Sep 16 (SLA) An unidentified suspected Tamil Tiger threw a hand grenade towards a roadblock, manned by Sri Lanka Air Force personnel in the general area of ANURADHAPURA junction, TRINCOMALEE on Thursday (15) around 8.00 p.m.. more..

Sep 16 (SLA) A hand grenade attack in SEVANAPITIYA village area, WELIKANDA damaged a house and a vehicle inside the compound on Thursday (15) around 10.15 p.m. Troops from BOATTA detachment immediately rushed to the location and searched the area. more..

Sep 16 (SLA) On a request made by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), a representative of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) had brought down the remains of a civilian from un-cleared areas in PALAKKADU, BATTICALOA on 15 September 2005 around 10.00 p.m.. more..

Sep 16 (SLA) A group of twenty-one delegates, most of who are course participants at the National Defence College (NDC) of India on an invitation extended to them by the Sri Lanka Army, are now in Sri Lanka as part of their field study tour in the course. more..

Sep 16 (SN) This petition is served on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka, taking into consideration environmental and social factors relevant to them. Nevertheless we would like to emphasize that we do focus on the environmental and social impact of this project on India, the Asian region and elsewhere as well. more..

Sep 16 (LT) Wanni tigers’ Puliyankulam political wing leader, Wardhan said at a meeting held at Puliyankulam Vidyalaya that they closed their political camps until the Presidential election is over and they will re-open them after the elections. more..

Sep 16 (LT) Since the 1-1 1/2 lakhs Tamil votes in the estate sector will be shared among the Tamil leaders like Messrs. Chandrasekaran, Sathasivam and Puthrasigamani, Mr Arumugam Thondaman will get only a least amount of votes says Parliamentarian Mr T Maheswaran. more..

Sep 16 (LT) Prime Minister has sent a letter of demand to Mr Tissa Attanayake, Deputy General Secretary of the UNP claiming Rs 1 billion for making false allegations on “Helping Hambantota” Account that he has misused money. more..

Sep 16 (LBO) Transparency International is urging stricter controls to prevent political appointments to top public sector posts if a new President is elected this year. Sri Lanka’s public sector and diplomatic corps, at least since the 1970’s, have been used to reward political supporters and staunch party loyalists by successive governments. more..

Sep 16 (PRIU) President Chandrika Kumaratunga met with Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso President of the EU Commission yesterday afternoon [14th September] at the UN Head Quarters in New York. After the initial exchange of pleasantries the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest. more..

Sep 16 (SLBC) The Department of the Elections Commissioner points out that as a result of the irregularities when casing postal votes various malpractices take place. It also causes the rejection of many votes. The main reason for this is the lack of proper information in application forms for casting postal vote. more..

Sep 16 (Hindu) Sri Lanka's main Opposition, the United National Party (UNP), on Thursday said its Presidential candidate, Ranil Wickremesinghe, would follow a policy of "division of authority, without division of territory," to solve the island-nation's decades-long separatist conflict. more..

Sep 16 (PIS) The LTTE will not lay down arms before a final solution that meets the aspirations of the Tamil people in the North and East. LTTE media spokesman Daya Master says the rebel leadership is firm on the stand that an agreement which meets the needs of the Tamil people should be arrived at and implemented before the LTTE lays down arms. more..

Sep 16 (SAMN) The agreements between Premier Mahinda Rajapakse and the JVP and JHU will be a serious threat to the national economy, national security and the entire country, UNP spokesman G.L. Peiris said yesterday. Prof. Peiris said the agreements with the JVP and the JHU were politically beneficial to the UNP but were unhealthy for the country. more..

Sep 16 (SAMN) In a statement issued from New York yesterday, Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike clarified certain media reports published in Colombo. He said: "I am presently attending the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations in New York with the President Chandrika Kumaratunga and several other Ministers and Deputy Ministers. more..

Sep 16 (LNP) Intelligence reports seen by The Island reveals that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are working towards Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in the near future thereby taking the international community for a ride. more..

Sep 16 (LNP) Citing personal reasons, the Colombo Chief Magistrate on Wednesday declined to hear the case against former Sri Lanka Cricket President Thilanga Sumathipala. Chief Magistrate Sarojini Kusala Weerawardana having listened to more than half of the evidence declined to proceed further saying it was not proper for her to hear the case. more..

Sep 16 (LNP) Former Minister S.B. Dissanayake, in his objection to the appeal filed by the Bribery Commission against his acquittal by the High Court of all charges of bribery, alleged the sole purpose of the Bribery Commission`s appeal application was to prolong his agony by maintaining the allegation before court during the coming months more..

Sep 16 (Xinhua) Two German swimming champions Nadine Kuhn and Juliane Bothner will coach tsunami affected children in Sri Lanka. The aim of the two German swimming champions is to make the children aware of the importance of learning to swim at an early age as it is not only a sport but also helps to save lives, more..

Sep 16 (DN) Secretary to the Committee for control of tobacco and liquor of the Sri Lanka Society of Medicine Dr. Manoj Fernando revealed that 50,000 persons died per year in Sri Lanka as a result of consuming liquor and smoking cigarettes of that number nearly 30,000 persons died due to liquor consumption while other 20,000 died due to smoking. more..

Sep 16 (AT) Sending her top advisor and head of the Peace Secretariat Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala on a week-long public diplomacy campaign in America’s capital, Washington, whose finger prints are often seen in many developments and trends worldwide, on a new crusade against LTTE, more..

Sep 16 (CI) Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's master spinner, has dismissed rumours regarding his alleged connection with a Mumbai bar dancer and, through her, with the betting syndicates. Over the past week there has been intense speculation in certain sections of the Indian media on the renewed threat of match-fixing. more..

Sep 16 (IANS) Heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh have affected the Sanchi stupa, one of the most sacred and oldest Buddhist shrines across the world and a UNESCO world heritage site. According to sources in the ASI, water is leaking through the roof into the 16-metre high and 37-metre in diameter stupa at Sanchi, 46 km north of state capital Bhopal. more..

Sep 16 (AFP) Sri Lanka announced that a state of emergency enforced after the assassination of the foreign minister would be extended for another month, despite opposition from Tamil Tiger rebels. Government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva told reporters on Friday that an extension resolution would go before parliament next week. more..

Sep 16 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan government said Friday that no agreement had been reached with the Tamil Tigers on the venue for the proposed talks to review the truce agreement between the two former warring parties. more..

Sep 16 (AP) Sri Lanka's government Friday strongly protested the detention by Tamil Tiger rebels of three policemen who ventured into the insurgents' territory last week while pursuing a suspected British pedophile. more..

Sep 16 (LM) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Secretary General ,M.T.Hasan Ali MP, challenged the JVP to prove that it has the same support as during the last general election by fielding its own candidate in the upcoming presidential election. more..

Sep 16 (LM) The SLMC is commemorating today (September 16) the fifth death anniversary of its founding father Mr.M.H.M.Ashraff in the Eastern cities of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara. A commemoration meeting at the hill country capital Kandy will be held tomorrow. more..

Sep 16 (CI) For Sajeewa Weerakoon, the road to international recognition is still some distance away despite the number of times he has produced match-winning performances for the Sri Lanka A team. The orthodox left-arm spinner from BRC has been knocking on the door and sounding out the national selectors with a kind of consistency that no other cricketer in recent times has managed. more..

Sep 16 (ANN) Bureaucratic red tape and the indifferent attitude displayed by Sri Lankan officials have delayed the proposed construction of a fully equipped children's hospital in Kalutara, southern Sri Lanka. more..

Sep 16 (ANN) Norway is to send former chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Trond Furuhovde, to Colombo to start talks on the proposed Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE). more..

Sep 17 (LBO) Cabinet this week approved US$ 310 million in donor funding to reconstruct 1137 kilometers of road and 25 major bridges in the tsunami affected coastal regions. Road Development Authority’s Tsunami Project Coordinator S Meihandan on Friday said reconstruction contracts will be awarded later this year or early next year. more..

Sep 17 (TN) More than five-hundred soldiers of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police cordoned off and searched Sinna Urani and Iruthayapuram, two outer suburbs of Batticaloa town Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., civilian sources said. SLA soldiers collected family details of selected households in the area. more..

Sep 17 (TN) 'Aattu Patti' a village in Karaveddy North, Jaffna District, the first village to have been reconstructed by the Tamils rehabilitation Organizatino (TRO) with ADB funding under the Social Reconstruction programme was declared open and handed over to the beneficiaries on 14 September, more..

Sep 17 (BBC) Anuradhapura magistrate remanded three Buddhist monks of the Rajarata University on charges of ragging a junior monk. Senior undergraduate students, Guruwelayaye Dhammananda thero, Meewalapathana Wimalawansa thero and Yatamalgama Dhammasiri thero were arrested on Friday by the police for allegedly ragging a junior student. more..

Sep 17 (BBC) The cabinet of ministers in Sri Lanka have decided to amend the current laws to reduce the age of consent. Justice Minister John Senevirathne said the government is proposing to reduce the age of consent of the girls for sexual encounters to 13 years. more..

Sep 17 (AP) A man from Sri Lanka on Friday broke the Guinness world record for the longest time spent watching TV. He finished with 69 hours and 48 minutes. Suresh Joachim did his TV viewing in the lobby of WABC-TV as part of the "Guinness World Record Breaker Week" on the syndicated talk show "Live With Regis and Kelly." more..

Sep 17 (AT) “I experienced first-hand a concerted campaign to prevent me from traveling to Tamil Eelam. Before I left Sydney, the editorial advisor and head of the Australian Bureau of the “Asian Tribune” alleged I was carrying nearly $100, 000. 00 cash into Sri Lanka alleged Virginia Judge a New South Wales state parliament. “ more..

Sep 17 (TA) COLOMBO may claim Sri Lanka's top billing, but it's in Kandy where you'll find this island nation's most prized jewels. After arriving in chaotic Colombo, there are several ways to escape to the Sri Lankan hill town of Kandy. Catch a tourist bus, employ your own driver or, best of all, take the local train in the tourist carriage. more..

Sep 17 (LT) The fundamental agreements reached between him and the SLFP have been broken by the Prime Minister says Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, UNP leader and Presidential candidate of the party. The concept about a “united Sri Lanka” was first brought up by Chandrika and Norwegians too were brought by her said Mr. Wickremasinghe. more..

Sep 17 (LT) Key monetary centers will never be privatized says SLFP Presidential candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. “They are asserts of the country. They belong to the people of the country. Hence such key centers which are important for the economy of the country will never be sold,” said Mr. Rajapakse more..

Sep 17 (TP) Recruiting agencies in Qatar may have to soon begin buying insurance cover for Sri Lankan maids when they arrive here to take up jobs. Having raised the minimum salary limit for its women taking up a maid's job in Qatar to QR600 from QR450 a month recently, Colombo is now keen to ensure they have a mandatory insurance cover as well. more..

Sep 17 (TP) The controversy over the discovery of a worm infested pack of sausages from a well-known supermarket that attracted a lot of media attention in the Sri Lankan media, has caused a sharp drop in sales of all brands of sausages in super markets, well informed sources told the Daily Mirror. more..

Sep 17 (TN) Mannar Citizens' Committee (MCC) Friday complained to Mr.V.Visvalingam, Government Agent of the district that Mannar town has become a garrisoned city with the deployment of several hundred additional government troops and establishment of new checkpoints and sentries. more..

Sep 17 (SLA) An Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) politician resident in the general area of VAVUNIYA for fear of reprisals of tigers was brutally slain Friday night at about 9.20 p.m by Tamil tigers while he was on his way back home at TEAKKAWATTA Junction, VAVUNIYA. more..

Sep 17 (SLA) A seventeen year old teenager abducted by suspected Tamil tigers from the general area of PUTTALAM has reportedly managed to escape and returned home on 15 September 2005 around 3.00 p.m. The victim was on his push bicycle to attend a private tuition class more..

Sep 17 (SLA) One thousand eight hundred and forty two (1,842) loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 09 September 2005 and 15 September 2005. more..

Sep 17 (SLA) Security Forces and on Police roadblock duty in the general area of MAHA KUMARATHUNGA MAWATHA, COLOMBO arrested two suspicious men on a motorbike with 9 mm browning type pistol, 10 rounds of 9 mm pistol, 30 packets of 20 mg each narcotics, 02 mobile phones and a sum of Rs 19090 on 19 September 2005 around 3.00 p.m. more..

Sep 17 (CT) The Bribery Commission will prosecute any person using state property in the upcoming presidential election, it was announced yesterday. Chairman, Permanent Commission Investigating Allegations of Bribery and Corruption, Justice Ameer Ismail told The Morning Leader the use of any state property for election purposes was an offence under Section 70 of the Bribery Act more..

Sep 17 (PRIU) Mr. Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization [ILO] called on President Chandrika Kumaratunga at her New York hotel suite yesterday afternoon [16th September]. Mr. Somavia invited Sri Lanka to play a greater role following its election to the governing body of the ILO. more..