Aug 29 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new foreign minister has accused the island's peacebroker Norway of misleading European nations about the "terrorist" nature of the Tamil Tiger rebels, a report said. Anura Bandaranaike, named after his predecessor's slaying which Colombo has blamed on the Tigers, more..

Aug 29 (AP) Attackers on a bicycle hurled grenades at a Tamil-language newspaper office in the capital of Colombo, killing a security guard, police said Monday. The attack on the Sudar Oli newspaper, allegedly linked to the country's Tamil Tiger rebels, came eight days after two bombs were thrown at another office of the newspaper in Colombo. more..

Aug 30 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's new coach Tom Moody has vowed to adopt a ruthless approach when the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh starts on Wednesday. Australian Moody has ruled out the possibility of complacency against the 10th-ranked one-day team in the world. more..

Aug 30 (SLA) A high-level US delegation of the US Government’s Department of State (DoS), US Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI), the US RONCO Consulting Corporation and a few philanthropists who had arrived in Sri Lanka to assess the Army’s ongoing US funded humanitarian de-mining programmes more..

Aug 30 (LBO) Government says it will increase the fertiliser subsidy, but fertiliser importers say they have not been paid the subsidy for the last few months. Sri Lanka’s fertiliser subsidy, to help local farmers, is already a whopping Rs 4.2 billion. more..

Aug 30 (LBO) Investors were guarded in Monday trading after pushing the index to new records on Friday when the Supreme Court ruled on the date for Presidential polls. Stockbrokers said while presidential polls were welcome, other factors including fresh friction with the LTTE and worsening economic chaos were adding to concerns. more..

Aug 30 (DPA) Plans to review and strengthen the ceasefire agreement between the government and Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka under a Norwegian-backed peace process are due for further setbacks as the country shifts its attention to the upcoming presidential election. more..

Aug 30 (BBC) The Supreme Court's ruling that Sri Lanka's presidential elections must be held before the end of the year has ended months of wrangling. It's a bitter defeat for outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga - but is not necessarily the end of her career as a politician, or the end of the Bandaranaike dynasty. more..

Aug 30 (Bloomberg) Sri Lanka's asset prices, if politics and economics had any bearing on them, should have been hugging the bottom of the Asian heap. As it turns out, the island off India's southeastern coast is the only Asian country whose equity index is among the world's 10 best-performing this year. more..

Aug 30 (BBC) The JVP revealed that it is having direct talks with SLFP presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse. "We have given him a set of conditions in order to extend our support to him," JVP parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake told BBC Sandeshaya. more..

Aug 30 (OD) This year Sri Lanka will declare 5th-11th of September the “Free and Open Source Software Week 2005”. The driving purpose behind the FOSS week would be to bring recognition to Sri Lanka by hosting international FOSS conferences, promote the use of FOSS solutions in Sri Lanka more..

Aug 30 (AT) Anura Bandaranaike, the new Foreign Minister, has put his stamp on Sri Lankan foreign policy by the first two steps he has taken: 1) made his first trip to India which is the critical player in the peace process and more..

Aug 30 (AP) Sri Lanka's prime minister, now a high-profile candidate in presidential elections to be held later this year, said Monday his top priority would be to end the civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Aug 30 (TN) An LTTE cadre, Mr. Reagon, was killed and three persons including two civilians were injured when a group of Sri Lanka Army soldiers and paramilitary cadres, who had moved into the LTTE held area Kirimichchai in Vaharai from the SLA held Panichchankerni, shot at LTTE cadres and civilians, more..

Aug 30 (SLA) Troops on duty at the KAJUWATTA Army detachment in the general area of BATTICALOA have heard a noise of small arms firing from the un-cleared areas on 29 August 2005 around 7.30 p.m. more..

Aug 30 (SLA) One more LTTE member has surrendered to the naval troops on duty at the roadblock in the general area of Post Office junction, TRINCOMALEE town on 29 August 2005 around 8.00 p.m. The surrendee has been handed over to the TRINCOMALEE Police for further investigations. more..

Aug 30 (SLA) Thirteen Sri Lanka refugees who were returning from India have been arrested by the Navy after they had been dropped by an Indian trawler at the 5th SAND BANK in the general area of TALAIMANNAR on 29 August 2005 around 11.30 a.m. more..

Aug 30 (LM) Sri Lanka Muslims Congress issuing a media statement condemned the attacks at Sudar Oli branch office and the main office as Terrorism Against Media. Statement also cautioned that this as a threat posed to Media Freedom. more..

Aug 30 (LM) In addition to Rs.500 million already release by the Treasury for State institutions to purchase 'Yala' paddy harvest, government has disbursed an additional Rs. 700 million to strengthen private sector participation in paddy purchasing and to offer the maximum possible price to farmers, more..

Aug 30 (LT) SLFP presidential candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse accused two Deputy Ministers that they attempt disrupting his election campaign. Mr. Rajapakse has vehemently accused Deputy Ministers Dilan Perera and Mahindananda Aluthtamage of irresponsible conduct making media statements of SLFP election campaign. more..

Aug 30 (LT) Parliamentarian Thissa Attanayake who is also the deputy secretary general of UNP say that his party would release the UNP Manifesto for the forthcoming presidential election once the nominations are received by the elections commissioner. more..

Aug 30 (LT) Solicitor general has informed the Colombo magistrate courts that the files containing important information regarding the assassination of Gamini Dissanayake are destroyed. Solicitor general C.R. De Silva has explained at the court that it is still not revealed who has done this serious crime. more..

Aug 30 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Council in limbo because Muslim political parties cannot agree on a Muslim representative. Sri Lanka is heading into another election with no hint of the long promised Election Commission. more..

Aug 30 (LBO) Agreement to commission Norochcholai coal power plant signed in China, on Tuesday. “Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman Ranjit Fonseka and China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation representative, Xia Biao signed the MoU,” more..

Aug 30 (PSL) A wonderful 'Light' has now illuminated their lives, giving them new hopes. Far away from the National Grid, the poor farmers never experienced the joy of switching on an electric bulb at night. Small, risky, kerosine oil lamps were their only means of light at night. more..

Aug 30 (PRIU) Several bilateral agreements in the fields of finance, tourism and culture were signed today [30th August] in the Chinese capital between Sri Lanka and the Peoples Republic of China. The signing ceremony was witnessed by President Kumaratunga and President Hu Jintao. more..

Aug 30 (PIS) The LTTE, while ruling out the possibility of no-man’s land as a venue, has expressed serious doubts on the talks to review the ceasefire agreement taking place any time soon in view of the upcoming Presidential elections. more..

Aug 30 (PIS) Shortly after the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Norwegian facilitators announced that the LTTE had agreed for talks with the Sri Lankan government in Oslo to strengthen the Ceasefire Agreement. more..

Aug 30 (PTI) The next ICC Under-19 World Cup will be held in Sri Lanka from February 5 to 19 next year with 16 teams in action. The decision was taken yesterday at an ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) meeting at the new headquarters of cricket's governing body here. more..

Aug 30 (AT) Prime Minister and Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse at the upcoming elections, is moving towards an agreement with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to obtain their support. more..

Aug 30 (AT) Only in case the Commissioner of Registration of Persons could declare that all eligible voters in the forthcoming Presidential Elections are issued with the National Identity Card, then the NIC could be made compulsory for the Presidential Elections, Dayananda Disanayake has informed the Party Leaders. more..

Aug 30 (Xinhua) Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said here Tuesday that the Chinese government encourages competitive Chinese firms to invest in Sri Lanka on the principle of mutual benefit and common development. more..

Aug 30 (SAMN) In taking a decision on whom to support at the forthcoming presidential election, the JVP was considering only Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse's candidature and not an alliance with any party. If the JVP decided to support Rajapakse, they would do so as an independent entity and not through an alliance with the SLFP, more..

Aug 30 (SAMN) The fingerprints of one of the two key suspects arrested in connection with the killing of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar matched some of those found in the bathroom of the house from where the sniper fired, a detective said yesterday. more..

Aug 30 (LNP) Undergraduates of the Arts and Management faculties of the Colombo University allege that the University administration is showing no interest in re-opening the university and this has greatly caused inconvenience to them. more..

Aug 30 (LNP) A sum of over 18 million rupees is yet to be recovered from debtors relating to the registered radio communication equipment license holders of the private sector by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in the year ending December 31, 2003, the Auditor General said. more..

Aug 30 (PTI) China on Monday said the People's Liberation Army was ready to step up cooperation with Sri Lanka in military and security fields. The Chinese armed forces are ready to enhance cooperation with the Sri Lankan army in the defence and security fields more..

Aug 30 (DN) The Railways Ministry has decided to purchase 100 more railway carriages for the train service. A Railways Ministry spokesman told the Daily News that the Treasury has agreed to allocate funds for purchasing the 100 carriages. more..

Aug 30 (RW) Recovering from the massive emotional impact of the tsunami will be a long and challenging task, but IOM is helping Sri Lankan survivors draw strength from within. The towering waves that struck Sri Lanka last December uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and swept away entire villages more..

Aug 30 (Xinhua) Under a reconstruction program, the Sri Lankan fisheries sector has now restored the fishing industry to near its full capacity, the Daily News reported Tuesday. Fisheries Minister Milroy Fernando said that the ministry has repaired more than 90 percent of damaged fishing boats with the support of some various service organizations and individuals. more..

Aug 30 (PTI) Sri Lanka is keen to secure another credit line from India to buy petroleum products after fully utilising a 150 million dollar loan, the Chairman of the national oil company said today. more..

Aug 30 (KT) WE ARE a nation suffering from paranoia. Being paranoid at a personal level in our relations with other human beings is a medical disorder requiring psychiatric treatment. But if this disease afflicts the community at large, there is little that psychiatrists could do. more..

Aug 30 (NP) A Sri Lankan refugee convicted of gang-related crimes has been declared a danger to the public, partly due to concerns he might assist the Tamil Tigers rebel group if he remains in Canada. But he is appealing the finding that he is dangerous and claims he has been co-operating with police more..

Aug 30 (AFP) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has condemned the bombing of a Tamil newspaper in Colombo and ordered police to step up investigations. The premier said Monday evening's grenade attacks that killed an unarmed guard at the Sudaroli newspaper office were also an attack on media freedom. more..

Aug 31 (EC) Muttiah Muralitharan, preparing for Sri Lanka’s three one-day internationals against Bangladesh, said today he was unable to grasp the new one-day rule regarding substitute players. “The concept is interesting but it is confusing as well,” Muralitharan said ahead of tomorrow’s first match at the Sinhalese Sports Club. more..

Aug 31 (AT) On the edges of large Indian nature preserves, farmers and fishermen often protect themselves from wild tigers by wearing a false face mask on the rear of their heads. Tigers like to attack from behind and this two-faced look evidently confuses them. more..

Aug 31 (AT) Sri Lankan Airlines is to provide its amphibious Dehavilland Turbo Otter Floatplane and also arrange hotel accommodation in Kandy in time to watch the Bradby Shield Schools Rugby tournament taking off on the 8th of September from Ratmalana and bringing back on the 11th. more..

Aug 31 (HT) China is now making significant inroads into the Sri Lankan economy agreeing to undertake huge projects. But its immediate rival in the region, India, does not see these projects as being a threat to its position in the island country. more..

Aug 31 (AT) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge suddenly came up with a change of program in her state visit schedule, which sends shock waves to Foreign Ministry Officials in China, her own delegation and thus putting the host nation in an embarrassing situation. more..

Aug 31 (JS) Sri Lankan clothing maker Jinadasa Garments has set up its third production unit in Africa. The new plant, which operates under the name of California Link (Ghana) Ltd, expands the company's two existing operations in Kenya and Ghana. more..