Mar 6 (ANN) Bo Lambert, a doctor of medicine and a professor of environmental medicine in the Department of Bioscience at the Karolinska Institute’s Department of Biosciences, is the spouse of Mrs. Annemarie Fallenius, the head of the Swedish Embassy here who has spent 14 months in Sri Lanka during the last three years. more..

Mar 6 (TN) Juergen Wahn Foundation (JWF), a non-profit organization located in Soest, Germany, Saturday donated about 1.2 million rupees worth of agricultural implements, bicycles and lamps to tsunami victims of Veloor hamlet located in Nilaveli village, about 16 km off north of Trincomalee town, more..

Mar 6 (TN) Four Muslims, a Singhalese and a supporter of the Liberation Tigers were shot dead by gunmen suspected to be from the paramilitary Karuna Group in Kolakunaweli, in the Welikanda area, 65 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa Saturday night around 8.45, Police said. more..

Mar 6 (TN) The International Students' Association of Tamil Eelam (ISATE) Saturday complained to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) about the attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police on ISATE's headquarters Friday afternoon. more..

Mar 6 (SLA) Suspected LTTE gunmen from WANNI faction who stormed the KOLAKANAWADIYA village in the general area of WELIKANDA on 05 March 2005 have indiscriminately opened fire on a faction of civilians killing six and injuring three more while those civilians in that area. more..

Mar 6 (SLA) A group of about 200 Muslims have gathered in the general area of PULMUDAI on 05 March 2005 in protest against migrant Sinhaleses fishermen. They have further expressed their discontent for taking legal action against a suspect who kept a T-56 weapon belonging to the Army in his possession. more..

Mar 6 (PIS) Tamil guerillas have blamed the public and student organisations for Friday's violence in which one person was killed and six others were injured during a protest in Jaffna town over the death of a school girl who was allegedly run down by an Army tractor. more..

Mar 6 (NYT) This village had been the loveliest of places to live, sitting on a narrow sandbar that extended into the Indian Ocean like a skeletal finger. On one side was a resort-caliber beach, on the other, a lagoon that separated the village from the nearby town. Palm trees dripping with coconuts provided shade. Water glittered all around. more..

Mar 6 (SAMN) The government will not meet the medical bills of three female LTTE cadres including their Ampara-Batticaloa political wing leader Kuweni now recuperating at the Indian-run Apollo Hospital at Narahenpita. Authoritative sources said that the LTTE would take care of the bills. more..

Mar 6 (SAMN) The government has consented to a European Union (EU) commissioner visiting Kilinochchi next week after she agreed to take up pressing issues with the LTTE, such as strict adherence to the cease-fire agreement and conscription of child soldiers. more..

Mar 6 (SAMN) Speculation is rife that some international development agencies are seeking a dialogue with the LTTE over what one well informed source termed as bilateral agreements on tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes. more..

Mar 6 (SAMN) S. B. Dissanayake has scotched speculation that he was being approached by the government to organise a planned defection of a group of UNP MPs in return for a presidential pardon, an aide said, reacting to a news report to that effect. more..

Mar 6 (SO) An Army deserter and a suspected criminal wanted in connection with several bank robberies and for the murder of a businessman in Kadawata was shot dead by police last morning at Ragama when he grappled with the police driver to free himself, Police said. more..

Mar 6 (LM) Six civilians were killed last night by an unidentified group in Kolakanawadi, which comes under the Welikanda police area (Polonnaruwa District). Three Muslims, two Tamils and one Sinhalese were shot in the Kolakanawadi village in two separate incidents between 8.00 and 8.30 p.m. yesterday night. more..

Mar 6 (AFP) A weekend killing spree has compounded problems for Sri Lanka's already troubled peace process and dimmed prospects of a deal on tsunami aid, diplomats and officials said. Gunmen shot dead seven people in two separate incidents in the Eastern province Saturday, more..

Mar 6 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels blamed a breakaway faction Sunday for the murder of six villagers in eastern Sri Lanka, but the military said the main guerrilla group was responsible for the killings. more..

Mar 6 (AFP) Prince Charles gave a positive assessment of British aid at work helping Sri Lanka recover from the tsunami disaster, in a report published about his stopover in the devastated Asian state. more..

Mar 6 (TN) Twenty thousand member strong Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has brought to the notice of President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge that Education department officials are discriminating the Tamil medium students in distribution of free text books thereby violating the principle of equal opportunity in education, more..

Mar 6 (TN) Vadamaradchi East Fisheries Co-operative Societies Union (VEFCSU) has requested the Government of Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to allow all Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) to resettle in their own lands in Nagarkovil West, Nagarkovil East, Nagarkovil South and Amban East, which are located inside the high security zone (HSZ), sources said. more..

Mar 6 (AFP) INSPIRED by a French perfumer and egged on by an English aficionado, a Sri Lankan master tea maker has revived a centuries-old Chinese tradition to make a brew that few but an emperor could afford. more..

Mar 7 (TP) Acting charge d’affaires of the Qatari embassy in Sri Lanka Rashed Shafee’a Al Merri handed over relief material from Qatar to officials of the Social Affairs Ministry, Sri Lankan Red Cross and the Islamic culture and development institution in the presence of UN office representative. more..

Mar 7 (TN) While stressing the importance of "the Norwegian effort to create a joint government-LTTE mechanism to be successful" for Sri Lanka to recover from the tsunami disaster, and expressing hope that "UN special ambassador and former U.S. president Bill Clinton will be able to bring the two sides together more..

Mar 7 (TN) Civil groups have called residents of Jaffna district to observe Monday as a mourning day in remembrance of Miss Nagendran Thulashika (12), a Grade 7 student and Mr. M. Kathirgamu (65) killed on Friday in two separate incidents, sources in Jaffna said. more..

Mar 7 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan police and the armed forces launched a joint operation in the Godagama and Kahawa areas Sunday in a final attempt to recover remains of victims of the tsunami train tragedy, official Daily News reported on Monday. more..

Mar 7 (ANN) World Bank Country Director Peter Harrold’s statement to the Sunday Times that the WB recognises the LTTE as a key stakeholder and his offer to release Rs. 6 bn to the North and the East to be disbursed with the concurrence with the LTTE shed light on how the closet Tigers in international organisation are clawing Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. more..

Mar 7 (AT) Year 2004 did not go well for the LTTE. Will 2005 be any better? A series of setbacks and disasters seem to suggest that the looming threats ahead are not going to ease their problems. more..

Mar 7 (LT) Statement said to be made by Peter Harold, representative of the World Bank in Sri Lanka published in ‘Sunday Times’ on the 6th March violates sovereignty of Sri Lanka says the JVP in a press release issued yesterday (6th). more..

Mar 7 (BBC) Sri Lanka has appointed a new panel to probe the Mirusuvil massacre. Five members of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) are charged with hacking to death and secretly burying seven people including a child, in December 2000, in Mirusuvil, Jaffna. more..

Mar 7 (BBC) Sri Lanka’s police say that initial investigations have shown that discrepancies in Mahaweli land distribution to have resulted in the killings in Welikanda. Six civilians were shot dead and three more injured in the shooting on Saturday evening in Kolakanawadiya, Welikanda. more..

Mar 7 (SAMN) The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) pledged to support the government in matters related to the peace process and forming a joint mechanism with the LTTE to handle tsunami relief work, if the JVP withdraws its support from the government. more..

Mar 7 (SAMN) Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the UPFA Government, which came to power on the promise of giving solutions to the problems of the people, has now given priority to finding solutions to the internal problems of the party and to hang onto power. more..

Mar 7 (SAMN) Kandy district parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella said the main reason for the government's failure to move ahead in the peace process was the tug-of-war between Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and the Secretary General of Peace Secretariat, Jayantha Danapala. more..

Mar 7 (SAMN) The JVP will force the government to streamline the land acquisition process to reconstruct houses for tsunami-affected fishermen. Deputy Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Marine Resources Nihal Galappatthi told the Daily Mirror that they discussed the matter with the Urban Development and Water Supply Minister Dinesh Gunawardane last week. more..

Mar 7 (LNP) UNP Parliamentarian Dr. Rajitha Seneratne on being asked for his comments, regarding the news item on Sunday, that the World Bank was providing Rs. 6 billion to the LTTE said that the administration of the camps in the LTTE areas are being done very efficiently and the needs of all the victims are being looked after in a fair and just manner. more..

Mar 7 (TN) A military informant was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Aaraiyampathy, 7 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Sunday night around 11, Police said. He was living by the Special Task Force (STF) camp in Aaraiyampathy. He had escaped an attempt on his life four months ago, according Kattankudy Police. more..

Mar 7 (PRIU) At a special ceremony held at the BMICH in Colombo yesterday Princess Galyani Vadhana of Thailand handed over a volume of the Tripitaka, the first in Roman Script of to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. more..

Mar 7 (LBO) Illegal drug flows into Sri Lanka, as a transit point and as a destination, is on the rise, says the international drug watchdog. "The flow of heroin from Afghanistan, the world’s largest illicit opium producer and heroin manufacturer, towards South Asian countries continues to increase," more..

Mar 7 (Reuters) Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa are set to miss Sri Lanka's tour of New Zealand because of injury, team physiotherapist CJ Clarke said on Monday. Muralitharan will resume bowling on March 17 after shoulder surgery in February. more..

Mar 7 (SLA) A former provincial correspondent of a Tamil newspaper and ex-member of the TELO was the latest youth to fall victim to the LTTE pistol shots in the general area of ARAYAMPADY, KATTANKUDY on Sunday night at about 8.30 p. m. after he left his residence on a motorbike in the morning. more..

Mar 7 (BBC) Skipper Ian Bell recorded a composed unbeaten 128 as England A reached 272-4 at the close of the first day of their three-day tour match with Sri Lanka A. Having lost the toss, Bell arrived at the crease in the third over, after Michael Powell was dismissed for seven. more..

Mar 7 (Reuters) The Sri Lanka rupee closed firmer on Monday, breaking a four-day losing streak, as exporters cashed in dollar trade earnings and banks unwound positions in the U.S. currency, dealers said. The rupee closed at 99.64 against the greenback, compared with Friday's close at 99.70. more..

Mar 7 (LM) At a recent interview with Renee Lawrence of The Bloomberg News, the Leader of the SLMC, Mr Rauff Hakeem, at his residence in Colombo, revealed that one of the communities worst hit by the December 26 tsunami disaster last year, were the Muslims who are being left out of a role in the rebuilding process today. more..

Mar 7 (LM) A high level military team led by Brigadier M. Zahir has given an undertaking to the Pulmudai Muslims that justice will be ensured to the civilians within two weeks. The undertaking was given after thousands of Muslims staged a weekend hartal, more..

Mar 7 (IO) Just three carriages are left now. The other five have gone, along with the engine, towed away by Sri Lankan Railways. But still, the people come. They come to see three battered, brown rusty cars left in Peraliya. more..

Mar 7 (Hindu) A Norwegian team of facilitators, led by Oslo's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar, on Saturday discussed the possible formation of a joint mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction between the Government and the LTTE, with the rebels' political wing leader, S. P. Tamilchelvan. more..

Mar 7 (PIS) The head of the Government’s Peace Secretariat Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala recently made a clear statement to the effect that the government was prepared to reach an agreement on a final solution to the crisis after starting talks with the LTTE on an interim Administrative Unit. more..

Mar 7 (PIS) The crisis in the East escalated yesterday with the LTTE and Karuna faction engaged in a killing spree in an apparent bid to gain supremacy. Two houses were attacked with gunfire by unknown assailants killing six people while three more including a three-year-old girl were injured in more violence reported on Saturday night. more..

Mar 7 (DN) TWELVE of the 37 power generators gifted by India as tsunami assistance, reported missing from the Trincomalee Kachcheri, were recovered on Saturday by the Army under a pile of firewood behind the Kachcheri premises. more..

Mar 7 (HT) The slow pace of post-tsunami reconstruction is beginning to worry Sri Lankans. The fact that foreign aid is coming only in driblets, despite impressive promises, has raised hackles. But many also say that governmental inertia, legal curbs, a divisive political culture and the indifference of politicians' will have to share the blame for the unsatisfactory state of affairs. more..

Mar 7 (BBC) Police have discovered another 28 bodies at the site in southern Sri Lanka of what is believed to be the world's worst train disaster. More than 800 bodies have now been identified but it is feared twice that number may have died when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the train. more..