Dec 2 (SLA) Three Muslim youths carrying hand grenades and a sharp sword in a three-wheeler were arrested by Police on duty in the general area of MUDCOWE, TRINCOMALEE town on 01 December 2003 around 7.30 a.m. more..

Dec 2 (SLA) An unidentified gunman riding a motorbike has shot a Muslim civilian using a pistol while the civilian was in the general area of KACHCHA KODITHTHIVU, KINNIYA on 01 December 2003 around 12.15 p.m. more..

Dec 2 (SLA) One out of three LTTE cadres, who surrendered to Security Forces on 29 November 2003 was handed over to his next of kin on 01 December 2003 after all of them were produced before the court. more..

Dec 2 (SLA) A young girl who was abducted for conscription by LTTE has reportedly managed to escape from LTTE custody and surrendered to the Police in the general area of KALMUNAI on 01 December 2003. more..

Dec 2 (SLA) An LTTE cadre, who has allegedly robbed a shop in MANNAR town has been arrested on suspicion by Police from the general area of MANNAR on 01 December 2003. more..

Dec 2 (SLA) Sri Lanka based Russian Embassy’s Defence Coordinator for Army, Navy and Air Force, Colonel V. Popev, and the Secretary to the Russian Air Force, Captain K. Yuhornik were on a three-day tour to Jaffna peninsula last week. more..

Dec 2 (DS) The stand-off between president Chandrika Kumaratunga and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is getting more complicated by the day. The power struggle they have been locked in with an outside chance of yielding some form of compromise, both being leaders of the Sinhalese majority, has acquired a new dimension: it has turned into a power game. more..

Dec 2 (IE) In what seems to be yet another assertion of the LTTE’s supremacy in the Sri Lankan Tamil political scene, pro-Tiger forces in the TULF have succeeded in ousting their president, Veerasingam Anandasangaree, through a no-confidence motion on Sunday, more..

Dec 2 (PSL) President Kumaratunga sent her felicitations to the President of Romania Ion Iliescu on the occasion of the National Day of Romania, which was on December 1. In 1918 on the first of December all Romanian provinces united in a single state named Romania. more..

Dec 2 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday December 1, directed the defence forces and the Police chief to take immediate action to normalize the situation in the Trincomalee district. more..

Dec 2 (AFX) ABB Ltd said it has won a turnkey contract from the Ceylon Electricity Board worth 27 mln usd to strengthen energy supplies in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and its industrial outskirts. more..

Dec 2 (Misna) Three weeks ago, Sri Lanka looked close to ending its 20-year war with the rebels of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealam), which has claimed over 65,000 lives. more..

Dec 2 (TA) ENGLAND spinner Gareth Batty went into today's first Test against Sri Lanka in this coastal town after being rescued from the sea outside the team hotel a day earlier. Batty had been body surfing with Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard yesterday when all three were caught by a rip that washed them away from the coast. more..

Dec 2 (DM) Contrary to media reports of apparent setbacks in the official talks on forging a national consensus, the Malik Samarawickrema -Mano Tittawela committee which met at Temple Trees for the fifth time yesterday clinched agreements on several vital issues, more..

Dec 2 (CI) England have not had much reason to be grateful for rain this winter. It decimated their preparations in Bangladesh, wrecked the recent one-day series, and caused the replacement of the dressing-room's deck of cards, after complaints that they had become see-through with overuse. more..

Dec 2 (FT) England's series win in Sri Lanka in 2001 will have left one man keener than anyone to exact revenge in the 2003 renewal starting in Galle on Tuesday. Kumar Sangakkara, was cast by England as the arch-villain in a series marred by poor umpiring decisions and bad-tempered exchanges between the two sides. more..

Dec 2 (TOI) Rain halted play midway through the afternoon session with Sri Lanka on 83 for one after winning the toss on the first day of the opening Test against England on Tuesday. Marvan Atapattu, who survived a couple of half chances, was unbeaten on 28, including four boundaries, and Kumar Sangakkara on four when umpires suspended play. more..

Dec 2 (AP) Sri Lanka 's Tamil rebels released 32 Indian fishermen after European monitors overseeing their cease-fire with the government expressed concern that the standoff could provoke India , officials said on Tuesday. more..

Dec 2 (IL) An experienced energy consultant has said in public what most industrialists feared in private: A reduction in electricity charges cannot be expected soon as Sri Lanka faces a permanent crisis in relation to power generation and petroleum resources. more..

Dec 2 (IL) Sri Lanka is losing billions of rupees annually due to system losses, which runs upto 21% of the country's total power generation, senior officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) says. According to the officials the system losses should not exceed 13 percent. more..

Dec 2 (IL) The JVP has called upon President Kumaratunga to ensure the security of all unarmed persons in the Eastern Province. "LTTE leader Prabhakaran has celebrated his 50th birthday by killing innocent Muslims," the party said, referring to the recent killings of three civilians in Trincomalee allegedly by the LTTE. more..

Dec 2 (Reuters) A young Sri Lankan girl takes part in a candle light memorial for AIDS victims, on World Aids Day in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, December 1, 2003. more..

Dec 3 (TN) A delegation of the North East Muslim Parliamentarians' Forum (NEMPF) Tuesday afternoon met with President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, and discussed in detail the deteriorating security situation in the Trincomalee district, especially the Kinniya division. more..

Dec 3 (TN) The allocation of funds for a program on emergency Obstetrics and Child Health in the war-ravaged areas of the North East, jointly sponsored by the UNICEF and the JICA, flagrantly discriminates against Tamil provinces, several health officials in the North East told more..

Dec 3 (Hindu) The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), a political party known for its moderate stance, is currently caught in an internal tussle over the "sole representative" status accorded to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. more..

Dec 3 (DN) Parliament sittings were suspended for 10 minutes yesterday due to a dispute owing to the absence of several opposition members whose names were listed for speaking on the day's debate. more..

Dec 3 (Island) Mangayarkarasi Amirthalingam, widow of slain TULF leader Appapillai Amirthalingam in her observations on the reported pandemoniam at the no-confidence motion meeting of the TULF on Sunday against its leader V. Anandasangaree, claimed that it was unfortunate that a section of the members of her late husband’s party wanted to bring the party under the jackboot of the Tiger rebel outfit that killed her husband, a founder member of the party. more..

Dec 3 (LBO) Resort and spa operator Banyan Tree says it is temporarily putting on hold its investment plans for Sri Lanka because of the country's political crisis. It had been intending to spend a large chunk of the proceeds from its stock market listing next year in Sri Lanka, more..

Dec 3 (LBO) The Asian Development Bank has come forward with a US$ 20 mn loan to uplift the living standards of people in the Eastern Province. The loan, for the North East Coastal Community Development Project, will help conflict-affected coastal communities in the three eastern districts more..

Dec 3 (LBO) State owned Lakdiva Engineering Ltd. – repair and re-conditioning arm for state buses, is to be put up for private investment, as part of the re-haul of the Central Transport Board. more..

Dec 3 (TN) More than 6,000 Tamils of Indian origin registered themselves as Sri Lankan citizens last weekend as part of a 10-day programme by the Ceylon Workers Congress to enable them to gain citizenship. The programme was supported by UNHCR. more..

Dec 3 (SLA) An unidentified gunman for reasons best known only to him, shot dead a Muslim civilian on 01 December 2003 at about 8.00 p.m. in the general area close to GANDIRI Junction in ERAVUR, about 12 km northwest of BATTICALOA. more..

Dec 3 (SLA) A Tamil teenager, who was being kidnapped by LTTE, has managed to escape from LTTE custody and surrendered to the Police post No 01 in the general area of ERAVUR on 02 December 2003. more..

Dec 3 (SLA) An LTTE cadre, who fled from prison’s custody on 02 December 2003 has been re-arrested the same day evening by Police on duty in the general area of MANNAR town. more..

Dec 3 (SLA) Reminiscent of the old adage that ‘prevention is better than cure,’ members of the Security Forces stationed in Eluthumadduval, an area infested with landmines conduct a series of specially-designed awareness programmes routinely for the benefit of thousands of civilians resident in the Eluthumadduval area. more..

Dec 3 (PTI) Sri Lankan Navy arrested some 63 Indian fishermen and seized their 13 trawlers overnight for allegedly poaching in the island's territorial waters, officials said on Wednesday. more..

Dec 3 (TC) Splendid allround performance by India 'A' helped them to register a thrilling innings and 92 runs victory against Sri Lanka 'A' on the last day of the India 'A' versus Sri Lanka 'A' Test at Nehru Stadium. more..

Dec 3 (Dawn) President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on Tuesday ordered a full investigations into the harassment and murder of three Muslims in the east over the weekend, purportedly by the LTTE. more..

Dec 3 (Gulf) Scandinavian monitors have moved in to defuse tension in the eastern port city of Trincomalee where a fresh round of violence has left at least seven persons dead and several injured over the past week leading to communal tension. more..

Dec 3 (DM) "Water is for life -- not for sale" will be the theme of a massive public demonstration to be held outside the Fort Railway Station in Colombo today to protest against the proposed bill to privatise water supply, distribution and even ground-water ownership. more..

Dec 3 (CI) An inspired allround display from Muttiah Muralitharan took the gloss off what was otherwise a hard-working and productive display from England on the second day at Galle. Murali scored a whirlwind 38 from 37 balls to help Sri Lanka recover from 239 for 7 to reach a useful 331 all out. more..

Dec 3 (CNA) Residents of a village in Sri Lanka that owes much of its development to Saddam Hussein, are trying to keep their links with the deposed Iraqi leader under wraps. But despite the fall of his regime, the villagers say they remain indebted to Saddam for all that he has done for them. more..

Dec 3 (BBC) The founder of a group to help people affected by Aids in Sri Lanka is battling two stigmas in his home country - of being both openly gay and HIV positive. Samad - not his real name - became HIV positive in the United States, but has since returned home, where he presents workshops on Aids awareness. more..

Dec 3 (Reuters) Sri Lanka top scorer Kumar Sangakkara believes his team posted a winning first innings total on a wearing pitch on the second day of the first test against England. Sri Lanka recovered from 238 for seven in their first innings to reach 331 more..

Dec 3 (AP) Sri Lanka advanced to the preliminary stage of the soccer World Cup qualifier beating Laos 3-0 in Colombo on Wednesday. Sri Lanka's first goal came in the 37th minute of the match from E. B. Channa and the hosts led 1-0 at the break. more..

Dec 4 (TN) A four-day international workshop on Environmental Management in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka began Monday at the Kailasapathy auditorium of Jaffna University. The University of Jaffna, Eastern University and The Economic Consultancy House (TECH) have jointly organized the workshop. more..

Dec 4 (DN) A group of Arts Faculty lecturers and a mass of Arts students refused to leave the Sri Jayawardenapura university grounds yesterday after it was declared closed by the university authorities fearing another clash. more..

Dec 4 (Island) Health Trade Unions yesterday threatened an islandwide strike if the Cabinet paper on salary anomalies was not approved early. Joint Convenor of the Health Services Trade Union Alliance (HSTUA) Sarath Ratnapriya said they expected the government to approve the paper yesterday. more..

Dec 4 (TT) Sri Lanka has solicited India’s support for former foreign minister Lakshman Khadirgamar who is taking a shot at the Commonwealth secretary-general’s post, putting Delhi in a spot. India has indicated its support for former New Zealand minister and incumbent Don McKinnon, who is looking for a second term. more..

Dec 4 (LBO) The government is seeking a suitor to take up a 49 percent slice in Sathosa Wholesale Ltd – the country’s largest wholesale food chain operator. Potential investors get full management control and will also have the first right of refusal when a further 20 percent stake is sold at a later date, more..