Nov 21 (TP) The LTTE has no justification to exist since the woes of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka it originally espoused in the early 1980s remain resolved, says Sri Lanka’s ambassador in Doha, S B Atugoda. more..

Nov 21 (TG) Some are still in despair; others speak of joy at their survival. One, a 15-year-old who lost his father, mother and sister to the tsunami that claimed up to 300,000 lives last Christmas, expresses his grief through poetry. more..

Nov 21 (ANN) Despite the recently introduced European Union restrictions on the LTTE, LTTE TV has planned to expand its international coverage. The Paris based channel, National Television of Thamil Eelam (NTT), is believed to have concluded negotiations with Eurostar, a major European satellite services provider, in this regard. more..

Nov 21 (Kyodo) The exit Saturday of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga from Sri Lanka's powerful executive presidency after 11 years may spell the end of a Bandaranaike dynasty that has been a very visible presence in the country's politics since independence from Britain in 1948. more..

Nov 21 (SLA) A GANG OF SUSPECTED TAMIL TIGERS, engaged in some propaganda work on the DELFT Island, JAFFNA have reportedly abducted a sailor of the Sri Lanka Navy on Sunday (20) evening at about 6.25 p.m. while he was on his way for duty. more..

Nov 21 (SLA) FAILURE TO PAY RANSOM to Tamil Tigers (LTTE) resulted in murder of a businessman and a businesswoman (husband and wife) in the general area of MIRAVODAI in VALAICHCHENAI during wee hours on Sunday (20). more..

Nov 21 (LM) Life in Kalmunai, Sammanthurai and Akkaraipattu continued be on a standstill from yesterday when a day of mourning was declared in respect of the funeral of five worshipers who were killed in a grenade attack on Friday, 19 at the Grand Mosque in Akkaraipattu. more..

Nov 21 (LM) There were concerns for the future of the ceasefire in Sri Lanka yesterday after a hardliner who opposes demands for autonomy from the Tamil Tiger rebels was elected president. more..

Nov 21 (LM) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga had directed her secretary, the three armed forces and the police some weeks ago to formulate a novel system of ceremonials to welcome the new President, Presidential Secretariat said yesterday. more..

Nov 21 (AT) A memorial service was held for the slain Jaffna Central College Principal K.Rajadurai at the Periyasivan Kovil in Scarborough, Toronto on Sunday. Relatives, students, and friends gathered in hundreds at the Temple to remember the Principal. more..

Nov 21 (LT) The Colombo Division Criminal Investigation Division has decided to forward a report on millionaire businessman Charles Gnanakone who is in custody in connection with the alleged murder of late Mr Lakshman Kadirgarmer. more..

Nov 21 (SLBC) A gem investment zone will be set up centered in Ratnapura at a cost of 3 billion rupees. Ten centers for gem cutting equipped with latest technology along with a training center for gem industrialists will also be set up. Small and Medium entrepreneurs bank will assist with 100 million rupees in the venture. more..

Nov 21 (PIS) LTTE front organisations in Australia have launched a major fund raising campaign in Melbourne, Sydney and in other Australian cities allegedly for the final Eelam war says SPUR, Mulgrave based organization of Sri Lanka expatriotes in Australia. more..

Nov 21 (SLE) The Navy Headquarters expects President Mahinda Rajapakse to decide on the vacant number two slot. Navy Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema is on leave prior to retirement on November 24. more..

Nov 21 (SLE) Former Minister Anura Bandaranaike is believed to have angered the Rajapakse camp by urging the then Prime Minister not to shun an unprecedented live political debate with rival Ranil Wickremesinghe. This was in the backdrop of Rajapakse deciding not to accept the challenge. more..

Nov 21 (SLE) The Catholic Bishops Conference while congratulating Mahinda Rajapakse, on his being elected the 5th Executive President,has said they believe he would remain committed to the positions endorsed in his manifesto. more..

Nov 21 (SLE) Outgoing UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema said that their candidate could have easily won if the Tamils were allowed to exercise their franchise at last Thursday's presidential poll. "We expected approximately 450,000 votes from the northern and eastern provinces," he told The Island more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) Outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga said although she will be leaving the reins of office she would continue to dedicate herself towards the protection of children and uplift of the country's education. more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) The MP’s seat that fell vacant with the swearing in of new President is expected to be filled by former MP Nirupama Rajapakse, political sources said yesterday. Nirupama Rajapakse is the next in the list of preferential votes of Hambantota District polled in the last General Election. more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) Some 1000 policemen from various police stations and special units are to be absorbed into the Presidential Security Division of newly elected President Mahinda Rajapakse. City Traffic Director DIG S. M. Wickramasingha has been appointed as the DIG in charge of the new PSD, police sources said. more..

Nov 21 (LNP) Despite a widespread belief that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna will be a coalition partner of the Mahinda Rajapakse government, a JVP source indicated yesterday that they would continue to sit with the opposition. more..

Nov 21 (LNP) The LTTE will conduct its Heroes Day celebrations at the site of the former Elephant Pass Army camp on November 27, ten days after the group prevented hundreds of thousands of Tamils in the North and East from voting at the Presidential election. more..

Nov 21 (LNP) `If I quit the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) today it will be the downfall of this age old institution and they will have to shut it`s doors soon` said the Chairman SLBC Hudson Samarasinghe. more..

Nov 21 (DN) INDIAN Astro-consultant K.K. Theventhra Rajh who predicted the victory of President Mahinda Rajapakse three months before the Presidential poll said that within one year the new President and the LTTE leader would reach a settlement to the ethnic crisis in the country. more..

Nov 21 (wsws) Four tragic suicides by farmers in the north-central province of Sri Lanka during the lead-up to the presidential election have highlighted the plight of many small farmers, who face mounting debt, rising costs and insecure incomes. more..

Nov 21 (AFP) Tom Moody, Sri Lanka's coach, feels that Sri Lanka have put their dismal one-day tour of India behind them and are geared up for a better show in next month's Test series. India, who thrashed a lacklustre Sri Lanka 6-1 in the one-day series earlier this month, will host them again for three Tests starting in Chennai on December 2. more..

Nov 21 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's health authorities are to devise a simulation exercise based on a preparedness plan designed to combat bird flu disease which is not yet reported in Sri Lanka, a senior official in charge of animal production and health has said. more..

Nov 21 (BBC) In a bombed-out former post office, pockmarked with bullet holes and shrapnel, a group of uniformed Tamils plotted their ambush. Most of them were hidden behind a thicket of bushes on the main road through rebel-controlled territory, just 10 minutes outside Kilinochchi, the Tamil's unofficial capital. more..

Nov 21 (KT) SRI LANKA’S new leader means business. Mahinda Rajapakse, who took over as the new president this Saturday, has won a decisive mandate. And apparently he’s conscious of people’s expectations and the challenges ahead. more..

Nov 21 (HT) New President Mahinda Rajapaksa, described by the Westernised elite as a Sinhala-Buddhist hawk and a leftist hardliner, might prove his detractors wrong. His mellow personality, record in politics and the slender margin of victory in the November 17 election, may combine to make him a moderate and pragmatic President seeking consensus rather than confrontation. more..

Nov 21 (HT) KV Balakumaran, a leading ideologue of the LTTE, has said that the victory of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the November 17 Sri Lankan Presidential election will promote the Tamil cause as espoused by the LTTE's Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. more..

Nov 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s agriculture tariffs facing massive cuts in Hong Kong with majority small farmers in line of fire. With over 90 percent of its tariffs bound at the average of 50 percent, Sri Lanka's agriculture tariffs are already much lower than most developing countries. more..

Nov 21 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's bourse closed sharply lower on Monday, continuing to slide as the market digested Friday's presidential election win by left-of-centre former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, traders said. The Colombo All-Share fell a provisional 7.26 percent to close at 2,159.91 points. more..

Nov 21 (AP) The Tamil Tigers rebel group rebuffed new Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse's calls for peace talks, saying Sunday the hard-line leader does not understand their aspirations for a separate state on the Indian Ocean island. more..

Nov 21 (AFP) New Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has been been a hardliner who once asked majority Sinhalese to have more babies and produce more fighters against Tamil Tiger rebels. Wickremanayake, 73, was sworn in as prime minister Monday by the new President Mahinda Rajapakse -- his second stint in the post. more..

Nov 21 (AP) Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, right, takes oaths as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka as President Mahinda Rajapakse, left and his secretary Lalith Weeratunga, center, look on in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Monday, Nov 21, 2005. more..

Nov 21 (AFP) Thousands of tsunami survivors in rebel-held areas of northern Sri Lanka were evacuated to higher ground on Monday after lashing monsoon rains flooded their camps, an official said. “Around 4,000 families have been evacuated from transitional camps in the Mullaittivu and Vadamarachi East districts,” more..

Nov 22 (IANS) The strife-torn Sri Lanka is moving towards Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy to regain social and spiritual calm, said peace activists A.T. Ariyaratne here Monday. The spiritualism and the principles of non-violence and truth that will defeat materialism in the end, said Ariyaratne, who was awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize in 1996. more..

Nov 22 (RW) Nearly 2,500 families have been helped by an IOM livelihood restoration programme for tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka. The programme allows people to build a foundation for their future by developing sustainable incomes. Among them is a carpenter proud of his new but popular creation fashioned out by tools provided by IOM. more..

Nov 22 (RW) In many ways the children had the most to lose when the waves came crashing through their homes and schools. Now, many months after the waves struck, they require further assistance to prevent terrible problems associated with displacement -- disease, hunger, malnutrition and exploitation -- in the aftermath of such a disaster. more..

Nov 22 (UT) Thushari de Silva grew up wild on the beaches of this southern town. Her family couldn't afford to send her to school. She spent her days running in the surf, playing loudly with her brothers and getting into trouble. Then tragedy changed everything. more..

Nov 22 (TN) Three South Indian fishermen from Nagappattinam lost their bearing during the prevailing stormy weather in seas off Point Pedro in northern coast of Jaffna and landed in Inparuddy in Vadamaradchy North coast Monday morning, sources in Jaffna said. more..

Nov 22 (BBC) The coalition ally of newly elected president, JVP is yet to decide whether to rejoin the government, a senior party leader said. Former Cultural Affairs minister Vijitha Herath said the party has not decided to accept any Cabinet portfolio as suggested by the SLFP leaders. more..

Nov 22 (BBC) The main opposition candidate defeated in the Sri Lanka presidential elections has decided to step down from the leadership of the UNP. UNP parliamentarian Rajitha Senarathne said Ranil Wickramasinghe will also step down as the leader of the opposition in the parliament. more..

Nov 22 (TW) Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today welcomed the successful conclusion of elections for the President of Sri Lanka. “The Government of Canada congratulates Sri Lankans on the election of a new President and is encouraged that, in most parts of the country, people were able to vote in high numbers. more..

Nov 22 (UPI) The victory of Mahinda Rajapakse in a closely fought Sri Lankan presidential election will hamper the peace-process between Colombo and the LTTE, causing worry for India, Indian political analysts said Monday. Sri Lanka could soon join the group of neighboring countries that have been causing problems for New Delhi as more..

Nov 22 (RW) Community consultation has been one of the guiding principles for the reconstruction process after the devastation of last year’s tsunami. A US$5000 World Bank grant to one of Sri Lanka’s leading non government organizations, Sarvodaya earlier this year helped initiate talks among tsunami affected communities in the south and the east. more..

Nov 22 (TN) Supreme Court Monday suspended the inquiry into the Post Tsunami Operations Management Structure (P-TOMS) petition. Chief Justice Sarath N.Silva announced that the inquiry into the petitions filed against the implementation of the P-TOMS is suspended indefinitely. more..

Nov 22 (WB) “This was the first day I knew the meaning of fear,” says K.G. Nadeeka Dilan, a three wheeler “tuk tuk” mechanic, recalling the tsunami of December 26. The Devata Bay in Galle in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province, where Dilan lives, is calm and blue. more..

Nov 22 (WF) The United States congratulated President-elect Mahinda Rajapakse November 18 on the announcement of his victory in the national elections held the previous day. A State Department statement said the United States looks forward to working with Rajapakse and maintaining the historically close ties between the two countries. more..