Dec 8 (CI) John Dyson, Sri Lanka's coach, was upbeat after his first Test match in charge, saying that Sri Lanka were the dominant team and the only winners in Galle had rain not interrupted play on the fourth afternoon. more..

Dec 8 (HT) India is not part of the on-going international effort to bring about a rapprochement between the President Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. "India would like the two Sri Lankan leaders to cohabit. But it is not part of any collective international effort to bring this about," more..

Dec 8 (IT) The battle over the rights to cricket emnating from Sri Lanka just got hotter. Today Sri Lanka Cricket issued a tender document for the television and sponsorship rights for the next three years to five short listed companies. more..

Dec 8 (TN) The Central Committee meeting of the TULF scheduled to be held in Amparai on the 14 December is against the Party's constitution, said Anandasangaree the 'past' president of TULF who was the subject of a no-confidence motion that passed successfully on 30 November in a TULF meeting held in Colombo, more..

Dec 8 (TC) Left-hand batsman Tilana Kandamby slammed an unbeaten half century to steer Sri Lanka 'A' to a three-wicket win on the penultimate day of the third and final Test match to square the series 1-1 against India 'A' at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. more..

Dec 8 (HT) With just one week to go for the expiry of the deadline for a settlement between the two warring leaders, President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, elder statesman and leftist leader, Batty Weerakoon, sees no light at the end of the tunnel. more..

Dec 8 (HT) Hundreds of displaced Tamil families from Kadaloor and Upparu in Kinniya division in Trincomalee district, who have been staying as refugees at the Eechantivu Vipulananda Tamil Vidiyalayam, Sunday complained to the Trincomalee district parliamentarians, more..

Dec 8 (AP) Sri Lanka's military commander said his forces are prepared if a peace process with Tamil Tigers goes sour, accusing the rebels of bolstering their fighting capabilities during a 22-month cease-fire. more..

Dec 9 (TN) The TNA Monday rejected the invitation extended by the Sihala Urumaya (SU), for a public debate on the "Vaddukoddai resolution" and "Thimpu principles," saying that they cannot enter into "any debate with any political or any other group which has not got a mandate from the Sinhala people," more..

Dec 9 (TN) The Trincomalee district Parliamentarian, Mr.Sampanthan, has made representations to President, Prime Minister and Defence Ministry officials to take urgent action to release Attavaniakulam pastureland in Thampalakamam for cattle grazing. more..

Dec 9 (TN) Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, who broke the Commonwealth tradition to challenge the incumbent Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Mr. Don McKinnon, was defeated in a ballot last week, with only 11 of the 52 nations voting for him, despite initial claims in the Sri Lankan and Indian Press that he would pose a spirited challenge. more..

Dec 9 (TN) The International Students' Association of Thamileelam (ISAT) in a press release issued Monday appealed to the Indian government to adopt a positive stance that would help the Tamils of the country to arrive at a fair and just political solution meeting their legitimate aspirations. more..

Dec 9 (TB) AMID renewed debate over the most controversial bowling action in the game, one of the sport's foremost bowling biomechanists has cast doubt over English reports that Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan can straighten his arm. more..

Dec 9 (DN) The Samarawickrema-Tittawella Committee is optimistic that a settlement over the control of defence will be reached before the December 15 deadline. "There is every likelihood that the differences (over defence) will be sorted at the next meeting between the President and the Prime Minister on Wednesday," more..

Dec 9 (CI) Sri Lanka's fastest bowler, Dilhara Fernando, has fully recovered from a serious back injury and is raring to have a go at the Englishmen. He could play in Kandy if conditions favour an extra pace bowler. Fernando went six months without international cricket after suffering a stress fracture of his spine. more..

Dec 9 (LBO) The United Nations will host the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December, to tackle the global challenges and opportunities of the information age. more..

Dec 9 (LT) The government signs agreement to sell the well known Wellawatte Mills together with its land to a Singaporean company. The project which would include a complex of luxury houses, a shopping complex and other city amenities is to be a joint investment between the relevant company and Bank of Ceylon. more..

Dec 9 (TN) Another round of talks held between the leaders of SLFP, and the JVP, which is the third largest party in the current parliament, Monday night concluded without fixing a date for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to forge a political alliance, political sources said. more..

Dec 9 (TN) A group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Monday visited Manalkadu, a village on the southeastern coast of Jaffna district, and asked the residents to make statements to the effect that SLA did not lay mines in their areas. more..

Dec 9 (TN) Talks between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians and the political leadership of the LTTE began Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. at the Killinochchi LTTE political secretariat, Vanni sources said. more..

Dec 9 (SLA) A group of thirty persons, in camouflage uniforms, suspected to be from LTTE, had abducted five fishermen and taken twenty four fishing catamarans into their custody from the general area of VAKANERI tank, about 07 km. west of VALACHCHENAI on 05 December 2003 around 9.30 p.m. more..

Dec 9 (SLA) A teenaged woman (19), abducted by LTTE from CHENKALADY area and detained for about three months inside the THANDIMARAM LTTE camp fled from LTTE detention and surrendered to the KARAPOLA Police post, in the general area of WELIKANDA on 08 December 2003 around 12 noon. more..

Dec 9 (SLA) Members of Sihala Urumaya political party visited SOORANGAL area on 05 December 2003 around 3.00 p.m. in order to witness hardships, faced by the Muslims in the general area of SOORANGAL. more..

Dec 9 (SLA) Three children of the same family were killed due to an explosion, triggered off by a hand grenade in the general area of ERIYAGE OYA at 18th MILE POST on HABARANA-POLONNARUWA road on 08 December 2003 around 5.15 p.m. more..

Dec 9 (DJ) The Chinese government has approved a nearly three billion Sri Lankan rupees ($1=LKR96.45) grant to Sri Lanka to fund two power projects, the country's investment arm, the Board of Investment, or BOI said Tuesday. more..

Dec 9 (DJ) Fixed-line operator Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. (SLTL.SL), or SLT, has yet to complete final negotiations to acquire wireless loop operator Lanka Bell Ltd., an SLT company official said Tuesday. more..

Dec 9 (wsws) In his annual “Heroes Day” speech on November 27, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran bent over backwards to reassure the major international powers that his organisation intended to adhere to the so-called peace process and was willing to negotiate with the Colombo government over the LTTE’s proposals for an ISGA. more..

Dec 9 (HT) The first thing to explain is why I am using this strange dateline. It's because this is where I am -- up in the tropical rain forest of Sri Lanka, at a hotel called the Tea Factory, because that is what it used to be. I came to Sri Lanka to receive the 2003 Lifetime Journalistic Achievement Award of the Population Institute. more..

Dec 9 (Dawn) Sri Lanka's army chief said Monday that Tamil rebels were recruiting members and assembling arms in defiance of a ceasefire in case peace talks with the Colombo government falter. "They (rebels) are getting ready. They are keeping their options open. They are recruiting people," more..

Dec 9 (NK) Sri Lanka's army chief Monday expressed confidence the political imbroglio in his country would end soon and talks would be held with the Tamil Tigers on restoring peace in the island nation. more..

Dec 9 (Gulf) Tamil guerrilla theoretician Anton Balasingham who has returned to active politics after being sidelined for several months has urged India to rethink and re-orientate its approach towards the guerrilla movement as it plays an important role in restoring peace and maintaining stability. more..

Dec 9 (NK) Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge has expressed confidence that tourist arrivals in the scenic Indian Ocean island will reach the half a million target by the year end, reports Xinhua more..

Dec 9 (Jang) Sri Lanka’s cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala Monday called for stepped up security saying he feared for his life after winning a court order protecting him from arrest for alleged links to a criminal. more..

Dec 9 (CI) It may have been guarding Sri Lanka's southern coastline for the best part of 400 years, but the old Dutch fort at Galle can rarely have witnessed a more magnificent backs-to-the-ramparts effort than England's tailenders produced to save last week's first Test. more..

Dec 9 (BBC) Muttiah Muralitharan will play in the second Test against England despite missing Tuesday's practice session in Kandy. He did not bowl in the nets and was given ice treatment on his shoulder, but coach John Dyson was quick to scotch any concerns about his fitness. more..

Dec 9 (IRIB) Behnam Behrouz was appointed Iran's new ambassador to Sri Lanka, it was announced here Tuesday. The appointment was made upon a proposal by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi which was approved by President Mohammad Khatami. more..

Dec 9 (DJ) Sri Lanka has set up a Petroleum Resources Development Committee to facilitate oil and gas exploration, said a government official Tuesday. "The committee will hold their inaugural meeting Dec. 12," more..

Dec 9 (DM) Confident after he was discharged by courts, Thilanga Sumathipala vowed yesterday he would take maximum legal action against the people behind the attempt to link him with the underworld. He said it was a sinister campaign to put him down. more..

Dec 9 (Sun) The Sri Lankan navy has arrested 11 more Indian fishermen while poaching in the country's territorial waters, reports Xinhua. The arrests were made near the northern islet of Kayts on Monday, a navy spokesman said here. Three fishing boats were also seized. more..

Dec 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's president will not concede control of the Defence Ministry to resolve a feud with the prime minister, her spokesman said on Tuesday, adding the two had to work together to salvage a peace bid with Tamil rebels. more..

Dec 9 (AT) Tiger rebel chief Velupillai Prabakaran and Pottu Amman alias Thambiah Sivasankaran, chief of the intelligence wing of the rebel outfit, are advised to surrender at the office of the Indian High Commission, Colombo, to be taken to India, to face legal action in a court of law in India. more..

Dec 9 (KN) Sri Lanka's Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. L.P. Balagalle, met Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes here Tuesday to discuss military cooperation and the regional security scenario, officials said. more..

Dec 9 (EC) England captain Michael Vaughan has urged his batsmen to grasp the initiative against Sri Lanka's mere mortals in a bid to lessen the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan. more..

Dec 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka have dropped a spinner to beef up their batting for the second test against England starting on Wednesday. The selectors met the team management on Tuesday before recalling middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan in place of off spinner Kumar Dharmasena, more..

Dec 9 (TN) Members of the public Tuesday evening assaulted a group of members of the EPDP, which works closely with the Sri Lanka Army, when they were engaged in distributing handbills with the assistance of soldiers of the SLA at the common market in Kodikamam in the Thenmaradchchi division of the Jaffna district. more..

Dec 9 (AP) An army soldier fired at a suspected Tamil rebel as he threatened a military patrol with a grenade in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday in a rare violent outburst amid a nearly two-year-old ceasefire, officials and witnesses said. more..

Dec 10 (TN) Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, responding to a question at the press briefing he held Tuesday afternoon in Kilinochchi, said that if the current political crisis in the South were to continue indefinitely, it would seriously impact the peace process and the LTTE would carefully study its options, more..

Dec 10 (Island) Today is the deadline set for the resolution of the crucial issues in the Health sector. The Cabinet paper on the salary anomalies of the health sector employees is expected to be presented to the Cabinet this evening by the Minister of Health P. Dayaratne for approval. more..

Dec 10 (DN) The government has implemented an accelerated program to provide employment to youth by changing archaic laws and regulations which impeded employment generation, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Dec 10 (IPS) Sri Lankan rights groups may have won a temporary respite in their battle against the privatisation of water services with a court ruling in their favour, but the campaign is far from over. more..