Apr 14 (IANS) The Sri Lankan government has expressed displeasure that Norwegian peace negotiators have absolved the rebel Tamil Tigers of all blame in the sinking of a Chinese trawler last month. more..

Apr 14 (DN) Four persons including a young girl and a boy were killed when they were knocked down by an open lorry on Saturday night at the New Kelaniya Bridge. Four more persons who were seriously injured have been warded at the Accident ward, Colombo National Hospital, more..

Apr 14 (OW) Although not a single case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has been reported, the killer pneumonia has fuelled panic in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, a popular transit point for passengers crossing south Asian borders. more..

Apr 14 (TN) Displaced people from Illupaikulum, a village located six kilometers north of the east port town along the Trincomalee Kuchchaveli main road, are returning to resettle in their lands with the signing of the ceasefire agreement. more..

Apr 14 (AFP) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Monday put aside criticism of the peace process with Tamil Tigers rebels and told the nation lasting peace would come soon. more..

Apr 14 (PTI) Welcoming the progress of peace talks between the LTTE and Sri Lankan Government, the CPI today said India should not remain passive to the Lankan developments. "After all it (the happenings in Sri Lanka) is in our region and Government of India should never be passive", more..

Apr 14 (HT) The LTTE has threatened to boycott the mega international "Aid Lanka" conference in Tokyo in June, because it has been kept out of the mini "Aid Lanka" meet to be held in Washington on April 14. more..

Apr 15 (BBC) Sri Lankan Government officials say they need $1.3 billion to help rebuild the country after nearly 20 years of civil war. The figures were quoted as a preliminary conference in Washington, aimed at boosting the peace process, got under way. more..

Apr 15 (Reuters) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Monday it was vital that donor countries provide moral and financial support to underpin Sri Lanka's fledgling peace process. more..

Apr 15 (DJ) The IMF looks set to approve a new support program and fresh loan to Sri Lanka on Friday. "The IMF executive board will consider the (Sri Lankan) program and request for financial assistance and longer-term fund arrangement this Friday...I'm sure our board will approve the request," Deputy Managing Director Shigemitsu Sugisaki said more..

Apr 15 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando has commenced on efforts to restore the authority and credibility of the United Nations lost due to the difference over the Iraq war, the official Daily News said on Monday. more..

Apr 15 (AFP) The United States took its biggest step yet into the Sri Lankan peace drive, but its decision to bar Tamil Tiger rebels from a major donor seminar injected new tensions into a vicious separatist conflict. more..

Apr 15 (Hindu) The United States Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage has said that while he is "encouraged" by the role of the LTTE in the Sri Lankan peace process, the Bush administration does not yet see a rationale for the lifting of that organisation from the List of Foreign Terrorist Organisations. more..

Apr 15 (DT) Sri Lanka has been selected as one of the 10 global destinations to set up display cum supply centres for Pakistani products, reported Sunday Observer. more..

Apr 15 (Scoop) DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, thank you all very much. Jim, thank you for your kind introduction. I very much appreciate the presence of all of you here today. For those of us who live in Washington, we're often treated to reminders of the vibrancy of this democracy. more..

Apr 15 (TN) Alaguthurai Ganesan (30), a father of three children, and Mr. Vinoth, a member of the Varathan group were killed and eight people were wounded in a grenade attack, allegedly by the paramilitary Varathan group, and subsequent shooting in Arayampathy in the Batticaloa district on Sunday night, sources said. more..

Apr 15 (AP) Norway, which is brokering peace in Sri Lanka, today said it will contribute an additional USD 2.7 million for the island's reconstruction efforts. The aid will go into a newly established trust fund. more..

Apr 15 (IANS) India's Ambassador to the United States, Lalit Mansingh, has reiterated New Delhi's commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Mansingh, speaking at a seminar on Sri Lanka here Monday, said India supported negotiated moves to end the 20-year-old ethnic conflict in the island nation. more..

Apr 15 (IANS) The U.S. will recognise Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers group as a "legitimate political organisation" provided it makes a clean break with terrorism, says Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. more..

Apr 15 (Reuters) Stocks closed higher on Tuesday in a shortened trading session, led by Seylan Bank , which accounted for the bulk of market turnover. The key Colombo all-share index ended up 0.41 percent, or 3.26 points, at 796.59. more..

Apr 15 (HT) A leading Sri Lankan political analyst has said that if the United States' commitment to fight LTTE terrorism is to be taken seriously, it will have to go beyond saying that it opposes terrorism and will not lift the ban on the LTTE until the latter renounces terrorism " unequivocally, in word and deed". more..

Apr 15 (BBC) John Bracewell has turned down the chance to coach Sri Lanka in favour of remaining Gloucestershire's director of cricket. The New Zealander had been short-listed alongside Australian Steve Rixon and former South Africa coach Graham Ford for the post vacated by Dav Whatmore. more..

Apr 16 (Hindu) The Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy, has welcomed the Centre's "reaffirmation" to the visiting Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, that India's demand for the extradition of the LTTE chief, Prabakaran, was "still active". more..

Apr 16 (BL) As the Sri Lankan peace process draws closer to a political settlement, "I don't expect Prabhakaran to play a political role," says Mr Sunil Bastian, Research Fellow and Development Consultant, International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Colombo. more..

Apr 16 (IPS) The leader of the Tiger rebels, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, sees himself as the godfather of Tamil politics in Sri Lanka, but he is being forced to learn that the U.S. government revels in having that title when it comes to global politics. more..

Apr 16 (Island) The Colombo National Hospital (CNH) reported a marginal increase in the number of injuries that occurred during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations this year. 732 patients had received treatment at the CNH from April 12 to April 14 owing to new year celebrations. more..

Apr 16 (AFP) The US on Monday took its biggest step yet into the Sri Lankan peace drive, but its decision to bar Tamil Tiger rebels from a major donor seminar injected new tensions into a vicious separatist conflict. more..

Apr 16 (TN) The Trincomalee political secretariat of the LTTE Tuesday in a statement denied any involvement in the alleged abduction of two Muslim youths in the Mutur sea a few days ago, sources said. more..

Apr 16 (TN) The Sub Committee on Immediate Humanitanarian Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN) is to open a branch next week to function from the Jaffna Secratariat to supervise and manage SIHRN projects in Jaffna district, local reports from Jaffna said. more..

Apr 16 (Gulf) The Arabian Gulf rugby team are set to become stars of the small screen. The representative team fly out to Colombo early tomorrow morning for historic first-ever Test matches against Sri Lanka and Japan. more..

Apr 16 (SLA) An unidentified person has thrown a hand grenade in the general area of IRATTAPERIYAKULAM about 10 km south of VAVUNIYA town on 14 April 2003 midnight. The explosion of the hand grenade caused injury to a woman who was around the area. more..

Apr 16 (SLA) The accidental discharge of fire from the personnel weapon of a fellow soldier has caused injury to a another soldier attached to the Army camp in the general area of KODIKAMAM on 13 April 2003 around 6.40 p.m. more..

Apr 16 (SLA) A teenager (14) who received critical injuries due to explosion of an anti personnel mine in the general area of CHAVAKACHCHERI north on 14 April 2003 around 6.40 a.m. succumbed to his injuries at JAFFNA Hospital. more..

Apr 16 (SLA) A soldier attached to the Army camp in the general area of CHUNNAKAM about 12 km north of JAFFNA town, sustained injuries to his right foot due to accidental discharged of his own weapon on 15 April 2003. Military police have commenced investigations.

Apr 16 (HT) The United States has thrown its weight behind the Sri Lankan peace process even as India for the first time participated in a conclave to take stock of the negotiations and affirmed its commitment to the island republic's "unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity". more..

Apr 16 (LBO) The has government got international commitment to raise in excess of a billion dollars, over the next three years to rebuild the war ravaged economy. The announcement came at the end of a donor seminar for Sri Lanka hosted by the United States on Monday, which included representatives from 30 other governments and international financial institutions. more..

Apr 16 (LBO) Every day for twenty-five years Louisa Nona has been coming to the pavement of the Pettah private bus stand with a load of betel leaves to sell. Often she returns home with more left over betel leaves than she could carry. Things are different these days. more..

Apr 16 (LBO) The government is seeking a US$ 560 mn aid package under the International Monetary Fund’s concessionary lending programme. Finance Minister, K N Choksy made a formal request to IMF’s Managing Director, Herst Kholer, to release the funds, which is Sri Lanka’s entire quota allocation. more..

Apr 16 (DM) The premier teaching hospital in Peradeniya is in uproar and confusion over the alleged secret admission of an English patient who is suspected to be suffering from the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). more..

Apr 16 (DN) The JVP which labelled the two major political parties in Sri Lanka as rouges which should be thrown into the dustbin of political history is now trying to sign a MoU with the PA of which the SLFP is a major constituent party, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe more..

Apr 16 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga, in a message to mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, says her wish is that, the two major communities of Sri Lanka who observe virtually similar customs and rituals, resolve today to cast aside differences and march forward in unity as a nation, in pursuit of prosperity, happiness and peace. more..

Apr 16 (AP) At least 10 people werekilled and 732 injured in road accidents in the Sri Lankan capitalduring traditional new year celebrations, a hospital official said Wednesday. The accidents occurred on Sunday and Monday, when thisisland nation of 18.6 million people celebrated its traditional new year, which started Monday. more..

Apr 16 (IANS) India and Sri Lanka are working on a proposal from Colombo to broaden their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) into a partnership pact that would lower barriers and stimulate economic activity between them. more..

Apr 16 (IANS) As a goodwill gesture to China, Sri Lanka has decided to pay compensation to families of the 15 people who died when a Chinese trawler was sunk in a mystery attack that Colombo has blamed on Tamil guerrillas. more..

Apr 16 (AT) The United States demonstrated its serious commitment to Sri Lanka's peace drive by hosting an international seminar, "Sri Lanka's Reconstruction and Development" on Monday at the State Department. more..

Apr 16 (TN) Father SJ Emmanuel, one of the leading lights of the Catholic clergy in Jaffna and a long-standing international propagandist for the LTTE, says that the Tamils of Tamil Nadu are being subjected to a "multi-faceted oppression" and that his "sympathies" go out to them. more..

Apr 16 (Reuters) Hollywood star Angelina Jolie said on Wednesday she was moved by stories of lives shattered by two decades of war in Sri Lanka and called on the international community to back the island's peace process. more..

Apr 17 (Island) Economic Reforms, Science and Technology Minister, Milinda Moragoda on Tuesday (15) inspected helicopter gunship gifted to the Sri Lanka government along with the ‘courageous’ coast guard vessel by the United States in Washington. more..

Apr 17 (AP) Senior political leaders in Sri Lanka appealed for calm yesterday after the alleged abduction of two Muslims by suspected Tamil rebels raised fears of violence in the north-eastern town of Muttur. more..

Apr 17 (CI) Sri Lanka's selectors have decided to split the Test and one-day captaincy, handing over leadership of the Test side to Hashan Tillakaratne and appointing Marvan Atapattu as the one-day skipper. more..