May 10 (IANS) Norway's peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim, is coming to India for discussions at a time when New Delhi is making it abundantly clear that it can never do business with the Tamil Tigers. Solheim will be here Wednesday to meet Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, more..

May 10 (AP) Residents of the northern Tamil-majority city of Jaffna shut businesses, schools and public transportation on Tuesday in a protest over government forces who earlier fired on ethnic Tamil demonstrators in eastern Sri Lanka. more..

May 10 (AP) The World Bank has said Sri Lanka risks focusing too much on efforts to rebuild the country's tsunami-battered coasts at the expense of helping eliminate poverty in other parts of the island nation, a newspaper said Tuesday. more..

May 10 (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar discounted news reports Tuesday that China has agreed to support Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai as the next Secretary General of the United Nations. "It is very unlikely that China will declare her hand this early in the race," more..

May 10 (AFP) Two of Sri Lanka's greatest cricketers, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda De Silva, were caught in a crossfire between rival factions in the country's crisis-ridden cricket establishment. more..

May 10 (Kyodo) Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party on Tuesday declared "war" on the beleaguered United People's Freedom Alliance government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga with its leader saying that the UNP has accepted the challenge to "chase out this government." more..

May 10 (BBC) The Vanni Journalists Association says it is concerned and worried over the murder of veteran journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram. The Association urges the President Chandrika Kumaratunge and the government to take action to arrest the culprits more..

May 10 (BBC) 'Ravaya' editor Victor Ivon says organised groups are taking advantage of an anarchic situation being created by nationalists and religious extemists. Victor Ivon was talking to Sandesaya about a threatening letter he has received from a group called, 'Theraputtabaya Force'. more..

May 10 (GT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has invited all foreign ambassadors in Colombo for a meeting today at the Presidential Secretariat, to brief them on the proposed Joint Mechanism between her government and the LTTE. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, who is in Geneva, is expected to be present at the meeting. more..

May 10 (AP) Thousands of supporters of Sri Lanka's Marxist party, a key partner in the ruling coalition demonstrated Tuesday against a government plan to set up a joint group with Tamil Tiger rebels to distribute foreign aid to tsunami victims in areas under rebel control. more..

May 11 (TN) Any capability acquired by the Liberation Tigers is solely for the protection of the Tamil people and not a threat to India or any other country, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, said this week in response to concern expressed by Indian officials over the movement’s naval force and reports it had acquired aircraft. more..

May 11 (Xinhua) The China Charity Federation will use donations of Chinese people to build a new village in Sri Lanka 's southern Galle district for the displaced and the homeless due to last year's tsunami. more..

May 11 (BP) With peace talks stalled, the economy in tatters and aid to the tsunami-hit north and east plagued by Sinhalese infighting, the Sri Lankan government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga faces arguably its most important international donors' conference yet on Monday. more..

May 11 (HT) The government is to provide Muslim school students cloth to stitch the purdah from 2006 onwards. The Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education, S Thillai Nadarajah said that the cabinet had decided to issue cloth free of charge for stitching the purdah following requests from the Muslim community. more..

May 11 (AFP) Pressure mounted on Sri Lanka's president as her key coalition ally vowed to block a deal with Tiger rebels on tsunami aid while the opposition scuttled a pledge to not demonstrate against the government while the country rebuilds. more..

May 11 (AT) Sri Lankan high court was informed that there were sufficient evidence to link the top drug lord Potta Naufer with the killing of the High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya earlier November last year. more..

May 11 (BBC) The leader of the Jantha Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP), Somawansa Amerasinghe on Tuesday vowed to protect policies of the UPFA government. "We will not breach UPFA policies and we have no right to do that", JVP leader told a public rally they summoned in Colombo. more..

May 11 (YPT) DINUSHA FERNANDO dismissed Michael Vaughan on his way to figures of 2-13 in his only one-day international, but until Saturday, the Sri Lankan had not done a lot to justify his appointment as Idle's overseas player. more..

May 11 (ANN) Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT)’s net profit for 2004 has declined drastically by more than one billion Rupees to Rs.1.29 billion in 2004 compared to its profit of 2003, which was recorded at Rs. 2.24 billion, SLT’s Annual Report for 2004 said. more..

May 11 (Reuters) Varaprakasam Anesteen, a Sri Lankan fisherman, survived the Indian Ocean tsunami but lost his one-year-old son in the waves that engulfed a beach on the northern tip of the island. more..

May 11 (TN) Accusing President Chandrika Kumaratunge for not taking constructive steps to establish the Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction of NorthEast, S.P Thamilchelvan dismissed Ms Kumaratunge's positive statements on the Joint Mechanism as a mere tactic to influence the donors in the forthcoming aid conference to take decisions in her favor, and to attract international assistance. more..

May 11 (SLA) On information received from a civilian, Security Forces on 10 May 2005 recovered a dead body of a forty-six year old civilian with serious cut injuries from the wayside in the general area of KALKUDAH. According to the victim’s wife, her husband has received a warning by LTTE, the previous day over telephone more..

May 11 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s construction industry wants the government to be clear about how much of the US$ 1.5bn tsunami rebuilding will come to local companies. The local construction industry is expected to grow at over 25 percent this year, when tsunami reconstruction starts. more..

May 11 (LBO) World trade talks on agriculture trade can reduce food aid to countries like Sri Lanka, warns the United Nations. World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries are discussing new rules to govern the delivery of food aid, but the World Food Programme (WFP) says controls on food aid will hurt the poorest people in the world. more..

May 11 (LM) The fate of a Muslim and a Tamil cultivator abducted by the LTTE in Andiya Puliyan Kulam on April 29'th is yet unknown.They were abducted from their Chena cultivation plot in Andiya Pulam Kulkam in the Vanni have not yet been released. more..

May 11 (LM) 4700 Tamil families have submitted petitions for financial compensation for loss of property and assets in ethnic violence launched against them between the period January 1 1981 to 31st. December 1984, Professor Bertram Bastiampillai, Chairman of the newly constituted Committee on Ethnic Violence, more..

May 11 (LM) SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem on Tuesday lashed out at the proposed Joint Mechanism and chauvinistic politics which together would "..completely wipe off the legitimate right s of the Muslim community to an Independent Unit of Devolution (IUD) under the now stalled negotiations process. more..

May 11 (LM) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has demanded an immediate and urgent inquiry by the authorities into the Sithy Nazeera tragedy.Sithy Nazeera suffered the amputation of a healthy limb because hospital surgical staff did not care to ascertain her identity before the amputation. more..

May 11 (SLBC) Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs says it has received a large number of applications from state employees for the one million rupee credit scheme presented by the recent budget. more..

May 11 (LT) Foreign minister Laksman Kadiragamer said in an interview with BBC that even if a Joint Mechanism between the Government and the Tigers fails, there is no danger of the country being thrown back to war with a breakdown of the Cease Fire. Tigers do not have the ability to fight another war. No one wants to go back to war, he said. more..

May 11 (LT) The leader of the JVP, Somawansa Amarasinghe said that as long as the President sticks to one policy and does not take decisions that adversely affect the sovereignty and independence of the country their party will extend their full support to strengthen the hands of the President and to safeguard the Alliance. more..

May 11 (CT) In Sri Lanks the "Prohibition of forced Conversions' Bill" went to parliament for a second reading on Friday 6 May 2005. The parliament approved the draft and the bill was then referred to a Standing Committee. At this stage, according to the Sri Lankan Parliamentary procedure, the law can be corrected and altered slightly before a final reading and voting. more..

May 11 (RW) It is beautiful to see the children in Sri Lanka go to school in the morning with their white uniforms and black shoes. In some villages families are so committed to outfitting their children in uniforms that they will not let their children attend without them. more..

May 11 (RW) The tsunami of December 26th 2004 caused widespread destruction in Sri Lanka. The 10 metre high tidal wave came up to one kilometre inland causing damage along the entire length of the eastern and southern coasts and on the western coast almost as far north as Colombo. more..

May 11 (CI) Five Sri Lanka Under-19 cricketers who excelled during the recent tour of Pakistan have been included in a 25-member Sri Lanka A pool named for the upcoming series against West Indies A. Harshan Vithana, the Sri Lankan Under-19 captain, Upul Tharanga and Chamara Kapugedera, both batsmen, Gihan de Silva, the wicketkeeper, and Chanaka Wijesinghe, the fast bowler, more..

May 11 (SAMN) With just days to go for the crucial international donor conference in Kandy the donor nations are reported to be still not unanimous in their decision to sign a joint statement insisting on the need for a joint mechanism between the government and the LTTE, more..

May 11 (SAMN) A qualitative improvement of the existing curricula in the primary and secondary school system is being planned by the Ministry of Education, National Education Commission, and the National Institute of Education (NIE). more..

May 11 (SAMN) The Presidential Investigation Unit (PIU) has informed President Chandrika Kumaratunga about alleged irregularities in the admission of a grandson of a member of the Public Service Commission to Ananda College, an official said yesterday. more..

May 11 (LNP) UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday, at a ceremony held at the party headquarters, Siri Kotha, inaugurated what the UNPdescribed as a campaign to overthrow the UPFA government. `There is an evil force which has caused destruction in this country. It is the UPFA government. more..

May 11 (LNP) TULF Leader V. Anandasangaree is intensively campaigning for the establishment of an Indian type of federal system to be established in Sri Lanka. The TULF leader met with the Jathika Hela Urumaya last week and held discussions with the monks and tried to impress upon them the importance of having an Indian type of federal system in Sri Lanka. more..

May 11 (LNP) A soldier was admitted to the Batticaloa hospital with gunshot wounds after an LTTE attack on an army post, at Mavadivembu, around 9.30 p.m. on Monday (9). However, the LTTE cadres who launched the attack on the post had fled when the troops returned fire, a senior Army spokesman said. more..

May 11 (IPS) In times of tragedy, nations will look for solace in the most unexpected of places, even among the dead. Almost five months after tidal waves from the Dec. 26 tsunami killed more than 31,000 Sri Lankans and left another 200,000 destitute, this seems to ring true in the island-nation. more..

May 11 (DN) A special police team attached to the Wellawatta police yesterday uncovered a massive stolen vehicle racket following the arrest of four suspects who are involved in underworld activities. more..

May 11 (AP) Sri Lanka will discuss efforts to speed-up the delivery of crucial aid to tsunami victims and rebuild damaged areas during a meeting of foreign donors and aid agencies next week, the government said Wednesday. more..

May 11 (BBC) Proposed joint mechanism (JoMec) for tsunami reconstruction between the government and the LTTE should be a part of the peace process, Sri Lanka’s main opposition said. more..

May 11 (DJ) Air traffic controllers in Sri Lanka may not report to work Thursday if a salary issue is not resolved Wednesday, the president of the Air Traffic Controllers Association of Sri Lanka said. Meetings with government officials Wednesday failed to resolve a disagreement over salaries, more..

May 11 (AP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga, has postponed her visit to India this weekend, her spokesman Harim Peiris, said here today. Peiris did not give any reasons for the postponement. Kumaratunga, during her two-day visit to India, was to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to seek support for joint aid agency with Tamil rebels to distribute tsunami relief. more..

May 11 (BBC) Government's coalition partner Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) should lead the process of getting the LTTE back to democratic process, a senior government official said. Governor of the north-east province Tyronne Fernando said the Tamil Tigers are cooperating with the government in regional level for tsunami reconstruction. more..

May 11 (AFP) Sri Lanka will spend 7.3 million dollars to woo high-spending holiday makers from Europe and neighbouring India to fill hotel rooms left empty after the December tsunamis, officials said. more..

May 11 (PTI) Sri Lanka's main opposition UNP today asked President Chandrika Kumaratunga to enter into a controversial deal with Tamil Tiger rebels on handling of millions of dollars in tsunami aid despite protests from her own ruling coalition. more..