Jan 7 (TN) More than 100 police officers cordoned and searched Puttalam Town area Friday between 7 to 9 p.m. and arrested 30 Tamils including two women, sources in Puttalam said. Arrested youths are being detained in Puttalam Police station. more..

Jan 7 (TN) Body of Iyathurai Baskeran, 27, displaced from Kudathanai Vadamaradchy East was discovered in Katkovalam, a coastal village south of Point Pedro, at 11.30 p.m. Friday with gunshot wounds, sources from Point Pedro said. more..

Jan 7 (TN) Labelled "The healing continues..," the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an NGO registered with the Government of Sri Lanka working exclusively in the NorthEast, in conjunction with the international TRO offices, has held nineteen exhibitions in fourteen countries more..

Jan 7 (TN) The Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Thambalakamam jungle has killed two cadres of Liberation Tigers Friday early morning around 2 a.m in a claymore mine attack. The attack took place inside the LTTE held area, Elilan, Political Head of the LTTE for Trincomalee district, more..

Jan 7 (SLA) RESCUE OPERATIONS conducted aftermath of Tamil Tiger (LTTE) pre-dawn attack Saturday (07) morning in the seas off FOUL POINT, TRINCOMALEE were able to salvage two sailors of a total of fifteen who went missing after Tamil Tigers (LTTE) terrorists blew up a Naval vessel Fast Attack Craft (FAC). more..

Jan 7 (SLA) LTTE GRENADE ATTACKS and killings continued as usual during the last 24 hours that ended on Saturday (07) afternoon. In the fist incident KOPAY Police station in JAFFNA came under LTTE grenade attack on Friday (06) at about 4.30 p.m.. more..

Jan 7 (LeN) Two senior Ministers who have been highly critical of operations carried out in Colombo and other activities on the instructions of the President's advisor on Police affairs, former DIG H.I.M.B.Kotakadeniya have sought the President's intervention to bring such operations to a halt. more..

Jan 7 (LeN) The President is has criticized the recent media disclosures which exposed shady arms procurements carried out by Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Daya Sandagiri and the removal of documents relating to his assets and liabilities and making alterations in them. more..

Jan 7 (TW) Dr. C. Wijewickrama (CW) holed up in faraway Texas lists 11 questions for me in response to my contribution which The Island (9/12/05) titled "Federalism and Reality." In that promiscuous society South of the border one must forgive CW for using sex-centric language - "bedrooms" "single and double beds" "marriage" "divorce" - all in a mundane subject. more..

Jan 7 (TW) One of the more important features of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s recent visit to India was that it revealed the parameters within which India is prepared to help Sri Lanka resolve its ethnic conflict. India urged the President to work out a political solution that was acceptable to all communities. more..

Jan 7 (TW) After assuming the high office as Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapakse began his official tours overseas with a visit to New Delhi, India. That is quite understandable. His remarks on the objectives of the visit, made on the eve of his departure, reveal Sri Lanka’s intentions to persuade India to play a more decisive role in resolving the Sri Lankan crisis. more..

Jan 7 (TW) "Even when the Elephants make love the grasshopper gets crushed underneath " is an old, African saying. If that is the fate for a grasshopper when jumbos make love then it does not need much imagination to gauge their position when the pachyderms wage war. Like the grasshoppers innocent civilians suffer more than the protagonists in times of war. more..

Jan 7 (HT) With the ceasefire in Sri Lanka in danger of being broken, the government and the LTTE are seriously looking for support from overseas for their respective cases. While the Rajapaksa regime seems to have the backing of the United States, the LTTE is counting on increasing support across the Palk Strait in Tamil Nadu. more..

Jan 7 (SAMN) Pistol-packing security men, allegedly attached to a Cabinet Minister from the Gampaha District had, after a enjoying a full meal at the Light House Hotel, Mabole in Wattala in the early hours of Friday (6), brandished their weapons and refused to pay their bill of Rs. 1,800. They also demanded and took Rs. 1,000 from the proprietor. more..

Jan 7 (SAMN) The escalation of violence has resulted in an increase in human rights violations such as arbitrary killings, rape, cordon and search operations, arrests and detention of persons in the country in general but more particularly in the North and East, said Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy. more..

Jan 7 (SAMN) Coal power plants will be set up in Trincomalee and Hambantota, the Ministry of Power and Energy said Thursday. This decision was taken by Power and Energy Minister W. D. J. Seneviratne on the recommendations made by a team of Chinese engineers who were in Sri Lanka recently to do a preliminary study on possible future coal power projects. more..

Jan 7 (LNP) The Joint Federation of Trade Unions yesterday expressed concern over the setting up of power projects in new locations with foreign assistance. Convener of the Federation, Ananda Nimalaratne told The Island: `The government could go for loan or any other assistance to set up new power projects but the final say must be with the Ceylon Electricity Board.` more..

Jan 7 (LNP) Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee speaking to the media in Chennai on Thursday after a meeting with Dravida Munnetra Kalagam (DMK) leader M. Karunanidhi, said that New Delhi would not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries including Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 7 (LNP) The Sri Lanka inspectors` Association (SLIA) has urged the media to be wary of letting the LTTE gain legitimacy from the coverage of the illegal detention of three policemen in Kilinochchi pending a kangaroo trial. SLIA President Inspector Dale Gunaratne has frowned on some of the wrong terms loosely used by the media such as arrest, police, courts, remand, etc., in relation to the LTTE. more..

Jan 7 (DN) PRESIDENT Mahinda Rajapakse said the Government has to pay over Rs. 9 billion to people whose lands were acquired by the Government for various purposes and ordered officials to speed up these payments. The President making his first official visit and inspection tour to the Finance Ministry yesterday more..

Jan 7 (Xinhua) The Indian Synthetic and Rayon Textile Export Promotion Council is due to stage the 4th Indian Textile Show in Colombo on Jan. 11-12, Daily News reported Saturday. The exposition will showcase India's capabilities and products in the fields of synthetic textiles, fiber, yarn and made-ups, the paper said. more..

Jan 7 (AFP) The New Zealand cricketers have no intention of easing up on Sri Lanka as they aim for a clean sweep in their one-day cricket series which ends here. They are adamant a 5-0 outcome is the right therapy after being on the end of a whitewash themselves in South Africa two months ago. more..

Jan 7 (AT) The fate of the 13 sailors belonged to the ill fated Sri Lanka Navy vessel is still not known. Reports points to the Sea Tiger, the naval wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the attack on the naval vessel early this morning. more..

Jan 7 (AFP) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has voiced concern over a flare-up of violence in Sri Lanka, and hopes Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels will resume talks to reinforce their fragile truce, the State Department said. more..

Jan 8 (TN) The eighty first birthday celebrations of Ms Thangamma Appakuti, the endeared servant of Tamil and Hindu culture, was celebrated Saturday 12.00 noon in a simple ceremony held at Tellipalai Thurkai Amman Temple Cultural Hall, sources from Jaffna said. Dr K Sivalingarajah, K Thevarajah and Dr S Nithiananthan from Jaffna University more..

Jan 8 (TN) The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) has requested the Media Minister Mr.Anura Priyadarshana Yapa to take immediate steps to stop harassment of Tamil media institutions and Tamil media persons by government armed forces. more..

Jan 8 (TN) The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has requested Sri Lanka's President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse to order an impartial inquiry into the execution-style killing of Tamil students in Trincomalee, and to the bring the culprits responsible for the crime before the Court of Law. more..

Jan 8 (ISL) Ending the monopoly of disinformation enjoyed by the Tamil media, the Sinhalese media had intensified its disinformation campaign. The pathetic bias journalism of Sinhalese newspapers had been evident with the latest Divayina and Lakbima reports on the recent murdering of LTTE supporting students in Trincomalee. more..

Jan 8 (ISL) The LTTE claim that the Sri Lanka navy is continuing to obstruct the fishing industry of Northern Tamil fishing community, according to LTTE’s latest press releases. “Following Sri Lankan Navy denying fisherman from going to sea for the second time in two weeks, nearly 1,000 families have displaced to LTTE administered areas, so they can earn a living and survive. more..

Jan 8 (ISL) LTTE Peace Secretariat Web site and the Pro LTTE Tamilnet.com website in a latest attempt spread false propaganda had contradicted each others claims. On the report of the death of Thabenthiran Mathan, a well known EPDP supporter, LTTE Peace Secretariat web site blamed Sri Lanka armed forces and “paramilitaries” for the attack. more..

Jan 8 (ISL) The President Rajapakse had vowed to take “stern action” against LTTE of killing 13 Navy members in the latest LTTE suicide attack against the Sri Lankan armed forces. However, despite the “stern action” assured by the President, inside sources claim that President will not do anything to provoke LTTE. more..

Jan 8 (AT) Despite there is greater awareness in Washington that LTTE does not necessarily represent the interests of the Tamil minority, foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, confessed that he was not very positive if Washington saw Tiger terrorism and Tamil aspirations as two distinct issues. more..

Jan 8 (AT) The on-again, off-again foreign policy of India has impacted severely on Sri Lankan stability and cost many lives in the preceding two decades. Its political manoeuvres to make Sri Lanka client state was disguised as a holy exercise in protecting the Tamil minority from the majority Sinhalese. In the end India lost credibility with both communities. more..

Jan 8 (AT) The Tigers want war; but they want it on their own terms - just as in late 2001 they wanted not only an absence of war but also an absence of war the Tiger Way. Ranil Wickremesinghe obliged the Tigers by playing their game in his pursuit of peace. more..

Jan 8 (AT) The last attack on the security forces in the “undeclared war“ by the LTTE was on Saturday morning by the Black Tigers on the Sri Lanka navy’s Dvora naval craft in Trincomalee. It is clear that LTTE wanted to provoke the Sri Lanka’s security forces to take some kind of retaliatory action. more..

Jan 8 (AT) Nishan Navaratne, President, Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing said that there are advertisements that do not conform to moral and ethical standards of the country. He urged that there should be a regulatory body to monitor and guard against unethical and culturally unacceptable ads. more..

Jan 8 (AT) Blaming the past for all of Sri Lanka's current ills has become fashionable. The convenient arch villain has been identified as the Portuguese by some Sri Lankan pundits. The recently held "International conference on the 500th anniversary of the Portuguese Encounter at the prestigious BMICH in Colombo" is an attempt in that direction. more..

Jan 8 (TW) I wrote last wek that Joseph Pararajasingham quit government service in the late sixties. That was incorrect. Joseph gave up government service in the early seventies. This again was due to an interesting reason. As stated earlier former Batticaloa MP Rajan Selvanayagam was a first cousin of Joseph's wife Sugunam. more..

Jan 8 (AT) Dr. Subramanian Swamy has urged that the Government of India shall not t assist the Sri Lanka militarily, if in case the Sri Lanka Government did not come forward immediately to unilaterally implement an India-type devolved constitution, loosely called a federal constitution. more..

Jan 8 (LT) President Mahnda Rajapakse had a meeting with the Parliamentarians of TNA yesterday afternoon regarding the situation in Trincomalee. TNA Parliamentarians presented details about the deaths by an explosion of a hand grenade and shooting of five Tamil youths connected with the tiger organization. more..

Jan 8 (LT) One of the two Dvora crafts engaged in patrolling the coastal area in Trincomalee was exploded by tiger terrorists at Fowl Point at mid night yesterday states Brig. Prasad Samarasekera, military spokesman and added that the suicide boat had been concealed among fishing boats in the area. more..

Jan 8 (LT) The ceasefire agreement he signed with Velupillai Piripaharan has been seriously threatened and the JVP and the JHU are responsible for it said Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe. He said this addressing a re-organization session of the UNP organizations at Puttalam and Chilaw. more..

Jan 8 (LT) Ceaseless terrorist acts of the tiger organization confirm that tiger terrorists use the so-called ceasefire agreement for their advantage and the attack on the Dvora craft of S.L. Navy carried out by the tiger organization is one such instance states a communiqué issued by the Political Bureau of the JVP more..

Jan 8 (PIS) Thirteen sailors are presumed dead after the LTTE rammed an explosives-laden boat into a Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC) near the Trincomalee harbour during the early hours of yesterday. Two sailors were fished out from the sea and a joint navy-air force search-and-rescue operation was launched to locate the rest of the 15-member crew. more..

Jan 8 (SLA) The Army Sergeant who received injuries in Tamil Tiger claymore attack on 05 January 2006 in ICHCHANKULAM, VAVUNIYA, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday (07) afternoon at the National hospital, COLOMBO. more..

Jan 8 (SLA) An Army clearing patrol in the general area of DEVAPURAM, SITTANDY, was fired upon by Tamil Tigers Sunday (08) around 12.25 p.m. Troops who retaliated the fire killed one LTTE cadre and recovered one micro pistol with a filled magazine from his possession. more..

Jan 8 (SLBC) Secretary to the Ministry of Information and Media W.B. Ganegala says new regulations pertaining to the implementation of SLBC and SLRC Acts will be introduced. The government is vested with powers to control these two institutions through the acts came to effect in 1966 and 1982 respectively. more..

Jan 8 (ISL) According to inside sources from the government, top cabinet ministers in the government are now on a mission to buy out opposition members of the parliament with millions of rupees, various ministerial portfolios and free foreign family trips. more..

Jan 8 (ISL) Due to the activities of corrupt Ministers of the Sri Lankan government, the LTTE propaganda machinery had increased its communal propaganda campaign against Sri Lanka. The latest press release was issued by a “Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance” which tried to give a communal perspective for the recent threats made against Maharajah organization. more..

Jan 8 (TP) The much awaited mid-day meal programme will begin on Monday with the participation of 3,100 schools to be later extended to 6,000 schools by January 19. In a statement, the government said the launching of the mid-day meal programme would fulfill another pledge made in the 'Mahinda Chinthana' election manifesto of President Mahinda Rajapakse. more..