Apr 3 (AT) I have traveled on the A 9 highway to Jaffna and back at six month intervals, since the ceasefire agreement was concluded between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. The experience has been a revelation of what we Tamils are in for, in the future, unless immediate remedial action is demanded from and instituted by the LTTE. more..

Apr 3 (Reuters) Pope John Paul II, whose globetrotting papacy inspired millions but left a divided Church, died on Saturday, ending years of painful physical decline for the Polish prelate once known as God's Athlete. more..

Apr 3 (LNP) Newly-retired members of the Constitutional Council (CC) have urged political parties to correct some significant loopholes in the 17th amendment that greatly hindered their duties and have caused the public to lose confidence in the system. more..

Apr 3 (LNP) Agents from Britain`s internal security agency, MI5, interrogated for four hours Rajasingham Jeyadevan, the Sri Lankan now holding British citizenship after he was held incommunicado by the LTTE for 62 days and later released in the Wanni. more..

Apr 3 (TN) "The Sinhala government should come forward immediately to stop waging the shadow war against the Liberation Tigers. Otherwise nothing can prevent it from turning into a real war", said the LTTE’s official organ 'Viduthalai Pulihal' in its latest issue. more..

Apr 3 (LT) A trade exhibition of small and medium industrialists opened yesterday under the auspices of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. Items created by small and medium entrepreneurs were exhibited here. Speaking at the occasion the Prime Minister said the small and medium entrepreneurs didn’t have an understanding of the market. more..

Apr 3 (LT) The darkest year in the history of Sri Lanka is the year UPFA was in power says the UNP. This is stated in a statement issued by the UNP on the occasion of the first anniversary of UPFA Government. more..

Apr 3 (NT) Due to the concerted efforts taken by the State government not a single fisherman from Tamilnadu was now languishing in Sri Lankan jail, Fisheries Minister M Radhakrishnan said. Replying to the demands for grants for Fisheries department in the State Assembly. more..

Apr 3 (CI) After being battered by the Australians over the last few months, Stephen Fleming and his team at last have an opportunity to engage in a battle among equals. The first match of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka will offer an indication of what the New Zealand players have learnt from that baptism against Australia more..

Apr 3 (AFP) Sri Lanka's cricket tour of India for five one-day internationals has been postponed, a top Indian official said here. Indian cricket board joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta said Sunday the five-match series, scheduled to begin on April 22, was put off as they had not received a confirmation from their Sri Lankan counterpart. more..

Apr 3 (Dawn) Following Monday's tsunami scare which killed 11 people in a stampede that followed the evacuation, the government is considering asking institutions and families living in the coastal areas to relocate as part of a long-term plan. more..

Apr 3 (TP) The government will today, April 3, release funds estimated at 5 billion rupees for the reconstruction of tsunami-hit houses across the country. Finance Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama told journalists that the People’s Bank and the Bank of Ceylon will keep their branches in the tsunami affected areas open today to grant funds more..

Apr 3 (TP) The country’s media industry consisting of newspapers publishers, television and radio stations, on Friday made a joint appeal to the government to abolish a controversial tax on advertising, which is effected from April 1. more..

Apr 3 (TP) The government on Friday rejected media reports that it planned to hold a referendum on the abolition of the executive presidency. Cabinet spokesman Mangala Samaraweera, said that there was a misconception that the government is to hold a referendum on the abolition of the executive presidency at enormous cost. more..

Apr 3 (BBC) The Leaders of the SLFP and the JVP emphasised in a joint press conference held in Anuradhapura that despite recent differences they are still very much together. The press conference was held as part of the one year commemoration of the ruling party alliance. more..

Apr 3 (ANN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga had directed state media bosses not to be distracted by the UNP’s efforts to destabilise her government taking advantage of what she had termed as petty differences among the parties in the alliance. more..

Apr 3 (ANN) The Sinhala language has the ideal word to describe the current scene at the Sri Lanka Cricket Board — koloppan. That really is the name of the game that is being played at the richest sports body in existence in this country where the treasure chest attracts all kinds of undesirables looking for ways of getting their paws in the till. more..

Apr 3 (SLBC) Three thousand five hundred youths will be recruited as teachers to serve at one thousand one hundred schools in the plantations in the Uva, Central and the Sabaragamuwa provinces as well as in the Kalutara district. more..

Apr 3 (ES) TOMORROW the people of Negombo will begin a brighter future- thanks to the readers of the Evening Star. Thanks to the money raised by you, twelve fisherman from the tsunami devastated Sri Lankan village can soon start work again. more..

Apr 3 (SLA) A motorbike belonging to the army collided against a school girl who was trying to cross the road immediately after she got off the bus from its back side in the general area of CHAVAKACHCHERI on 02 April 2005 around 3.45 p.m. more..

Apr 3 (TT) Midway in the first session, on Saturday, a rather nasty placard surfaced at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium: ‘Goodbye John (Wright)... What about (a picture of Sourav Ganguly)...’ It’s unclear whether the Team India captain saw that flashed on the TV, but cricketer-turned-politician Arjuna Ranatunga didn’t miss it. more..

Apr 3 (LT) Internal sources of the SLFP say President Chandrika Kumaratunga is preparing to contest the Presidential Election a third time without having to change the constitution. The sources say the legal big wigs of the SLFP are studying the possibility of the legitimacy of such an attempt. more..

Apr 3 (SO) The Peace Secretariat which has been negotiating a joint mechanism for the post-tsunami reconstruction in the North-East has forwarded a Norwegian worded draft proposal to the Government for its final decision, a senior official of the Peace Secretariat said. more..

Apr 3 (AP) Sri Lanka's main opposition party has planned a mass rally this week to protest against the government's alleged mismanagement of the economy, the peace process and aid intended for tsunami victims, a lawmaker said Sunday. more..

Apr 3 (Yahoo) Sri Lankans devotees pray at a church in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, April 3, 2005. From political leaders to earthquake survivors, Asia mourned Pope John Paul II on Sunday, more..

Apr 3 (CI) The fickle weather which has dogged Colombo for the past five days has extended to Asgiriya, Kandy, the venue of the first four-day unofficial Test between Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A. Sri Lanka A were deprived of any practice on a rainy morning and had to do their light training under a steady drizzle. more..

Apr 3 (LBO) Treasury Secretary says the country’s risk-averse banking sector has failed to assist entrepreneurs especially in the small and medium sector. Doctor Jayasundera was speaking at the launch of the country’s first bank for small and medium entrepreneurs. more..

Apr 3 (AFP) Sri Lanka Cricket's governing body on Sunday said it will go ahead with plans to provide foster care to about 1,000 children orphaned in December tsunamis. The decision comes despite the government's suspending the board of the governing body from representing the country. more..

Apr 3 (AFP) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga could call a snap election before the end of 2005 because of friction with her Marxist allies over economic reforms and peace talks with Tamil rebels, analysts said Sunday. more..

Apr 4 (TN) Eastern University Students' Union (EUSU) Sunday condemned the Special Task Force (STF) of the Sri Lanka Police for unleashing terror in the east by intimidating political activists of the LTTE. "We also condemn the Sri Lanka government the delay in resuming peace talks with the LTTE." more..

Apr 4 (TN) A photographic exhibition highlighting the suffering of survivors in Mullaithivu of the devastation wrought by the December 26 tsunami has opened in London. Internationally renowned photographer Carlos Reyes-Manzo’s exhibition titled ‘Tender Shoots of Mullaithivu’ was formally launched at the famous bookshop, Foyles, last Thursday. more..

Apr 4 (TN) Thousands of tents in which Tamil and Muslim Tsunami refugees are sheltered in the Batticaloa-Amparai districts were flooded following non-seasonal rains in the region Sunday. Tsunami refugees in several camps on the eastern and southeastern coast said that they have no place to sleep tonight because of the rains. more..

Apr 4 (TN) Trincomalee Sri Satya Seva Samithi Centre (SSSSC) has launched a self employment-generating project for people affected by the two-decade-old war and tsunami in the Trincomalee district. In the first phase the centre handed over fishing gear, sewing machines, water pumps and school uniforms to the value of 1.1 million rupees. more..

Apr 4 (TN) Jaffna area command of the Sri Lanka Army has given permission to the Jaffna district secretariat to relocate a section of the internally displaced families (IDPs) in an area located close to northeast of Palaly High Security Zone (HSZ) following threats by the Valigamam north fisheries societies that they would launch an agitation campaign more..

Apr 4 (ANN) Sri Lanka is a paradise for NGOs. We have never been short of them but the tsunami disaster has brought in its wake a plethora of new ones. While there is little doubt that some of them are driven by altruism and useful, others are of dubious origin peddling hidden agendas. more..

Apr 4 (AT) Moves are underway to arrest the President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Thilanga Sumathipala, on charges of taking possession of state property by force, informed sources told the “Asian Tribune.” more..

Apr 4 (AT) Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle's media coordinating officer, Dinesh V Fernando, has suddenly resigned from his post fuelling speculation of a rift between the two. Fernando had been criticised by Minister Fernandopulle for writing a glowing account of President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a leading national newspaper, more..

Apr 4 (AT) More than 500 tsunami-affected families along the coastline in Koralawella, Moratuwa, who have lost everything including their homes, are still languishing in temporary shelters in a hopeless situation. more..

Apr 4 (AT) During the fortcoming Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Sri Lankan, China and Sri Lanka are expected to sign five important bilateral agreements to enhance further the already existing close relationship between the two countries. more..

Apr 4 (BBC) As the hundredth day of the devastating Indian ocean tsunami dawns, refugees in the Batticaloa district are dealt another blow by heavy rains. Shanthi Selvadurai reporting from Batticaloa on Sunday said that temporary shelters have been waterlogged and relief rations ruined. more..

Apr 4 (Bloomberg) Rains in Sri Lanka's eastern region caused flooding in tent camps housing thousands of people made homeless by the Dec. 26 tsunami that killed about 39,000 in the South Asian island nation. more..

Apr 4 (BBC) Roman Catholic Archbishop Oswald Gomis requested all Sri Lankan devotees to observe a seven-day mourning for Pope John Paul II. He said he has also requested to half-mast the National Catholic flag in churches and houses. “The Pope was very supportive of Sri Lanka’s peace process”, he recalled. more..

Apr 4 (KT) About 30 women labourers, all Sri Lankan, gathered at the Ras Al Khaimah Labour Department (RLD) premises to file a complaint against pending salaries and other benefits over the past four months. more..

Apr 4 (DT) Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in the third and final Under-19 one-day cricket match at the National Stadium on Sunday. The tourists, who won the first and second one-dayers, won the three-match series 2-1. more..

Apr 4 (SAMN) Minister of Industry ,Tourism and Investment promotion Anura Bandaranaike said the president will not grant pardon to S. B. Dissanayake, in spite of the agitation made by the UNP. "She will extend the jail sentence to some six or seven years more if possible". more..

Apr 4 (SAMN) CARDINALS around the globe will gather Monday in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel for nine days of mourning with the passing away of the Head of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II. more..

Apr 4 (SAMN) For the 1,100 Tamil medium schools in the Uva, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces and Kalutara district, a total number of 3,500 Tamil medium teachers will be recruited from the estates. In addition 2,000 youths from estates will be recruited as minor employees to government hospitals and other state institutions. more..

Apr 4 (SAMN) The country's apparel sector may be heading for a full-blown crisis if market conditions do not improve and political moves fail to secure critical trade concessions in the US and EU. Most factories fear that they will have excess capacity and run out of orders from April onwards. more..

Apr 4 (Hindu) The President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, in her condolence message, described Pope John Paul II as "a most revered and popular global personality." His efforts "to promote peace and harmony, especially in the immediate post cold war period, within and between nations, would continue to be admired in the years to come," more..

Apr 4 (wsws) The Sri Lankan Socialist Equality Party (SEP) held a public meeting on the political issues raised by the Asian tsunami at the Ruhunu Cultural Centre in Matara on March 27. The audience included workers, young people, university students and some direct victims of the December 26 disaster. more..