Oct 10 (AP) A bomb exploded at a home near the prime minister's house in a plush area of Sri Lanka's capital on Friday, killing a servant, police said. The house, on Rosmead Place in Colombo, is owned by a gem merchant. On the same street are President Chandrika Kumaratunga's private residence, several diplomatic residences and the French Embassy. more..

Oct 10 (AFP) A bomb explosion in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo killed at least one man. more..

Oct 10 (BBC) Tennekoon, who captained Sri Lanka in the 1975 World Cup, will stand down immediately after England's tour of Sri Lanka which starts next month. "Due to personal reasons I am relinquishing my duties as chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket," Tennekoon said. more..

Oct 10 (TN) The LTTE Friday said elements that had been responsible for the recent clash in Mutur are now involved in creating ethnic tension in Kinniya division between Tamils and Muslims. more..

Oct 10 (IANS) Following opposition protests, government has agreed to hold a debate on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's speech to the U.N. General Assembly in which he reportedly condoned the U.S. attack on Iraq. more..

Oct 10 (NP) A nuclear scientist running as a candidate in upcoming regional elections was once accused of links to terrorism by Canadian intelligence agents, who denied him a security clearance for a sensitive job at Atomic Energy Canada. more..

Oct 10 (OW) Last week, the LTTE rebels kidnapped five schoolboys from eastern Sri Lanka, even as a new report says they have intensified their child recruitment drive, abducting children from schools and temples: making a mockery of recent efforts to rehabilitate child soldiers. more..

Oct 10 (TN) A delegation of the LTTE, led by Mr. Tamilchelvan, head of the political division, will visit Norway, during October 14-17, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday. Col. Karuna, the LTTE commander for the East, will be part of the delegation. more..

Oct 10 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels Friday staged cultural and religious events to commemorate its first woman fighter killed in action 16 years ago, the guerrillas said. The pro-rebel tamilnet.com website said the elusive Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran took part in a commemorative ceremony more..

Oct 10 (CI) Thilanga Sumathipala, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has made a personal plea to the country's prime minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe, for an urgent investigation into a series of newspaper articles linking him to underworld killers. more..

Oct 11 (Stuff) Sri Lanka is a land of contradictions – a bewitching land with gentle people that also bears the fresh wounds of 20 years of bloodshed. Feature writer Jill Worrall recently took a journey that highlighted the islanders' keen desire for peace. more..

Oct 11 (AP) A bomb exploded at a home in a plush area of Colombo on Friday, killing one person in what police said was apparently an accident. The house, on Rosmead Place, is owned by a gem merchant. On the same street are President Chandrika Kumaratunga's private residence, several diplomatic residences and the French Embassy. more..

Oct 11 (FL) ON September 24, Vavuniya, the northern-most government-held Tamil-majority town in Sri Lanka, was witness to one more of the cultural extravaganzas that have become the main public event in the propaganda programmes of the LTTE. more..

Oct 11 (LBO) A court injunction brought on by CINTEC staff has blocked the wind-up of the former IT regulator. About 30 of its staff members took the regulator and the state to courts, calling their dismissal unfair and without warning. more..

Oct 11 (Island) The Sihala Urumaya will leave Colombo on Tuesday (14) to inspect the LTTE camp at Manirasakulam which has been set up in government-controlled area. The Sihala Urumaya will launch this protest inspection under the scheme — ‘arms are yours, land is ours’. more..

Oct 11 (DN) Maligakanda Additional Magistrate Ayesha Jayasena issued warrants yesterday on Susanthika Jayasinghe and her husband Kumbukage Dammika Nanda Kumara, in connection with a road accident at Ethulkotte junction on October 2. more..

Oct 11 (TN) The UNICEF has donated hearing aids for sixty-three students with impaired hearing in the Trincomalee district. The event where such students were fitted with hearing aids was held Thursday at the office of the Trincomalee education zone, UNICEF sources said. more..

Oct 11 (TN) The political advisor to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Mr. Gejir Sebeasd Deniy, met officials of the Liberation Tigers in Mannar Friday for discussions about the ground situation in the district during the 17 months of cease-fire between Colombo and the LTTE. more..

Oct11 (LBO) When the mighty forces join hands, the results are potent. The House of MAS Holdings and The House of Noyon Dentelle de Calais of France put the initial stitches to set up a US$ 40 mn lace plant at Biyagama. more..

Oct11 (LBO) The Housing Development & Finance Corp. Bank got provisional approval from the Colombo Stock Exchange to list its shares on the main board. The state housing giant is listing 4,122,500 ordinary shares at Rs. 100 per piece. more..

Oct 11 (SLA) The Sri Lanka Army born towards the end of the Second World War and the dawn of independence to this island-nation, celebrates its 54th anniversary today (Oct 10) after evolving itself from a ceremonial outfit to a fully-fledged Army, now not at all second to any of the battle-hardened professional armies in the world. more..

Oct 11 (SLA) Security Forces at a snap road block at ANAIPANTHY, about 02 km northeast JAFFNA town arrested an LTTE carder on suspicion on 08 October 2003 during day time while he was riding a motor bike sans any valid document. more..

Oct 11 (SLA) Security Forces provided the safe passage for 102 LTTE carders to travel from VAVUNIYA up to BATTICALOA via GALKULAMA Army roadblock on 09 October 2003. A total of 102 LTTE carders (99 females and 03 males) without uniforms and unarmed in 04 vehicles (02 buses and 02 vans) were provided safe passage more..

Oct 11 (SLA) One hundred and thirty three (133) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 29 September 2003 and 05 October 2003. more..

Oct 11 (SA) Shell Solar reaches a milestone in its efforts to provide rural communities with access to energy by bringing solar electricity to 20,000 homes and small businesses in Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 11 (BBC) Hashan Tillakaratne is expected to retain captaincy of Sri Lanka's Test team and Marvan Atapattu the one-day leadership for England's tour starting next month. The decision to continue with the shared captaincy was reached last week following discussions in Colombo between a four-man selection committee and new coach John Dyson. more..

Oct 11 (Hindu) In a swift operation, sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested two Sri Lankan nationals in Madurai last night and seized heroin worth Rs. 7 crores from them. A special team of the NCB, Chennai, organised a raid late last night and arrested Ramar (30) and Ramakrishnan (43) of Kandy in Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 11 (PSL) President Kumaratunga on Wednesday 8th October appointed a three member commission of inquiry, to examine and report on the recent incidents of violence at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. more..

Oct 11 (DM) The People's Alliance said yesterday it would move urgently in parliament for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for his alleged statements supporting the US invasion of Iraq. more..

Oct 11 (AFP) Army chief, Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle, has been promoted to be the country's top military officer, officials said Saturday. President granted an extension of service till June next year to Balagalle who was expected to retire by December, more..

Oct 11 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday denied accusations by the United Nations children's charity that they have been abducting children to join their fight for a separate state. more..

Oct 12 (TN) Four journalists were brutally assaulted while covering a clash between Police and crowds in the neighbourhood of Maambalam Junction in Jaffna town Saturday evening. One of them, Mr. K. Ithayapavan, a staff reporter of the daily Valampuri, was admitted to Jaffna Hospital with a severe head injury. more..

Oct 12 (TN) "Samurdhi sponsored development projects play a vital role in the economic progress of our district and for creation of self-employment opportunities," said E. Kausalyan, Batticaloa-Amparai Head of the Political Wing of the Liberation Tigers, more..

Oct 12 (Island) A man arrested following the recent raid on the premises of a leading narcotics dealer has now being identified as the person who accompanied the then senior DIG T. E. Anandarajah to the five-star birthday bash of the drug baron’s infant daughter. more..

Oct 12 (UNI) Canada Foreign Minister Bill Graham, who is on an official visit to India and Sri Lanka from October 10, is likely to meet elusive leader of LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran in the LTTE-held Wanni region during his stay in the island nation, more..

Oct 12 (Gulf) The continued abduction of children for forced recruitment as soldiers by the LTTE in the east was condemned by the SLMM yesterday and has prompted a UN agency to express its concern. "Over the week 10 more complaints from their parents have been received," SLMM Deputy Chief Hagrup Haukland said more..

Oct 12 (Hindu) A clash between Sri Lankan police and residents in the island's northern Jaffna peninsula left at least seven persons, including four journalists, injured this evening. Today's unrest — the second in the sensitive northern town in as many weeks — took place after a speeding military truck reportedly knocked down an autorickshaw, injuring one person. more..

Oct 12 (SO) The United National Party (UNP) has decided to cancel all foreign trips of Cabinet Ministers, MPs and provincial council members with immediate effect. According to senior officials, the overseas travel ban will be imposed for an indefinite period. more..

Oct 12 (ST) Hardly ten days after the US re-classified the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, Tamil guerrillas yesterday waived off tax for the USAID to send in humanitarian assistance to the northern Jaffna peninsula. This followed indirect intervention with the LTTE through Jaffna's GA S. Pathmanathan, more..

Oct 12 (SL) With the SLFP facing the prospect of a serious internal split due to continued agitation by several party seniors for an alliance with the JVP, the government was setting the stage for a major grassroots offensive to capture the moderate ground within the opposition. more..

Oct 12 (SL) 'Lies, lies and more damned lies' appears to be the age old adage by which Thilanga Sumathipala is living and resorting to as this newspaper proves beyond all reasonable doubt his strong relationship with the feared underworld criminal, Dhammika Amarasinghe - wanted for no less than 50 killings. more..

Oct 12 (SLA) The Police had to use tear gas to disperse an unruly mob who blocked and disrupted the flow of traffic on the A- 9 road after a road accident in the general area of MAMPALAM town in CHIVIYATHERU west, about 2.5 km east of JAFFNA town 11 October 2003. more..

Oct 12 (PTI) Police in Sri Lanka arrested 12 ethnic Tamil civilians on Saturday for clashing with soldiers after a military vehicle was involved in a road accident in the northern town of Jaffna, a news report said. more..

Oct 12 (TS) Canada has ramped up its role in the Sri Lankan peace process and is trying to get both the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist LTTE to return to the negotiating table. A flurry of contacts between the Canadian government and the two parties to the Sri Lankan conflict that have taken place in the past few weeks are indicative of Canada's bigger role. more..

Oct 12 (AFP) Sri Lanka is raising its defence budget by 3.37 percent to 554 million dollars next year despite a truce with Tamil Tiger rebels, official sources said Sunday. The total defence budget will be 52.08 billion rupees in the calendar year 2004, up from an estimated spending of 50.38 billion rupees this year, more..

Oct 12 (Gulf) SLFP is planning a mass protest campaign in Colombo later this month to show their strength against the ruling UNF government, but is failing to gain support from the Marxist party which it wants to tie hands with in ousting the government. more..

Oct 12 (AP) Dozens of Pakistanis detained for trying to illegally board an Italy-bound ship in Sri Lanka have returned home, a government official said on Sunday. The 54 Pakistanis arrived in the southern city of Karachi on Friday, said Abdul Malik, deputy director in the Federal Investigation Agency, more..

Oct 12 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are expected to delay revealing a long-awaited power-sharing plan by at least another two weeks despite hopes of an early resumption of peace talks, diplomats said Sunday. more..

Oct 12 (Sapa) Sri Lanka A's chances of levelling the two match cricket series against South Africa A had dipped significantly by stumps on the first day at the North West Oval on Sunday. more..

Oct 13 (Island) Fearing a planned Sihala Urumaya protest at the hotly disputed Manirasakulam (Kurangupaanchan) LTTE camp tomorrow (14) would provoke violence, the government has sought truce monitors’ help to tackle a possible crisis. more..