Sep 2 (LM) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is consistently busy discussing with it District and Village level leaders to seek their opinion as which candidate to support in forthcoming presidential elections. more..

Sep 2 (LM) Puttlam District UNP parliamentarian Neomal Perera has threatened to stage a hunger strike protest campaign, together with local people, against the controversial Norachcholai Coal Power Project. more..

Sep 2 (LM) The Fundamental Rights application against recruitment of Estate school teachers is to be settled. Petitioners brought to the notice of the court that they are willing to settle the matter if appointments are made to fill vacancies in the Muslims schools in Central, Samabaragamuwa and Uva provinces from and out of the Muslim Community. more..

Sep 2 (LM) UNP Deputy Secretary General and party spokesman Tissa Attanayake yesterday challenged the JVP to field its own candidate to run for the Presidential election to prove people's support , instead of aligning with UPFA candidate , Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. more..

Sep 2 (LM) Opposition leader and UNP Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe is now in the process of holding talks with minority political parties seeking support in the run up to the presidential poll. more..

Sep 2 (AT) Sri Lanka�s call to the world community to chastise the Tamil Tigers for a new wave of terrorism is being thwarted by peace mediator Norway, well informed sources told Asian Tribune. Colombo launched this diplomatic initiative this month immediately after the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Sep 2 (AT) The vehicle carrying security personnel providing security to Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, Deputy Minister of Defense has knocked down a 15 year old boy and was killed yesterday. This accident has occurred in Koralawella area on the Galle Road yesterday morning. more..

Sep 2 (AT) Elle Gunawansa Thera, leader of the National Patriotic Movement known as �Desha Hithaishi Jathika Vyparaya�, in his characteristic outspoken way, admitted that there is hardly any choice between the two candidates of the mainstream parties at the upcoming Presidential election. more..

Sep 2 (AT) Bobby, the former Jaffna region commander of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is back in action and now recruiting Tamil youths in the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu for an active para-military force. more..

Sep 2 (ANN) A number of environmental organisations are contemplating legal action against the Norochcholai power project , which is said to be ready to commence operations in October. Puttalam District Member of Parliament and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Organiser K.A. Baiz told The Island yesterday (Sept 1) that more..

Sep 2 (PIS) The Government yesterday stressed that the forthcoming Presidential Election will not hamper the attempts to hold one-on-one talks with the LTTE to review the Ceasefire Agreement. "The Government and the LTTE are negotiating a venue for the talks and once this is settled the State delegation that will participate in the CFA review will be nominated," more..

Sep 2 (PIS) Norwegian efforts to get both the government and the LTTE to agree on a venue to hold talks to review the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) are continuing despite the government rejecting Oslo while the rebels had turned down Omanthai as a possible location. more..

Sep 2 (SAMN) The train strike begun by the Locomotive Operating Engineers Union (LOEU) entering its third day, showed little sign of ending as the union and the Railways Ministry failed to reach a settlement. Railways Minister Felix Perera said the Government would not give into a single demand and was prepared to be patient with the unions until the strike was called off. more..

Sep 2 (SAMN) Plans are afoot to introduce a Provincial Councils flag, song and release a stamp in the forthcoming productivity week of the Provincial Councils. This was revealed yesterday at a press conference held in Colombo by Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon. more..

Sep 2 (LNP) Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday told the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) leadership that the only solution to the ethnic problem in the country is a federalism. He said he was agreeable to granting self rule to the North-East region, JHU sources told The Island. more..

Sep 2 (LNP) Lawyers representing S.B. Dissanayake, now serving a prison sentence for contempt of Court, have sent a letter of demand to the Asian Tribune claiming Rs. 300 million for publishing a report said to have been made by Mr. Dissanayake about Ranil Wickremesinghe and the upcoming Presidential election. more..

Sep 2 (LNP) The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) yesterday held talks with representatives of Sinhalese organizations based abroad regarding nominating a former military head as a candidate for the upcoming Presidential election. more..

Sep 2 (CI) Upul Tharanga grasped a prime opportunity to stake a long-term claim for a regular position in Sri Lanka's top order with a fine 105 against Bangladesh at a depressingly empty Premadasa International Stadium. Tharanga laid the foundation for an imposing total more..

Sep 2 (RW) A new web portal, launched here today, will enable easy-to-read online access to the assistance coming into Sri Lanka for tsunami recovery. Known as the Development Assistance Database (DAD), the system will help to better coordinate and monitor post tsunami recovery aid. more..

Sep 2 (RW) The tsunami of December 2004 forced a million Sri Lankans from their homes, adding a new displacement crisis to that caused by the island's long-running civil war. As of mid-2005, some 800,000 people remained displaced, 450,000 from the natural disaster and 350,000 from the human conflict. more..

Sep 2 (RW) Through its child-sponsorship program and donations from organizations like CHF International, the Bhaktivedanta Children�s Home in Sri Lanka has begun construction on a new building that will serve as an addition to the orphanage�s Bhaktivedanta International School, as well as a dormitory for boys. more..

Sep 2 (AM) In the early evening of Monday, Aug. 29, two men on a motorcycle driving down an unpaved side road in Grandpass lobbed a pair of grenades into the printing office of the Tamil-language newspaper Sudar Oli. One man was killed and three were injured in the attack. more..

Sep 2 (Yonhap) Three Sri Lankan athletes, who entered South Korea for the Asian Athletics Championships, vanished after leaving their hotel in a city near Seoul, police said on Friday. "They seem to be aiming to illegally stay here," a police officer said.

Sep 2 (Rediff) Sri Lanka wants India to allow joint ventures in the retail sector, increase foreign direct investment limit in hotels and restaurants beyond 51 per cent. Lanka also wants an increase the number of flights to major Indian cities under the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement more..

Sep 2 (LBO) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a non governmental organisation, accuses Sri Lanka�s public heath service of medical negligence. The AHRC says the recent spate of meningitis in Sri Lanka is a case of medical negligence and systemic negligence. more..

Sep 2 (AFP) A Sri Lankan court has freed 21 men who were accused of involvement in the 1993 assassination of president Ranasinghe Premadasa, the state attorney general's department said Thursday. The 20 ethnic Tamils and a man from the majority Sinhalese community who were accused of complicity in the May 1, 1993, more..

Sep 2 (AFP) Foreign donors had by the end of last month delivered less than half of the one billion dollars pledged for Sri Lanka's tsunami recovery, latest official figures showed Friday. more..

Sep 2 (HT) Sri Lankan Prime Minister and Presidential candidate, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has reportedly said that he prefers direct talks with the LTTE to using intermediaries and brokers like Norway. According to S Arulsamy, who met Rajapaksa with a delegation of the Up-Country Peoples' Federation (UPF) in Colombo on Thursday, more..

Sep 2 (DPA) Sri Lanka, still suffering from the afternoon of the December 26 tsunami, has offered to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S., the President's Office said Friday. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, on an official visit to China, offered 25,000 dollars for the victims of the hurricane. more..

Sep 3 (Xinhua) China and Sri Lanka issued a joint communique here Friday at the end of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's visit to China. At the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Kumaratunga paid a state visit to China from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. more..

Sep 3 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka launched Friday a new web portal to enable on-line access to the tsunami recovery assistance coming into the Indian Ocean island country which was badly hit by last December's tidal waves. more..

Sep 3 (TP) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, presidential candidate from the ruling party, on Thursday pledged that if elected he would initiate peace talks directly with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran without any foreign facilitators. more..

Sep 3 (TP) The National Police Commission has decided to suspend normal Police transfers from the date of accepting nominations for the Presidential Election and the date of the poll. Police Commission sources were quoted as saying that the decision was taken to avoid �adverse effects� during the poll. more..

Sep 3 (TP) Expatriate Sri Lankans from 47 associations in 36 countries are planning to field a candidate at the forthcoming Presidential election, the Island newspaper reported. It said this decision had been taken because the candidates currently in the fray had failed to ensure the safety and safeguard the rights of the majority community more..

Sep 3 (AT) Sri Lanka�s Presidential election is gradually slipping into an uncharted course, as new names are being bandied as the third candidate. It is believed that the entry of a third popular Sinhalese Buddhist candidate means all three candidates have to be on the mercy of the minority communities to win an edge in the election. more..

Sep 3 (AT) President Chandrika Kumaratunge concluded her six day state visit to China, Friday evening. This may be her last Chinese state visit as executive President of Sri Lanka. During Sri Lankan President's six day Chinese state visit, She addressed the Tenth Anniversary Commemoration Meeting of the Beijing Women Conference on Monday. more..

Sep 3 (IPS) While the international community has given the benefit of the doubt to Tamil separatist rebels in the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar last month, it may not be as forgiving on the issue of continued recruitment of child soldiers. more..

Sep 3 (ANN) Despite the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) being struck off the list of registered charities in Britain and refused registration in Canada due to its connections with a banned terrorist outfit, the LTTE, the organisation seems to have been given recognition by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. more..

Sep 3 (HT) A human rights group set up by the LTTE has called upon India to consult the LTTE on the environmental impact of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP), because it affects areas now under the "de facto" control of the Tamil rebel group. more..

Sep 3 (LT) Court gave permission to the CID to inspect the bank account of the wife of UNP media person who is a suspect of the murder of Commander of the Intelligence unit of SL Army, Major Muthaliff. more..

Sep 3 (LT) Colombo Magistrate directed that the suspect of SP Charles Wijewardene murder case should be produced for an identification parade on the 16th. Though Gopi, the murder suspect, was brought to court today for an identification parade, the magistrate postponed it. more..

Sep 3 (LT) Hundred soldiers are to be given training in India to drive trains. Minister of Railway Affairs Felix Perera has decided this to get over situations when railway drivers go on strike. The strike of train drivers demanding a new grade and a new salary scale for drivers is on its third day. more..

Sep 3 (LT) Next local government election will be held in March, 2006 said Minister of Local Government Janaka Bandara Tennekone. The issuing of the gazette announcing the holding of the election next year is being prepared at present and will be publicized in October said the Minister at a media meeting held in his ministry. more..

Sep 3 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse who is also the ruling party's presidential candidate has slammed the internationally backed peace process with the Tamil Tigers. more..

Sep 3 (AT) The Presidential Secretariat has ordered the Health Ministry to investigate immediately as to how Anti-Malaria Campaign has obtained medicated mosquito nets through the one tendered for the highest bid of Rs 80 million. more..

Sep 3 (wsws) In the wake of the assassination of Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August 12, the media and political parties in Colombo have whipped up a climate of communal tension and fear. more..

Sep 3 (LM) The JVP has made its decision, changing its initial position to field a candidate of its own for the presidential polls. The Marxists have now pledged their support to the ruling party presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse. more..

Sep 3 (LM) The United Nations' special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi who is on a five-day visit to the Island, has said �the prime task of his visit is to asses the re-commencement of the stalled peace processes' when the latter met the SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem at his residence this morning. more..

Sep 3 (LM) THE Pakistani High Commission will award 30 scholarships to Lankan students to pursue their studies in local institutions, the Pakistani High Commissioner said yesterday. The stipends titled Jinnah Scholarship has been named after the founder of Pakistan Mohamed Ali Jinnah will be available to O'Level, A'Level and graduate level students. more..

Sep 3 (ANN) Expatriate Sri Lankans are planning to field Major General Janaka Perera (Retd) as a presidential candidate, according to reports. Neither of the two candidates from the SLFP and the UNP, they believe, is representing the interests of the majority community. Both of them are, they argue, representing the interests of the minorities. more..