Apr 18 (AP) Air force jets pounded a Tamil Tiger rebel training base in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, setting off explosions and starting a fire, officials said, in the latest escalation of Sri Lanka's undeclared civil war. Also Tuesday, three ethnic Tamil civilians were fatally shot in the volatile north and east, as attacks against civilians continued to rise. more..

Apr 18 (AP) An international human rights group urged Pope Benedict XIV on Tuesday to raise alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka — including the disappearance of a Roman Catholic priest — when the country's president soon visits the Vatican. Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Benedict that Sri Lanka's government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have continued "enforced disappearances," extra-judicial killings, intimidation and threats to media. more..

Apr 18 (BBC) Sri Lanka's powerful Defence Secretary has threatened the editor of Daily Mirror not to publish news related to Karuna faction. Champika Liyanarachchi was threatened over recent articles published in Daily Mirror by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Free Media Movement (FMM) said. Rajapaksa has reportedly said that the government would not be able to protect her life if Karuna faction tries to kill her, more..

Apr 18 (ML) Even with the government insisting that the AI campaign was now openly being backed by the LTTE all indications are that Amnesty International is not about to give up on pushing for international human rights monitors in the country. "The campaign has got wide publicity and is being supported by extremist groups like the LTTE. The government has always had a very good dialogue with international parties on human rights," more..

Apr 18 (ML) The UNP yesterday accused the government of failing to reduce the prices of essential commodities during the New Year season. Addressing a media briefing yesterday, UNP Spokesperson, Parliamentarian Gayantha Karunathilake while accusing Trade and Commerce Minister Bandula Gunawardena on his failure to bring down the prices of essential commodities, charged that the government was printing money — up to Rs. 37 billion more..

Apr 18 (ML) The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday came down hard on the government for "misguiding the Sinhalese people with its false propaganda." A study by the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) revealed that the majority of the Sinhalese in the country (59.2%) felt that a solution to the ethnic conflict could be found militarily. more..

Apr 18 (ML) A UN working group has informed the family of abducted Eastern University Vice Chancellor S. Raveendranath that it was looking into the case, family members told The Morning Leader. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances under the UN Human Rights Council has informed the family to forward relevant information to it and that it would try to push for assertive action to locate Prof. Raveendranath missing since December 15. more..

Apr 18 (NDTV) Sri Lankan folk artists showcased traditional dances of the Sinhalese and Tamil communities, ushering in the Sinhala New Year on Monday. And for the Sri Lankan community in Chennai, it was a great new experience. "We are getting a kind of homely feeling by coming to a place like this. We are enjoying this even though we are not with our family," said Yugani, a Sri Lankan national who stays in Chennai. more..

Apr 18 (Hindu) P. Chandrasekaran, Sri Lankan Minister for Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication, on Monday offered prayers in the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara along with his family. In an informal chat with The Hindu Mr. Chandrasekaran said he had come to seek the blessings of the Lord of Seven Hills so that bloodshed ended and peace was restored in the island nation, witnessing a fresh escalation of war between the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE. more..

Apr 18 (Hindu) The Tamil media in Sri Lanka has also commented on the statements made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the 1971 events, which led to the birth of Bangladesh. The Colombo-based Tamil daily, Sudar Oli, in an editorial, titled `The boast of Rahul Gandhi,' questioned Mr. Gandhi's remarks that the Nehru family never wavered from its commitment. It claimed that India's policy towards Sri Lanka was a case in point. more..

Apr 18 (TW) Good Friday…. well unfortunately it was not ‘very good’, especially for two unfortunate families in Dodanduwa, just south of Hikkaduwa. While most were either half asleep or in full festive mood, this poor family’s shop and house was destroyed by a bus whilst another’s child was crushed to death. I passed the accident scene while driving northwards from Galle and was horrified to see a red bus embedded in the small house that I had passed not two hours earlier. more..

Apr 18 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s new investment promotion chief said Wednesday he wants to speed up approvals but also be more selective in targeting investors and eliminate attitudes that favour foreigners. “There are more than 500 investors waiting for approvals, with some of them hanging around in hotels and apartments in Colombo for long periods,” Board of Investment (BOI) chairman Dhammika Perera said. more..

Apr 18 (LBO) Fledgling Islamic insurer, Amana Takaful Insurance (ATI), which was listed on the second board of the Colombo bourse last November, has reported a 57 percent growth in premium collections it the audited accounts for 2006. Gross written premium grew to 679.9 million rupees with the general side (general Takaful) growing by 53.4 percent to 589 million rupees and life side (life Takaful) growing by 85 percent to 90.8 million rupees in the year ended 2006. more..

Apr 18 (ISL) Former Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) members presently representing LTTE front Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the Sri Lanka parliament will be addressing a remembrance meeting to commemorate the 21st death anniversary of the brutally murdered TELO leader Sri Sabaratnam by the LTTE 21 years ago. TELO was militarily routed with a murderous orgy let loose by the LTTE against its cadres. more..

Apr 18 (ISL) They snapped their roots in Sri Lanka for pure economic reasons and none other under the cover of racist oppression propagated by the LTTE that suited them. But wherever they sought a new homeland, they would not root themselves as responsible citizens. They joined the groups and gangs that carried violence to many parts of the world. more..

Apr 18 (LeN) Jaffna civilians have complained to the security forces regarding an unidentified air craft which had roamed around over the government controlled territory in Jaffna on the 16th. Our reporter in the North quoting eye witnesses said that first the air craft has been seen at around 2 in the afternoon and that it was seen again at around 4 in the evening. Those who witnessed the air craft say that they've never seen any air craft of that sort earlier. more..

Apr 18 (LeN) Western province governor Alevi Maulana who is on a mission to settle the dispute between president and former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, has held a discussion with Samaraweera for over one and half hours today. Maulana had visited samaraweera's residence with a cake in hand and discussed about the president and asked Samaraweera to settle the dispute mutually. more..

Apr 18 (LeN) When the international community id lining up against the LTTE a special incident was seen at the Greneda stadium where Sri Lanka took on Australia in a world cup super eight match yesterday. A person who had brought a flag belonging to the LTTE ran across the stadium with the flag when the Sri Lankans were on the field. Sri lankan cricketer Nuwan Kulasekara is also in the picture. more..

Apr 18 (GDI) The government has planned to transform over 30,000 hectares in North and East into new agricultural areas by an irrigation development project. A sum of two billion rupees has been allocated for the project. This project is another step of the ‘Jathika Saviya’ development programme under which many projects related to development of the country have been launched. more..

Apr 18 (GDI) ‘Globecast’ the subsidiary of the French Telecom which uplinks the LTTE owned Tamil Television Network (TTN) in Europe has decided to take action to shut down the beaming of TTN. 'Globecast', is a leading global content management and delivery company. It is the subsidiary of France Telecom. According to officials, effective steps were taken to shut-down the broadcasting after reviewing the legal status of the TTN network as instructed by legal authorities of the company. more..

Apr 18 (GDI) The recent investigations carried out by the French officials have unveiled many LTTE related activities occurring in Paris- which is considered to be the LTTE’s hub in Europe. Most of these investigations were initiated by the Tamil community living in Paris who has become LTTE dissidents due to the anti democratic and inhuman methods of the terror group including assassinations, abducting people and holding them illegally. more..

Apr 18 (GDI) Aiming to strengthen trade, economic and industrial activities between the companies and private sector organizations in Sri Lanka and the South Indian state of Kerala a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the both sides in India yesterday (17). The Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (KCCI) with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) signed this MoU more..

Apr 18 (GDI) The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has organised a training programme for Government officials, above Director General level, in Korea in to mark the completion of 30 years diplomatic relations between Korea and Sri Lanka, a KOICA release said. Eleven government officials are in Korea from April 8-23 to get the thorough knowledge on the Korea's development strategy focused on post-Korean war and to share economic development programme, more..

Apr 18 (GDI) All existing public buildings and public places where common services are available should be made accessible to persons with disabilities by October 10, 2009. As a first step, the Railway will soon provide special facilities for disabled persons. An electronic train timetable display will be set up at the Maradana Railway station at a cost of Rs.235,000. more..

Apr 18 (PISL) Military action in the East has entered a decisive stage with the army stepping up pressure on LTTE units operating in the Thoppigala jungles. A senior military official yesterday said that troops were in the process of clearing Thoppigala, considered the last major LTTE stronghold in the eastern theatre of operations. more..

Apr 18 (ANN) The Defence Ministry has received information that around 400 cadres from the LTTE had crossed over to the cleared areas in the Batticaloa District. "They have entered the cleared areas with the civilians escaping the areas currently under the LTTE control," a senior defence ministry source told The Island yesterday (April 17). more..

Apr 18 (LNP) The main opposition UNP yesterday charged the government was printing money to spend on its promotional campaigns and maintain a jumbo cabinet. The party alleged currency notes worth Rs 38 billion had been printed to meet these expenditure. The party also claimed the government was spending Rs 100,000 a month as housing allowance for each minister without providing them with official bungalows. more..

Apr 18 (LNP) Tsunami affected women in Hambantota District have actively participated in women entrepreneurial training programmes conducted to empower women entrepreneurship and they are willing to come up with various businesses in the future, according to Industrial Development Board (IDB) sources. more..

Apr 18 (LNP) The dastardly act of pitch invasion by the LTTE on Monday, while the Sri Lanka-Australia match was on in Grenada, must be condemned by the civilised world unreservedly. The LTTE has once again demonstrated its capability to gain access anywhere at will. Luckily, the protester was armed with only a flag. Even if he had been a suicide bomber or a gunman on a mission to create a `Munich` type situation, there would have been very little that the security personnel on duty could do. more..

Apr 18 (SAMN) Western Province Governor Alavi Mowlana and the Opposition Leader of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Vasudeva Nannayakara have decided to make a joint request to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene to rectify the present crisis in the CMC. Nannayakara said this decision was made at the meeting he had with Mowlana Tuesday evening. more..

Apr 18 (SAMN) The JVP assured Tuesday they would never give up their struggle to mount pressure on the government for taking action against errant officials and politicians involved in the multi-billion financial scam exposed by the COPE in Parliament recently. Party frontliner and MP Vijitha Herath said the government appeared to be abdicating its responsibility to punish the culprits, and therefore they would create public awareness on the matter. more..

Apr 18 (SAMN) The government has temporarily suspended the introduction of a special type of petrol for trishaws. Plans to introduce the R 87 (Octane 87) special type of petrol at a low cost to trishaw drivers by the government was suspended due to practical problems. As a trial the government issued five litres of R 87 free of charge to 25 trishaw drivers to carry out a test run. more..

Apr 18 (SAMN) Hambantota is a comparatively underdeveloped district in the country but it possess a variety of economic resources and potential for development, said the Project Director Raneli Weta electricity supply project, 'Lighting Sri Lanka' S. Bogahawatta making a presentation at Maha Naga Mandiraya, Hambantota of the project report before the commencement of the DDC monthly meeting recently. more..

Apr 18 (GDI) President Mahinda Rajapaksa today (18th) left the Island for Italy for a three day official tour, Presidential office said. The Sri Lankan President is to meet Holy Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican and the Italian President during his visit. President will hold discussions with Holy Pope with the aim of to garnering international support for Government’s efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict through a negotiated settlement. more..

Apr 18 (DN) DNA tests will be carried out to determine whether a body found off Punguduthivu on March 14 could be that of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown, who has been missing since August last year. A complaint has been made that Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown together with one Vincent James had been missing since August 22, 2006. The Police have obtained an order from the Magistrate in Kayts to dispatch the body to Colombo for further examination more..

Apr 18 (DN) The Department of Inland Revenue has detected Rs. 303 million worth overclaimed VAT refunds over the past nine months. Commissioner General of the Department of Inland Revenue A.A Wijepala told the Daily News that "after a careful audit on claimed VAT refunds we have found some exporters have claimed a large amount of money exceeding the amount that needs to claimed as VAT refunds. Department has stopped this Rs. 303 million VAT refunds for exporters". more..

Apr 18 (DM) JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva yesterday filed action against the Court of Appeal order to dismissing his application challenging the legality of the Ceasefire Agreement and the refusal to issue notices on the respondents. The Court of Appeal on March 6 refused to issue notice on the respondents and dismissed the Writ petition filed by Mr Silva stating there was no legal basis for the application and that it was misconceived in law. more..

Apr 18 (IPS) Once Sri Lanka's sunshine crop and its top export earner, tea is no longer the answer to the country's economic ills, thanks to a serious shortage of plantation workers that began with the mass expulsion of 'Indian Tamils' in the 1960s. In October 1964, India and Sri Lanka signed an accord under which 600,000 plantation workers called 'Indian Tamils' were repatriated in phases to India. more..

Apr 18 (DM) A project to improve the world famous ancient city of Anuradhapura is to be implemented by the North Central Provincial Council, Anuradhapura Municipal council and the Department of Highways in joint collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism. Ministry of Tourism will allocate Rs.300 million for the project. more..

Apr 18 (MP) SriLankan Airlines rewards Abu Dhabi residents using its online booking engine with special fares and promotional offers. "We want to encourage the steady stream of passengers who book through our internet booking engine by offering them a series of special fares," SriLankan Airlines Sales Manager for Abu Dhabi, Sudath Kuruppu said. more..

Apr 18 (SB) Commentators have criticised Mahela Jayawardene for not playing three key bowlers. But it may prove to be a canny psychological ploy. Maybe I am just too much of a fan of Sri Lanka, or maybe I am able to see another perspective, but the team's strategy against Australia was odd, to say the least. Sri Lanka were playing the holders in one of the tougher Super 8 games in the World Cup. more..

Apr 18 (HT) The Sri Lankan media watchdog, Free Media Movement (FMM), has condemned a top Defence Ministry official for reportedly threatening an editor of a leading English language daily with dire consequences if she did not stop publishing negative stories about the conduct of the armed forces in the North-Eastern war zone. more..

Apr 18 (AP) President left for Italy on Wednesday to begin an official visit including a meeting with the pope at which he could face questions about the disappearance of a Catholic priest. President Mahinda Rajapakse is to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, said Saman Kumara, an official in the president's office. more..

Apr 18 (Reuters) Sri Lanka complete their World Cup Super Eights campaign on Wednesday against an Ireland team intent on avoiding last place in the second round. Sri Lanka looked anything but potential world champions in their seven-wicket loss to Australia on Monday, although they did take the field without their key bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. more..

Apr 18 (AFP) Sri Lankan authorities have issued a thinly veiled death threat against a newspaper editor for reporting on military excesses and human rights abuses, a media rights group said Wednesday. The local Free Media Movement (FMM) said Sri Lanka's defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, threatened Champika Liyanarachchi, the editor of the Daily Mirror on Tuesday. more..

Apr 18 (AP) A Sri Lankan air force raid on a Tamil rebel base in the island's north may have killed or wounded as many as 70 guerrillas, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, as air attacks continued for a second day. The raids are part of stepped-up tit-for-tat attacks between the Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan forces. The rebel base "suffered major damage due to our bombing" on Tuesday, more..

Apr 19 (LBO) The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) which lost 1.5 billion rupees in 2006 is seeking a price hike to ward off an 800 million rupee loss by April, but the government is only permitting half the increase sought by the utility. The CPC has asked the government to allow an immediate increase in the price of diesel by at least five rupees to reduce current losses of 60 million rupees a month. more..

Apr 19 (IRIN) Some of an estimated 40,000 Trincomalee residents displaced south - principally to Batticaloa District - by Sri Lanka's conflict as it intensified in 2006 are in the process of returning to their home areas. The Kiliveddy transit centre in southern Trincomalee district was set up in early March 2007 to meet their needs and already it has the feel of a crowded bus station, with small numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) coming and going. more..

Apr 19 (LeN) President Rajapakse has called and informed the Daily Mirror editor that he will look into the threat made by the defense secretary, who is his brother. The president has also made a request from the editor not to be worried saying that he might have been angry about it. It is also being reported that the editor has leisurely has informed the president that the threat leveled at her and her journalist Uditha Jayasinghe, will have to be considered as a death threat. more..

Apr 19 (LeN) Minister of enterprise development Mano Wijerathne questions why the opposition leader is suggesting General Janaka Perera to be appointed as the defense secretary when he was earlier appointed as an ambassador during the united national party's regime. The minister raised this question addressing the media during a press conference organized by the UNP's revolutionary group. more..