Mar 9 (TN) "SLMM perceives the recent killings in the eastern parts of the country as a direct threat to the CFA and the Peace Process" said the Nordic truce monitors in a statement issued Tuesday. "SLMM monitors are currently making inquires into all the incidents. more..

Mar 9 (TN) Thousands Muslims who lost their homes when the Tsunami hit Maruthamunai, 35 kilometres south of Batticaloa, blocked the main highway to Kalmunai Tuesday protesting against the Government of Sri Lanka for not helping them rebuild their houses. more..

Mar 9 (TN) The European Union's Commissioner for External Relations, Ms.Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Tuesday called for the speedy establishment of a joint mechanism between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to distribute Tsunami aid. Addressing a news conference in Colombo Tuesday she emphasized that the joint mechanism was an �urgent need�. more..

Mar 9 (TN) The Jaffna Women Cultural Forum celebrated the International Women's Day in the Jaffna district Tuesday calling on "the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) occupying the Tamil motherland should quit." An effigy symbolizing the SLA occupation was cremated at Parameswara Junction in Thirunelveli, sources said. more..

Mar 9 (TOO) The Annual Inter-House Athletics Meet 2005 of the Sri Lankan School Muscat (SLSM) has been held in grand style at the ROP Stadium in Wattayah. The day started on a somber note as a minute�s silence was observed as a mark of respect for the victims of the tsunami tragedy which devastated the Asian countries. more..

Mar 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka urgently needs a mechanism to ensure tsunami aid is distributed fairly, including to Tamil Tiger-held areas, the EU's external relations commissioner said on Tuesday. more..

Mar 9 (BBC) Sri Lanka's top legal official say that the army is opposed to settling displaced people in the government designated High Security Zone (HSZ) in the northern Jaffna peninsular. Attorney General (AG) KC Kamalasabeysan told the Supreme Court (SC) that the Sri Lanka Army has refused to allow resettlement in HSZs as they are "very sensitive" on security. more..

Mar 9 (BBC) More than two thousand tsunami victims launched a protest in Marandamunai in northern Ampara saying the government is not acting to provide them with housing. The protesters claimed the government should take immediate action to build permanent housing for the tsunami victims from the area. more..

Mar 9 (LT) Addressing thousands of women at the Viharamahadevi Park, the President said the SLFP had the courage to go ahead with a majority decision on a federal solution or other issues although 10-15 percent of the people might oppose it. more..

Mar 9 (AT) The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Islamic Centre while denies the allegations leveled against him on the misuse of Tsunami relief fund says that the matters have been brought to the Fraud Bureau�s attention for the investigations. more..

Mar 9 (AT) In a statement that is likely to stir up controversy within the UPFA coalition, President Chandrika Kumaratunga told the SLFP women�s conference held at Vihara Maha Devi Park yesterday that 80% of the population would vote for a federal solution. more..

Mar 9 (AT) Friends and relatives of 50-year-old Rajasingham Jeyadevan, a British resident, fear that he is languishing in a torture camp of the Sri Lankan separatist Tamil Tigers in Vanni, Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 9 (SB) Eco-tourists and birdwatchers who have heeded calls to travel to Tsunami struck Sri Lanka, to resurrect tourism, are being rewarded with sightings of rare migrants. Red-headed Bunting, Black-headed Bunting two migrant species of birds, not recorded before in Sri Lanka have been observed at Uda Walawe National Park. more..

Mar 9 (LT) EU�s commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero Waldner was due to leave for Wanni today (08) to meet Tiger leaders including their leader Welupille Prabhakaran, but she has had to cancel her visit on a sudden notice served on her by the Tigers Organisation. more..

Mar 9 (LNP) A UNP Parliamentarian said the UPFA is divided into two groups and Minister Lakshman Kadirgamer is trying to get the Prime Ministerial post which he lost, being a mouth-peace of the JVP and Minister Anura Bandaranailke was trying to be the presidential candidate with the help of the JVP. more..

Mar 9 (SAMN) The government has protested to the Norwegian Prime Minister and the US government about the LTTE's acquisition of an airstrip in Iranamadu and an aircraft in violation of the ceasefire Agreement. more..

Mar 9 (TN) A Muslim auto rickshaw driver who was abducted Tuesday evening by unidentified gunmen in the in the general area of Kadjuwatte, about 55 kilometres north of Batticaloa, was found shot dead Wednesday morning, Sri Lanka army (SLA) spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayaka said. more..

Mar 9 (TN) Experts from Indian Ocean countries affected by December tsunami and other countries held discussions organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) from March 3 to 8, in Paris, sources said. more..

Mar 9 (TN) A group of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees alleged in a complaint to the Mannar Citizens� Committee Wednesday that they were beaten, robbed and molested on a sandbank in the seas off Mannar last Saturday by five men suspected to be Sri Lanka Navy personnel. more..

Mar 9 (wsws) Attempts by Sri Lanka�s president Chandrika Kumaratunga to resume peace talks and set up a joint body with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for tsunami relief has deepened already sharp tensions in the ruling coalition. more..

Mar 9 (LBO) The European Commission is trying to get new legislation in place by April 1, to help Sri Lankan apparel exports. Under the new legislation Sri Lankan apparel, made from raw materials from ASEAN countries, will also qualify for duty concessions. more..

Mar 9 (PRIU) Japanese Parliamentarian Hosei Norota called on President Chandrika Kumaratunga today. He was a Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in Japan�s Cabinet. Mr. Norota and his delegation expressed their sympathy to President Kumaratunga for the December 26 disaster. more..

Mar 9 (LT) JVP Parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawansa made special statement this morning at the parliament with the permission of the speaker W,J.M.Lokubandara. In his statement he referred to the remarks WB representative in Sri Lanka Peter Harrold had made, more..

Mar 9 (LT) SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem, who met the visiting European Union Commissioner for External Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner yesterday (8), urged the international community to emphasize to the LTTE that the Muslims have to be counted as a separate community more..

Mar 9 (TP) The Colombo Municipality is to take tough action against food outlets, including supermarkets, if they were found selling an imported brand of sauce containing a food colouring called �Sudan 1� which reportedly causes cancer. more..

Mar 9 (SLBC) Department of Pensions says a new circular to amend the widows and orphans pension scheme has been released. Director of Pensions of the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs K.A. Thillakaratne says under the revisions, widows of government servants who retired prior to 31st of December 1996, are subjected to a new pension scheme more..

Mar 9 (LM) During a speech made in Parliament early today, SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem said that he wishes to invite the attention of the government to the grave situation developing in the Amparai district. more..

Mar 9 (LM) The Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau is reported to have questioned several Board Members of the Sri Lanka Islamic Centre following allegations that the Centre Chairman had allegedly misused tsunami funds. more..

Mar 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka stocks fell for the third day running on Wednesday as foreign and small investors continued to skim profits after recent gains and a batch of lacklustre third quarter earnings sapped optimism, brokers said. more..

Mar 9 (AP) The Asian tsunami and high fuel costs have hit SriLankan Airlines hard and the national carrier said Wednesday it expects to lose about US$10 million (euro7.55 million) this fiscal year. The loss forecast comes after the airline made a net profit of US$45 million (euro34 million) in the fiscal year to March 31, 2004. more..

Mar 9 (TS) THE ALLEGED trigger man accused of killing Amretta Singh might fake his death as a tsunami victim to avoid capture, Peel Regional Police say. Vijayarajah Manickavasagar, 23, of Toronto, who's known as "Bullet" and "Vijay," was on the lam in his native Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck, police said yesterday. more..

Mar 9 (LNP) About 250 containers loads with hundreds of millions of rupees worth of urgently needed relief items for tsunami victims have been lying at the Colombo port and airport for some six weeks -- stuck in a bureaucratic muddle. more..

Mar 9 (LNP) Despite assurances that universities will not be privatised, JVP student unions will stage demonstrations today at several universities against the proposed reforms in the education sector. more..

Mar 9 (SAMN) Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) leader Arumugam Thondaman has requested President Chandrika Kumaratunga to prevent LTTE political wing leasder S.P. Thamilselvan from visiting upcountry estate areas, a party official said. more..

Mar 9 (DN) The Mahanayaka Theras of the Malwatta and Asgiriya Chapters of the Shyamopali Maha Nikaya urge Parliamentarians to support the cause of decentralizing, the Appeal Court jurisdiction in the interest of the litigants, if they are true Statesmen. more..

Mar 9 (AFP) National carrier SriLankan has lost 40 million dollars in revenue due to a drop in tourist traffic since the December tsunamis, an official said. The airline suffered a double blow due to higher fuel costs and to the falloff in traffic on the normally lucrative European and Japanese routes due to tourists avoiding the tsunami-hit region, more..

Mar 9 (CI) Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, has dismissed claims that his seven-man selection committee has faced serious pressure from top-level cricket administrators to include Hashan Tillakaratne in Sri Lanka's squad for New Zealand next month. more..

Mar 9 (RW) Victoriya Albonz and her family are back in camp after being driven from their village on Sri Lanka's northeast coast first by civil conflict, then by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Manatkadu was one of several villages caught in the crossfire between government naval forces and Tamil Tiger separatists, more..

Mar 9 (AFP) JVP has demanded the expulsion of the World Bank's country director after accusing him of giving official recognition to Tamil Tiger guerrillas. The People's Liberation Front, or the JVP, said the official, Peter Harrold, had extended de facto recognition to the LTTE when he said in an interview the World Bank recognised that the guerrillas were in control of parts of the country. more..

Mar 9 (SR) Two decades ago, John Listopad, curator for Asian art at the Cantor Arts Center, spent several months traveling and doing fieldwork in Sri Lanka, in search of influences on the development of Thai art, his specialty. more..

Mar 9 (AP) Norway's peace envoy hoped to reduce tension by meeting Wednesday with the Tamil Tiger rebels' chief negotiator, while a Muslim man was shot, the latest in a string of killings in Sri Lanka's east that have threatened a fragile cease-fire, officials said. more..

Mar 9 (HT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has indicated that she is planning to hold a referendum on devolution of power to solve the ethnic conflict in the country. She told women cadres of her SLFP in Colombo on Tuesday that 80 per cent of the people of Sri Lanka were in favour of solving the Sinhala-Tamil conflict through the devolution of power more..

Mar 9 (Reuters) Relief agency pledges of new boats for Sri Lanka's fishermen could backfire because too many new vessels will increase competition, reduce the average catch and endanger fish stocks, a United Nations agency warned on Wednesday. more..

Mar 10 (TN) Norwegian Peace Envoy, Mr. Erik Solheim, told the Liberation Tigers� Political Strategist and Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, whom he met Wednesday that Oslo was optimistic that a joint mechanism for aid distribution could be agreed �soon� between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. more..

Mar 10 (TN) A high level delegation of LTTE will begin an official visit to several European capitals from Friday. �Our meetings will focus on delivering aid to Tsunami affected people in northeast directly and efficiently�, Mr. S. Puleedevan, Secretary General of the LTTE peace secretariat in Kilinochchi, told TamilNet. more..

Mar 10 (BBC) Group of environmental campaigners have won a landmark victory at the European Patent Office (EPO) preventing an American multi national company from patenting a natural substance derived from the Kohomba (Neem) tree. more..

Mar 10 (BBC) The prosecution case in a murder trial will be established solely through computer-based evidence suggesting telephone conversations between five accused, for the first time in the judicial history of Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 10 (AT) The European Union�s Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero pointed out with grave concern that the recent outbreak of violent incidents in Sri Lanka has marred the Ceasefire. more..

Mar 10 (BBC) Half centuries by Owais Shah and Michael Powell put England A in a commanding position on the third day against Sri Lanka A in Colombo. The tourists were 240-5 at the close, a lead of 436, and will now look to their bowlers to try and force a victory. more..

Mar 10 (UNI) London-based chief negotiator and political advisor of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Anton Balasingham told the Norwegian facilitator at a meeting today in London that concern raised by the Sri Lankan government over a new airstrip of the LTTE in the rebel-held Wanni region was unfounded. more..