. Four years ago he arrived in Canada from Sri Lanka. He is deaf and had no knowledge of American sign language, and although he was trained as a baker, communication was a major impediment to finding employment. more..

Oct 29 (BBC) Japanese special envoy Yakushi Akashi arrived in Colombo in a bid to restart the stalled peace talks. Yakushi Akashi, is scheduled to meet the president, prime minister and the leaders of the LTTE. more..

Oct 29 (BBC) Despite earlier pledges to abolish the executive presidency, the ruling coalition will have to rethink about amending the constitution, says a key member of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s ruling coalition. more..

Oct 29 (AT) Government expects a breakthrough in the peace process in the next month with the arrival of a top Norwegian facilitator in the country early next month. Government Spokesman and Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Thursday. more..

Oct 29 (NW) President Chandrika Kumaratunge yesterday vowed to settle the ethnic crisis with the support of political opponents, before the next election - however tough the task may be. more..

Oct 29 (NW) The government and the main opposition UNP yesterday appeared to be on a collision course regarding the date for the next Presidential election. Government Spokesman Mangala Samaraweera yesterday insisted a Presidential Election would not be held before the end of 2006 but also pledged that Ms. Kumaratunga had no intention of going for a third term. more..

Oct 29 (NW) The government is doing every thing possible to resume peace talks with the LTTE, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse assured the visiting peace envoy Yasushi Akashi during talks at Temple Trees yesterday. more..

Oct 29 (NW) The Government yesterday said it was prepared to discuss both the LTTEs ISGA proposals and the third proposal submitted by the former UNF Government in addition to its own proposals as the basis to resume peace talks. more..

Oct 29 (TN) The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), a Non-Governmental Non-Profit Sharing Organization registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, opened its Mannar district office in Aandankulam in Adampan district Wednesday, sources in Mannar said. more..

Oct 29 (SLA) The total number of island-wide killings carried out by LTTE during a period of three months (01st August-29th October 2004) stands at forty seven, except for the eight cases of attempted killings in the whole of the island. more..

Oct 29 (SLA) The second lot of the first batch, assigned for UN peacemaking missions in Haiti including 17 Officers and 292 Other Ranks of the Army, left for Haiti early on Thursday (28) morning amidst greetings and best wishes. more..

Oct 29 (wsws) The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka held two successful meetings in Colombo and Kandy over the last week addressed by Bill Van Auken, the presidential candidate for the SEP’s sister party in the US, on the Iraq war and the US election. more..

Oct 29 (LBO) East European state Romania, one of Sri Lanka’s key electricity meter, coriander seeds and rubber and wood products suppliers is pushing for greater trade ties between the two countries. more..

Oct 29 (LBO) Sri Lanka has asked its diplomatic mission in Lebanon to obtain more details about a report that the Islamic Army in Iraq has taken one of its nationals hostage, a foreign ministry official said Friday. more..

Oct 29 (LBO) The State will step in to balance the Railway Department's books this year and increase funds for railway operations next year, says the Transport Ministry. "The government has agreed to provide the money to cover costs this year and increase the allocation for the railway next year," more..

Oct 29 (LBO) The JVP lead Inter-Company Employees Union want Sathosa returned to the people after less than a year under private management. "Take it back, take it back," chorused the Sathosa branch of the Inter-Company Employees Union brandishing placards and handing out leaflets in front of the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. more..

Oct 29 (DJ) The Asian Development Bank said Friday it has approved a $35 million loan to fund a project that aims to improve the quality of secondary education in Sri Lanka. "The project will address the fundamental problem of secondary education in Sri Lanka, which is the lack of universal access to quality education," more..

Oct 29 (WVI) Pre-school children from the conflict stricken Kilinochchi district of Sri Lanka are receiving at least one nutritious meal a day, thanks to World Vision Sri Lanka's pre-school feeding program. more..

Oct 29 (SLBC) D.A.Kumar Sinnathamby was sentenced to thirty years rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing his own children. This brings to an end of a saga which led to his arrest in USA and brought to trial in Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 29 (SLBC) President Chandrika Kumaratunga said yesterday at the ceremony to mark the launch of the Sanwardana Snagramaya in the North Western Province, that though the Government was unable to control the oil prices reaching record limits, the prices of goods would come down in the next month. more..

Oct 29 (AT) In a statement by V.Muralithran alias Colonel Karuna, the joint President of the TamilEela Ikkya Viduthala Munnai, which was a message sent to the conference organized by the Peoples Liberation Front (JVP), he has called for a united effort more..

Oct 29 (AT) Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat, veteran and a reputed UN diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala has not either tendered his resignation or resigned. There is no shred of truth in the news item that appeared in a Tamil news paper, stated Cabinet Spokesman Mangala Samaraweera. more..

Oct 29 (AP) Canada's embassy in Sri Lanka will remain closed until next week as authorities await results of tests on a white powder that sparked an anthrax scare when it was found in a Buddhist monk's passport, officials said Thursday. more..

Oct 29 (PIS) A festival for donating books to Jaffna Public Library organised by Sri Lanka Kala Mandalaya under the direction of Cultural and National Heritage Minister Wijitha Herath was held at Jaffna Public Library recently. more..

Oct 29 (Reuters) Sri Lanka off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will make a comeback to test cricket in the series against New Zealand in January next year, Sri Lankan Board president Mohan De Silva said on Friday. more..

Oct 29 (UNI) President Chandrika Kumaratunga will visit India next week, during which she will apprise the Indian leadership of progress in the peace talks with the LTTE. President will arrive here on November 3 and will meet President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and others. more..

Oct 29 (IL) The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has initiated a new project named 'Greater Colombo Grid Substation Project' in its effort to improve the electricity network in Colombo. The aim of this project is to augment the electricity transmission capacity in the Colombo City and its southern suburbs. more..

Oct 29 (PTI) Army Chief NC Vij will undertake a visit to Sri Lanka from Monday during which he is expected to meet the island nation's political leaders and visit its military facilities, the Defence Ministry in Colombo said on Friday. more..

Oct 29 (CI) Pakistan powered past Sri Lanka's total of 208, and were well set to establish a big first-innings lead at the National Stadium in Karachi. They had the best use of a pitch that gradually became more placid, though Imran Farhat, Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq were helped by listless bowling. more..

Oct 29 (DN) Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Mangala Samaraweera, confirming weekend newspaper reports, said there was an on going dialogue to remove Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara from his post. more..

Oct 29 (AFP) The Islamic Army in Iraq has announced it abducted a driver from Sri Lanka and another from Bangladesh who work for a Kuwaiti company, Al-Jazeera television said Thursday, showing footage of the pair. more..

Oct 29 (AFP) Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga will remain in office until December 2006, a year longer than many had believed based on her swearing in for a six-year term in December 1999. more..

Oct 30 (LBO) A flock of avid bird lovers in Sri Lanka is busting its feathers in a bid to map Sri Lanka’s bird colonies and preserve its assorted bird life. The Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL) this week kicked off the second leg of a two phase programme to identify local and migrant bird species and their habitats. more..

Oct 30 (LBO) Sri Lanka and Pakistan are hoping to have another go at the belated free trade agreement between the two countries in November. “We are hoping to have the next round of negotiations back-to-back with the SAARC secretaries meeting in Islamabad, in November,” said an official from the Commerce Department. more..

Oct 30 (LBO) The transport ministry will auction 100 school bus franchises in January, to operate a subsidised service for students in Colombo. The pilot project will test the waters for auctioning all route permits, under the Ministry’s long term strategy to regulate the industry. more..

Oct 30 (Rupavahini) President Chandrika Kumaratunge expressed the belief that the prices of will be reduced within a month. She added that a streamlined plan has been devised to achieve this objective with the assistance of friendly countries. more..

Oct 30 (LBO) Nearly 70 percent of unemployment in Sri Lanka is in the age group of 14 to 25 years, indicating that schools are not preparing students for work, says the Asian Development Bank (ADB). more..

Oct 30 (TN) The Organization of Parents and Guardians of School Children (OPGSC) of Mannar District Friday urged the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to implement the original residential requirement of five years to obtain university admission more..

Oct 30 (TN) Jaffna district TNA parliamentarian Mr.Suresh Premachchandran Friday wrote to the Chairman of the Coconut and Palmyra Development Societies Federation, Provincial Commissioner of Co-operative Development and the Government Agent the urgency of reviving the palmyra and coconut industry in the peninsula, more..

Oct 30 (TN) Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe said Friday that any attempt by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to alter the country’s constitution might encourage the Liberation Tigers to exercise the mandate obtained by the TNA at the last general elections to summon their own constituent assembly in the northeast. more..