Aug 25 (BBC) Acting principals (head teachers) urged Sri Lankan government to make their jobs permanent in a protest held in the capital, Colombo. The acting heads of schools have started a hunger strike opposite Isurupaya, ministry of Education, requesting President Chandrika Kumaratunga to honour her election pledges. more..

Aug 25 (BBC) “Sri lanka is keeping silent while its seas are being exploited’’ say activist who have joined a continuing protest. The proposed channel will provide a continuous navigable route within Indian sea waters for the first time. more..

Aug 25 (DJ) Sri Lanka's exports climbed 12.1% on year in June to $ 514 million from $459 million in the same month a year ago, helped by growth in exports of food products, textiles and rubber-based products, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said Thursday. more..

Aug 25 (PIS) The government will inform its position on resuming the peace process with the LTTE within this week in Parliament, Leader of the House Nimal Siripala De Silva said yesterday. The minister was replying to a question raised by Jathika Hela Urumaya MP Ven. Aturaliye Ratana Thera on the government’s position on resuming talks with the LTTE more..

Aug 25 (LNP) Minister of Constitutional Affairs D.E.W Gunasekera in Parliament speaking on the statement issued by the International Democratic Union (IDU) on the date of the next Presidential election yesterday said the Government never had the intention of postponing the Presidential election, and he was merely expressing his opinion when he said the next Presidential election should be held in 2006. more..

Aug 25 (LNP) With the Supreme Court unable to reach a consensus in granting special leave to appeal on the Writ application filed by S.B. Dissanayake against the Appeal Court judgement, Mr. Dissanayake`s counsel told court that they would support this matter further by way of a motion with adequate notice to the respondents. more..

Aug 25 (AT) Sri Lanka born, internationally recognized expert on ocean waves, Professor Harindra Fernando of Arizona State University in the United States, who was in his native Sri Lanka in early 2005 to research the impact of last December tsunami, disclosed that illegal coral mining off the southwest coast allowed far more onshore destruction than occurred in nearby areas whose coral reefs were intact. more..

Aug 25 (LNP) Provision of computer education to the youth, specially those from rural areas will turn out to be a very effective method of tackling the important issue of unemployment. In all the vocational training programmes conducted for school leavers, increased attention should be paid to include computer skills in the curricula. more..

Aug 25 (DN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga, rebuffed the rumours that her Government was heading towards the privatization of the educational system and on the verge of introducing a blue print for such and action. The President reiterated that her government will never-ever privatise national education, but would only modernise it with enhanced budgetary allocations. more..

Aug 25 (DJ) The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and the International Federation of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies said Thursday they have granted Sri Lanka $30 million to help restore water supply in tsunami-affected areas. more..

Aug 25 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike has pledged that government's foreign policy will be continued as usual, the Daily News reported Thursday. Speaking to reporters after assuming official duties on Wednesday, Bandaranaike said: more..

Aug 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka waited with bated breath on Thursday, the eve of a Supreme Court ruling that many expect will order a presidential election for this year. President Chandrika Kumaratunga argues she should stay in power until late 2006, while her foes say the vote is due in 2005. more..

Aug 25 (AFP) A 15-man Bangladesh cricket squad led by Habibul Bashar arrived here to play two Tests and three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka during a month-long tour. The tourists are brimming with confidence after recording a stunning five-wicket win over world champions Australia in the recent tri-series in England. more..

Aug 25 (GT) Investigations into the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar have revealed that the LTTE had hired a killer to carry out the contract. The investigators have reportedly elicited information that would assist them to apprehend the killer’s accomplice, who had been employed in the neighbourhood as a casual worker on daily wage. more..

Aug 25 (GT) GENERAL Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva yesterday declared that the JVP was the only political party resisting the LTTE (Vanni faction) terror. Declaring the launch of an anti-terrorism movement against the LTTE, Silva pledged to continue with their campaign to pressure the “terrorists to stop the ongoing wave of killings. more..

Aug 25 (LBO) The government said on Thursday, that it is talking to world leaders about the need for further international pressure on the LTTE, to stop more violence. “Now, we are doing an awareness campaign to inform heads of State about the need for international pressure on the LTTE, to make the LTTE abide by the cease fire agreement,” more..

Aug 25 (AT) The Tamil rebel outfit, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has come with the plan to issue Tamil Eelam National Identity cards, to begin with to those Tamils residing in the areas controlled by them and sooner it would be extended and made compulsory for all those living in the North and East. more..

Aug 25 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday wrote to the prime minister seeking the revival of rice subsidy given to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees housed in various camps in the state. more..

Aug 25 (HT) India and the UNP, Sri Lanka's main opposition group, have a common perspective on the peace process in the island as well as Sri Lanka-India relations. The commonalities came out during the visit of the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to New Delhi between August 16 and 18. more..

Aug 25 (RW) As part of its work to provide sustainable return and reintegration assistance to Sri Lankan refugees from India, IOM has seven mobile health clinics in the north of the country which, together with Sunflower Village, a local NGO, help to address hearing and vison problems among the people. more..

Aug 25 (ANN) A senior security forces officer, who had become a thorn in the side of the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE), due to his efforts to flush out their cadres engaged in clandestine operations in Colombo and its suburbs, has been removed. more..

Aug 25 (AP) Senior military personnel will represent the government at crucial peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels to review a fragile cease-fire, Sri Lanka’s government said on Thursday, as it urged world leaders to push the guerrillas to honor the truce. more..

Aug 26 (AFP) Tsunami aid helped Sri Lanka's balance of payments swing to a surplus in the first half of 2005 even as the country's trade deficit widened on higher oil prices, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said. more..

Aug 26 (LL) A Sri Lankan asylum seeker was found to be behind a credit card cloning operation when he was discovered with a "black-box" bank reading machine attached to the till at the garage where he worked. more..

Aug 26 (BL) Sri Lanka might have the best social indicators in the region when it comes to women's literacy, health, etc and also boast of giving the world its first woman prime minister in Sirimavo Bandaranaike. more..

Aug 26 (AT) Asian Tribune announced yesterday that it has agreed to join Sri Lankan communities in the diaspora and in Sri Lankan to save Douglas Devananda from the Tamil Tigers – the next key target of the Tamil Tigers after the killing of Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Aug 26 (AT) Cegu Izzadeen - a non Cabinet Minister, Assisting Small and Rural Industries of the present Kumaratunga administration, told the Asian Tribune that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, kept mum on P-TOMS, though he did not fully agree with the terms and conditions in it. more..

Aug 26 (AT) “It is a pity that Amirthalingam had been killed at a time he had emerged a real national leader. …. All these years he had been a fiery Tamil leader, concerned only about the rights of the Tamil people. Since February he had become a mellowed and mature Sri Lankan leader, with the interest of the nation as his prime concern. Since of late I had developed a very good working relationship with him.” more..

Aug 26 (CI) Dilmah Tea have signed a new three-year team sponsorship with Sri Lanka Cricket. The deal was signed on Wednesday and will run from July 2005 to December 2008. Sri Lanka Cricket had targeted $5 million for the sponsorship deal when the bidding process started, more..

Aug 26 (CI) Thilan Samaraweera's return to Sri Lanka's one-day squad after a three-year absence was the only notable change as Sri Lanka announced their ODI and Test squads for their forthcoming series against Bangladesh. more..

Aug 26 (VOA) The government of Sri Lanka has extended the state of emergency it declared following the assassination of Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. The foreign minister was shot to death at his home in Colombo. Sri Lankan authorities blame the murder on the LTTE, or Tamil Tigers terrorist group. The Tamil Tigers deny responsibility for the killing. more..

Aug 26 (CT) The most powerful earthquake in 40 years erupted under the Indian Ocean near Sumatra on December 26, 2004. It caused giant, deadly waves to crash ashore in nearly a dozen countries, leaving 300,000 dead or missing. A long stretch of Sri Lanka's coast was devastated by the killer waves, leaving almost 40,000 dead and 2.5 million people displaced. more..

Aug 26 (FL) The assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar bears the signature of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Yet, the world hopes that the peace process in Sri Lanka will be carried forward earnestly. more..

Aug 26 (FL) Lakshman Kadirgamar was a man above class, caste and creed. As Foreign Minister, he opened a new chapter in Sri Lankan policy. BY 1994, Sri Lanka's position in the world was not at all enviable because of the negative publicity the county had attracted. Our prestige had hit the rock bottom. more..

Aug 26 (FL) ON August 12, Sri Lanka lost a crown jewel. Lakshman Kadirgamar, its Foreign Affairs Minister, strode the world's corridors of power with singular determination, leading his country's campaign against the terror network of the LTTE much before the concept of "war on terror" entered the diplomatic dictionary. more..

Aug 26 (FL) THE death of Lakshman Kadirgamar came as a shock to the Indian government and his innumerable friends and admirers in the country. The government was quick to express its "deep shock and profound grief" on receipt of the news. The External Affairs Ministry described the assassination as a "heinous" act. more..

Aug 26 (FL) The overall challenge now is about the difficult task of providing incentives to the LTTE to stay on the path of political engagement and disincentives to its military wing to resort to action. more..

Aug 26 (TN) International Organization for Migration (IOM) funded by the Government of Australia donated bicycles to 120 pre-school teachers of all three communities in Trincomalee district at an event held in the Trincomalee Town Hall Wednesday under the sponsorship of Tamil Rehabilitation Organization. more..

Aug 26 (TN) Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has decided to move an adjournment motion in parliament Friday condemning the attack on Mr.Yathurshan Premachchandran, a trainee photo-journalist of a Colombo Tamil daily Sudar Oli when he was covering the JVP demonstration held in front of the Fort railway Station Tuesday afternoon. more..

Aug 26 (TN) A team of officials of the Sri Lankan Government's Peace Secretariat Thursday afternoon held a discussion with judicial officers in the Jaffna district regarding the question of maintaining law and order in the district thus enabling to take forward the current peace process. more..

Aug 26 (TN) Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has imposed ban on outsiders from entering Manatkadu area in Vadamaradchchi east division in the Jaffna district after 9 p.m. in the night. Only the residents of Manatkadu would be allowed to enter the village in night, security sources said. more..

Aug 26 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's Muslim minority must be represented in future peace negotiations aimed at ending the island's ethnic armed conflict, the main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said Wednesday. more..

Aug 26 (SLA) Policemen on mobile patrol have recovered a large stock ammunition hidden in a tea estate in the general area of NOORWOOD in NUWARAELIYA on 25 August 2005. During a search in the area subsequent to a suspicious movement of an unidentified person who evaded Police arrest, more..

Aug 26 (SLA) Naval troops on a routine patrol in the sea off MULLAITTIVU have observed an LTTE attack craft fitted with four out board motors and two radar scanners on 25 August 2005 around 9.05 a.m. Later, the suspected craft has moved towards north.

Aug 26 (AN) With the murder of its respected Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar fresh on its mind, the Sri Lankan administration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga is clearly wary of fresh talks with Tamil Tiger rebels they believe carried out the assassination. more..

Aug 26 (LBO) A month long shut down of the petroleum refinery and the country's never ending thirst for fuel, nearly tripled Sri Lanka's oil import bill in June, the island's Central Bank said Thursday. more..

Aug 26 (LM) During yesterday's parliamentary sitting, government spokesman and Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripla de Silva evaded a direct answer to SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem MP's question on their position with regard to Muslims' participation in the peace talks as an independent third party. more..

Aug 26 (LM) The Federation of Kathankudy Mosques and Muslim Associations have refuted as totally false the reports that appeared in the national media on the August 18 shoot out in the town in which three persons were critically injured. more..

Aug 26 (SN) JHU heavyweight Champika Ranawaka yesterday said by going to discuss peace with the LTTE without taking action against them over the assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar, the government is going to kill Kadirgamar again. He said it was an insult to the late minister and the government must exert pressure on the LTTE now. more..

Aug 26 (SN) Jathika Hela Urumaya will announce on 4 September, which candidate they would support at the next Presidential elections. The JHU is expected to meet Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday and opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe on Tuesday. more..