Mar 19 (TN) "The developments during the last three years compounded by the post-tsunami experiences raise the specter that time is running out; that there is no hope for the Tamils within a united Sri Lanka, that their only chance lies in fighting for external self-determination," more..

Mar 19 (AFP) British tourists should return to Sri Lanka despite the devastating impact of the December 26 tsunami, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said. "My message to the British people is come back, we miss you greatly, you have all been very good tourists," more..

Mar 19 (RW) The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) and the International Federation have been given the green light for a major project to rebuild and rehabilitate 34 health facilities damaged by the tsunami on 26 December. more..

Mar 19 (RW) Standing on the dusty roadside, the arrivals of ExpoAir flight 771 wait silently in the still heat of mid-morning for their luggage. I feel a sharp sense of recognition and sobriety when the white land cruiser of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), more..

Mar 19 (SLBC) Transport authorities yesterday warned stern action against private bus operators if they seek to cripple bus services during the New Year season through a strike. Heads of Provincial Transport Authorities who met in Colombo yesterday said any such attempt to inconvenience commuters would warrant severe penalties including the cancellation of route permits. more..

Mar 19 (BBC) Somerset, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire have reacted with disappointment over Sri Lanka's hurriedly arranged tour of India. The one-day series, scheduled to end in early May, means Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas and Upul Chandana will miss the start of the county season. more..

Mar 19 (AT) Last week print and electronic medias highlighted on the extremely worrying episode of the kidnap and incarceration of my youngest brother, Jayadevan- a British businessman, while on a visit to the Vanni, by the LTTE. more..

Mar 19 (IL) An extraordinary group of well-known Italian musicians will gather to perform in Milan on March 21 in a concert to raise money for emergency operations to assist internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the tsunami and the civil conflict in Sri Lanka, the UNHCR Colombo Office announced yesterday. more..

Mar 19 (IL) The largest annual medical conference in Sri Lanka, the 118th Anniversary Academic Sessions of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) will be held next Wednesday (23) with the participation of the Presidents of medical associations from Australia, Britain and India. more..

Mar 19 (IL) The US Embassy in Sri Lanka advises all American citizens in the east of Sri Lanka of ongoing violence, including politically motivated assassinations in that area. US citizens are advised to avoid political demonstrations that may occur in this area. Political activity and gatherings may well become the focus of violence in the area. more..

Mar 19 (LNP) The disappearance of democracy is not a phenomenon that occurs suddenly, but a climax of a gradual process. Incarcerating S. B. Dissanayake marks the beginning, a UNP spokesman said. Prof. G. L. Peiris further said on the launching ceremony of a website for S. B. Dissanayake. more..

Mar 19 (LNP) UPFA coalition partner, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday said President Chandrika Kumaratunga must take firm action against some Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) over their role in trying to destroy the sovereignty of the country. more..

Mar 19 (Yahoo) Young tsunami survivors play cricket on the beach close to their temporary shelters at Galle, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Colombo, more..

Mar 19 (SAMN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga Friday charged that UNP spokesman G.L. Peiris was distorting her recent statement that the government had not received a cent in cash from the tsunami aid pledged by international donors. more..

Mar 19 (SAMN) A human rights watchdog group has requested foreign missions in Colombo to provide details about tsunami relief aid provided by their countries in cash, kind and services for the information of the people here. more..

Mar 19 (SAMN) UPFA government has no plans to privatise water or to sell water to the farmer, Mahaweli, River Basins Development and Rajarata Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena re-iterated Friday at a workshop for irrigation and cultivation committee officials at the Kandy Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS). more..

Mar 19 (SAMN) The necessity of a national energy policy, which gives priority to renewable energy resources including middle scale hydropower and Dendro power was highlighted by the Programme Co-ordinator of Energy Forum. more..

Mar 19 (TN) The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) said the Tamil media journalists are ignored in the computer-training programme of the E- Sri Lanka Project of the Government's Information Technology Institute, which is funded by the World Bank (WB). more..

Mar 19 (TN) Although the three years of relative peace after the signing of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the UNP and the LTTE has demonstrated that violence and war is not necessary to mediate relations between warring parties, the same period has "also proved that Tamil society ran the risk of turning violence inwards, against itself," more..

Mar 19 (AT) Asian Tribune returns to the story of Rajasingham Jeyadevan, a British resident, who was a leading activist for the LTTE in London, to illustrate the new Byzantine twists in the internal divisions within the ranks of the LTTE. more..

Mar 19 (PIS) Norwegian facilitators have proposed some amendments to the joint mechanism agreement between the government and the LTTE, the Peace Secretariat said yesterday. Secretariat Chief Jayantha Dhanapala said the Norwegian facilitators had proposed the compromises following discussions with the government and the LTTE. more..

Mar 19 (PRIU) Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said regional organizations are important for the country’s progress. Since becoming a sovereign state in 1948, Sri Lanka has been able to build and strengthens international relations with a vast number of countries. more..

Mar 19 (IB) Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd., recognised as the best bank in Sri Lanka by Global Finance of New York and as the Bank of the Year by The Banker of London, opened its new branch at Dhanmondi in the city recently, says a press releas. more..

Mar 19 (LT) In an interview with the BBC Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Laxman Kadirgamar said that the JVP, the main coalition partner of the government is not against the peace talks with Tigers who are campaigning for a separate state of Elam. more..

Mar 19 (LT) UNP will not support a referendum but will oppose such a move said Mr. Karu Jayasuriya, deputy leader of the UNP. He made this statement participating in a ceremony to open a web site of S.B. Dissanayake, National Organizer of the UNP who is spending a two year jail sentence for insulting the Supreme Court. more..

Mar 19 (LT) The move to shut down whole sale shops for business on Monday protesting against the mediation of S.L. Navy in the inspection of containers in Colombo Fort was manipulated by Wanni tiger organization reveal intelligence services of the Security Forces. more..

Mar 19 (LT) A Sri Lankan professor has said that Canada should not ban the LTTE. Professor of Law at the Colombo University Rohan Edrisinha, who is also a director of the Centre of Policy Alternatives said he thought the only way to go forward was for the government and the LTTE to continue to talk to each other, and work out a political solution, more..

Mar 19 (LT) Bullet proof jackets needed for the Security Forces are to be imported from India on the instructions of a senior officer of S.L. Army though former Secretary of the Ministry of Defense had decided to buy these from local entrepreneurs. more..

Mar 19 (AN) Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal’s first visit to Sri Lanka has opened new areas of cooperation in the hospitality industry and tourism. “Prince Alwaleed’s brief visit to the island on Wednesday has given a fillip to Saudi-Sri Lanka relations,” Saudi Ambassador in Colombo Mohammed Mahmud Al-Ali told Arab News over the phone. more..

Mar 19 (LNP) Microsoft Sri Lanka has just signed an MOU with the University of Moratuwa, which will make the University a member of the MSDN Academic Alliance, which has been created by Microsoft for accredited academic institutions, whose curricula include information technology. more..

Mar 19 (SLBC) Topic 1 - Ministry of education Media reports of certain newspapers on Thursday gave incorrect and distorted information on an incident that took place at the Education Ministry on Wednesday, the public day, states an Education Ministry press release. more..

Mar 19 (DN) THE Navy Headquarters yesterday scoffed certain media reports that the Navy has stopped checking containers arriving at the Colombo Port. Commodore Jayantha Perera said there was no truth in reports in certain newspapers that the Navy has stopped checking containers at the Colombo Port and added that this report misleads the public. more..

Mar 19 (HT) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Sri Lanka, for which the tentative dates were March 30 and 31, has been postponed. The two countries are now looking for new dates sometime in June or July. more..

Mar 20 (TN) Tamil National Alliance MPs Saturday boycotted the first official visit of Northeast Governor Mr. Tyronne Fernandao to Batticaloa. The Minister for Batticaloa Development, Mr. M.S.M Ameer Ali, was also not present for the Governor's visit to the troubled eastern town. more..

Mar 20 (LBO) Consumer goods retailer Singer (Sri Lanka) Ltd plans to switch some of its expensive short-term debt with a Rs. 400 mn four-year debenture issue in April. As at end 2004, Singer's long-term debt stock stood at Rs. 1.3 bn, but the company is keen to lock in inexpensive funds taking advantage of present low interest rates. more..

Mar 20 (AT) Somawansa Amarasinghe has spoken and his message is clear: the necessarily fractious alliance between the SLFP and the JVP is not going to breakdown anytime soon. It is now apposite to stop day dreaming about the ‘might have beens’ and pay attention to other, more relevant, matters. more..

Mar 20 (AT) Naval troops have arrested ten Sri Lankan refugees and one Indian dhow with three crewmembers at the 5th Sand Bank in the general sea area of Talaimannar on 18 March 2005 around 7.20 a.m. more..

Mar 20 (Stuff) Without star bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka faces a massive task on next month's tour of New Zealand - especially with the Black Caps hardened by the series against Australia. more..

Mar 20 (TP) Attallah Quiba, the Palestinian ambassador in Sri Lanka, believes that the late Palestinian leader Yaseer Arafat was killed by unnamed Israelis using advanced technology, the Island newspaper said. more..

Mar 20 (TP) A team of doctors at the National Hospital on Friday said they had for the first time in Sri Lanka pioneered a surgical method to provide a better life to a patient with Parkinson’s disease. more..

Mar 20 (TP) Sri Lanka has been recognised as one of the top honeymoon destinations in the world. According to the Tour Operators Outbound Market Report 2004\2005 issued recently in the UK, Sri Lanka has been placed in one of the top three places as a popular honeymoon destination, behind Venice in Italy and Paris. more..

Mar 20 (Jang) Sri Lanka’s under-19 batsman K Kulasekera scored a fine, unbeaten 101 to help his side to a substantial lead 134-run lead against Pakistan on the second day of the first four-day match of the series at Quaid-e-Azam Park on Saturday. more..

Mar 20 (IO) Though it's been three months since the tsunami, people are still terrified of the sea. They are convinced another wave could hit at any time since the sea has become rougher since the disaster. more..

Mar 20 (LT) Several Parliamentarians of the SLFP have been affected by an acute sickness as they are spreading fabrications about the JVP says Mr. Anura Bandaranayke, Vice President of the SLFP and Minister of Tourism. more..

Mar 20 (LT) Asia Development Bank has become an obstacle for formulating a National water policy says Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, Minister of Mahaweli, River Basin Development & Rajarata Development. more..

Mar 20 (BBC) Tamil Tigers denying access to rebel held territory to investigate claims made by the Sri lankan government on air capability of the rebels is a clear violation of the cease fire agreement says the cease fire monitors. more..

Mar 20 (BBC) Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar says the country does not need aid pledged in cash for tsunami victims provided the pledged money is used in reconstruction work. more..

Mar 20 (BBC) The first new town to be built in Sri Lanka after December's Indian Ocean tsunami is facing opposition - from some of the very people it is designed to help. The new town - Siri Bapora - is designed to house the residents of Hambantota, which has a 90% Muslim majority more..

Mar 20 (Hindu) For Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, the evening brought back old memories when he was a student at Oxford University in the 1950s and led the prestigious Oxford Union — an experience which he still cherishes. He describes it as an "icing on a cake... that was baked in Sri Lanka." more..

Mar 20 (LNP) The Government has noted World Bank Country Director Peter Harrold`s statement where he has apologised if his remarks have caused any misunderstanding, Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara said yesterday. more..