Jan 28 (IRNA) Sri Lankan peace negotiator Eric Solheim, who arrived here Saturday on a day long visit to confer with Indian leaders, said "New Delhi looked for peace in Sri Lanka within the parameters of a single state. He said Norway appreciated India's advice and also kept it fully informed of the developments in the peace process." more..

Jan 28 (IANS) The chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to visit Sri Lanka amid persisting concern over the island nation's ethnic conflict despite a breakthrough in the peace process. Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi will reach Colombo Monday on a five-day trip. more..

Jan 28 (AFP) Australia will tailor their game plan to try and stifle the flair of Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya when the two teams clash in their make-or-break triangular series limited overs clash in Perth on Sunday afternoon. more..

Jan 28 (IANS) After allowing the Afghan mujahideen to blossom into Taliban and Al Qaeda, the US is taking a hard look at Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas, undoubtedly the world's most lethal insurgent group. The question is: can this lead to a confrontation between the two? more..

Jan 28 (AP) A judge on Saturday extended the detention of five Indians seized by Sri Lanka's navy, allegedly with tens of thousands of detonators that authorities believe were intended for Tamil Tiger rebels. Magistrate S. Balasubramanium said he ordered the men held in prison until Feb. 10 pending further investigations. more..

Jan 28 (Xinhua) President Mahinda Rajapakse said Saturday that the main objective of going into talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels next month is to put an end to violence and thereby to prevent people from getting killed. President said "the foremost task is to protect people's right to live, freedom to live. That was the main idea in going to Geneva." more..

Jan 28 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels have accused government forces of harassing civilians despite this week's breakthrough in their stalled peace process. The rebel LTTE said government troops had conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the northern Jaffna peninsula on Friday, despite Wednesday's agreement to hold face-to-face talks next month. more..

Jan 28 (Reuters) People release balloons during a peace rally in Colombo. Several peace groups and civil leaders together held a mass peace demonstration and released one thousand balloons in a symbolic demand to the government and Tamil rebels to ensure violence is ended. more..

Jan 29 (ICC) Sri Lanka are about to find out whether home ground advantage is a blessing or a handicap when they set out on their quest to win the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup next month. The venues and conditions may be familiar to Angelo Mathews and his side but set against that will be the enormous expectations on the players to do well in their own backyard. more..

Jan 29 (BBC) The government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers have agreed to start negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. The LTTE said the talks will only focus on stabilising the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), which was under threat due to increased violence. more..

Jan 29 (BBC) North and South, both should change their earlier attitude if peace process is to make progress, says Minister of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration, D.E.W.Gunasekera. LTTE has not changed and not given an alternative to their original claim of an Eelam, Minister Gunasekera said. more..

Jan 29 (BBC) The barriers to peace process would be the government partners - JVP and JHU, says the UNP mp, Mahinda Wijesekera. One time SLFP stalwart, Mahinda Wijeskera who crossed over to UNP along with S.B.Dissanayake told Sandesaya that UNP support for the peace process would not be in lieu of a demand for the release of S.B.Dissanayake. more..

Jan 29 (TN) Two Tamil female candidates who sat for the Sri Lanka Law College entrance examination have filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) application in the Supreme Court alleging discrimination against Tamil medium candidates. Both have begged the court to order for re-correction of their answer scripts, legal sources said. more..

Jan 29 (TN) The Jaffna University Senate Saturday decided to send the names of three Professors for the post of Vice Chancellor which is to fall vacant on March 12 when the incumbent, Professor S.Mohanathas, leaves office. Jaffna University Senate, which met Saturday afternoon, selected three out of six professors who contested more..

Jan 29 (TN) A discussion between the leaders of the LTTE in Trincomalee and a twenty-member delegation of Muslim religious and civil leaders in Muttur division was held Saturday afternoon in the LTTE district political secretariat in Sampoor in Muttur east in the presence of the members of the SLMM, sources said. more..

Jan 29 (LeN) If someone tried to carry the government to a federal solution, it will give rise to a serious crisis that would decide the fate of the government, JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa has predicted. more..

Jan 29 (LT) The police team probing the bomb explosions that occurred in Colombo and suburbs on the 24th have started questioning Mr. Pasan Madanayake, the person who invested for ‘Irudina’ a newspaper sympathetic to the UNP. He was first questioned on the 27th night. more..

Jan 29 (LT) SLFP and the JVP have begun talks regarding contesting forthcoming local government elections as a joint front. The discussion was held on 27th evening at Temple Trees on the request of the SLFP. SLFP leaders have pointed out the importance of both parties contesting as United People’s Freedom Alliance and have requested for JVP views about it. more..

Jan 29 (AT) Kandy City Centre (KCC), ultra-modern Commercial and Shopping Complex constructed at a cost of US $ 56 million at Dalada Vidiya, Kandy would be the most modern commercial complex in Sri Lanka and it would become operative by end May 2006. more..

Jan 29 (TW) Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike fears that with the increasing violent attacks in the north east, the tourism industry would face severe consequences if urgent steps are not taken to work towards peace. Bandaranaike says that in order to move forward, the government and the LTTE should make a firm commitment to finding a lasting solution to the ethnic conflict, more..

Jan 29 (TW) Jaffna District TNA Parliamentarian, Gajen Ponnambalam warns this is the last chance the Tamil people will give the Sinhalese leadership to solve the ethnic crisis. He says it is up to the Sinhalese leadership to seize this opportunity and go ahead with the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement. more..

Jan 29 (AT) There is a time to fight and a time not to fight. The Tigers know this, always knew this – as can be evidenced by their periodic ceasefires. Faced with an adverse international and internal climate the LTTE did the wise thing. more..

Jan 29 (TN) One year has passed since Boxing day disaster. Tsunami relief supplies have stopped and the fourth installment of the six monthly installments promised by the Sri Lanka Governmnt was paid only two months ago. The refugees at Thiraimadu, an outer suburb of Batticaloa town, are yet to hear from the NGO that promised to build permanent houses for them. more..

Jan 29 (ISL) Although former Prime Minister Ranil Wicramasighe had gained increasing International support for Sri Lanka’s peace process, his inaction and failure to actively combat corruption, thugs, and manipulation in the UNP ranks had cost his political career, according to political commentators. more..

Jan 29 (ISL) Dr Vickramabahu Karunarathne, the General Secretary of NSSP said that the current government who criticized former Prime Minister Ranil Wicramasighe has an American lackey is now adopted pro- American policies than the former Prime Minister. more..

Jan 29 (ISL) EROS Nesan questioned why the Norwegian peace facilitators have not encouraged representatives of the Tamil, Muslim & Sinhalese political parties in Sri Lanka to observe and take part in the proposed peace negotiations to be held in Geneva next month. more..

Jan 29 (ISL) The Puttlam district UNP Parliamentarian Ranga Bandara who was accused of assaulting a young lady and was ordered to be remanded till 27’th by the Puttalam magistrate Anil Tilaratne was released on bail of 45,000 RS(450$’s) last Friday. more..

Jan 29 (ISL) According to inside sources from JVP, the Irudina newspaper which is published by the Leader Publication had now become the number one enemy of the JVP. Reliable sources added that steps had been taken to assassinate the character of Irudina staff by JVP members led by Wimal Weerawansa. more..

Jan 29 (ISL) There are quite a few very regrettable dimensions to the statement made by Wimal Weerawansa, propaganda secretary of the JVP following the meetings the Norwegian minister, Erik Solheim had with President Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo and later, the LTTE in Wanni. more..

Jan 29 (LBR) A Sri Lankan research organisation is deploying a satellite dependent early warning system to warn people about natural disasters like tsunamis and cyclones. Once operational, warnings will be passed directly to satellite enabled radios in villages that are likely to be affected. more..

Jan 29 (LBR) Municipal councils are inconsiderate and residents are dumping garbage as the city struggles with managing large amounts of waste. Dumping in wetlands and open fields has not only created a health hazard but is also destroying fragile ecosystems. more..

Jan 29 (LBR) Electricity generation costs are likely to jump by 20 percent to around Rs. 11.00 a unit once an expensive diesel plant comes on line next year to shore up the crisis riddled energy sector according to an expert. more..

Jan 29 (LBR) Architects say post-tsunami reconstruction has ignored the coastal community’s social makeup and small neighbourhood lifestyles. Sri Lanka Institute of Architects President Rukshan Widyalankara says the island’s population live in a small neighbourhood setup, more..

Jan 29 (WS) Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian N. Raviraj who has been regularly clashing with representatives of the JHU and JVP on the ethnic issue now says that getting along with the latter in solving the problem will not be a problem in the future. more..

Jan 29 (WS) In an attempt to persuade the Attorney General to appeal against the recent High Court verdict on the Udathalawinna massacre, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) is expected to hand over a petition signed by the victims families to the AG shortly. more..

Jan 29 (WS) In what appeared to be one of the most surprising splits, K. Vigneswaran, a former parliamentarian and advisor to Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) Leader Douglas Devananda has resigned from the party owing to the 'authoritative and dictatorial attitude' adopted by the EPDP leader. more..

Jan 29 (WS) Some 100,000 Muslims who were ethnically cleansed from the North in October 1990 by the LTTE have expressed their disappointments with successive governments owing to the step motherly treatment doled out to them. more..

Jan 29 (WS) One cannot forget the All Party conference held on Thursday the 19th when considering the political situation in the past week. There are certain facts of importance in this conference convened by the President to discuss the situation of the country and consider the resumption of peace talks with the LTTE. more..

Jan 29 (SAMN) The police chief and senior police officers met leading public figures in the crisis-hit Aluthgama area to bring the situation under control. Several people were injured while damage was caused to property following clashes on Wednesday and Thursday after the gang involved in extortion was attacked by shop owners. more..

Jan 29 (SAMN) With the poor attendance of the teachers in Estate schools in Ratnapura, the Minister of Estate Infrastructure C.B. Ratnayake has ordered respective education coordination officers to provide an urgent report on the work and the attendance of teachers in those schools. more..

Jan 29 (ANN) Police investigating Tuesday’s (Jan 24's) five bomb blasts in and around Colombo are following leads which indicate that radical members of a hardline Sinhalese political group were behind the explosions, police sources said. more..

Jan 29 (LNP) JVP trade unions in the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation are demanding restrictions on the Indian Oil Company (IOC) following reports that it owes the government Rs. 375 million for the supply of kerosene over the past six months, a party official said yesterday. more..

Jan 29 (LNP) Foreign investigation agencies such as the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Britain`s Scotland Yard have set up special units to crack down on Sri Lankans who are involved in financial crimes as most of the cases are connected to the funding of the LTTE. more..

Jan 29 (LNP) Mr. Tiran Alles, widely regarded as the link man between the Government and the LTTE, created a stir last night over President Mahinda Rajapaksa`s move to bring the Rehabilitation and Development Authority (RADA) under the newly-sworn-in Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. more..

Jan 29 (LNP) The Government has begun a hunt for a close friend of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga to probe charges that he benefited to the tune of Rs. 60 million from a bogus land sale directly orchestrated by her when she was Head of State and Head of Government. more..

Jan 29 (SO) Do you too experience sore throat or nose irritation off and on and blame the climate, but, the health experts and the Air Resource Management Centre (AirMac) attribute this to unexpected sharp increase in sulphur dioxide (SO2) in the ambient air, especially in Colombo. more..

Jan 29 (NIP) The supporters of LTTE staged a demonstration in Thanjavur on Saturday condemning the intervention of US in the affairs of Sri Lanka. The demonstrators led by Tamil Desa Pothuvudaimai Party’s General Secretary P Maniarasan urged the US not to extend military support in any form to the Singhalese who were allegedly killing innocent Tamils. more..

Jan 29 (CI) Adam Gilchrist erased any concerns over his place at the top of Australia's order as his brutal century led his temporary side to a convincing six-wicket victory with nine overs to spare. He entered the match as stand-in captain with questions over his position and a debate over whether he should slip back to No. 7, more..

Jan 29 (AFP) Sri Lanka wants to be a world hot spot for lingerie and make clothing its main dollar earner, but local manufacturers are feeling hemmed in a year after export quotas were lifted. Top international brands, including Victoria's Secret, Marks and Spencer and Triumph get their intimate women's wear from Sri Lanka, which is traditionally known for its tea. more..