July 22 (AT) The department of health has reported the failure of the programme to curb the spread of Dengue in Sri Lanka. Director of epidemiology Dr.Nihal Abeysinghe said that all prevention efforts have failed in urban areas, while there has been some progress in the outstations. more..

July 22 (AT) LTTE Media Spokesman Daya Master says that the background to resume peace talks between the government and the LTTE is being successfully prepared. He said that the talks between Head of the Government’s Peace Secretariat Dr.Jayantha Dhanapala and Head of LTTE Peace Secretariat S.Pullidevan were successfully concluded. more..

July 22 (AT) Union Government of India has told Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka that they will not have any truck with LTTE, the Tamil rebel outfit, which has been proscribed in India, that would tend to provide legitimacy to the activities of the Sri Lankan Tamil rebel organization. more..

July 22 (DN) Recent Police promotions which led to controversy have been decided by the Secretary of the Police Commission on the recommendation of political bigwigs of the former UNF regime, informed sources said. more..

July 22 (HT) The chairman of the Milinda Moragoda Institute for Peoples' Empowerment (MMIPE), has denied that it had sought from the Japanese government, $4.350 million for itself and two Indian de-mining NGOs working for it in the war-affected parts of north east Sri Lanka. more..

July 22 (Xinhua) Main opposition said Thursday that the ongoing Norwegian-backed ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels is in serious jeopardy. G.L. Peiris, the spokesman for the UNP, said the party would be informing visiting Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen the peace process is in danger as the ceasefire is under strain. more..

July 22 (AP) European cease-fire monitors entered talks Thursday with Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka amid heightening fears that hostilities between the Tigers and the government could resume. Leading the team of cease-fire monitors, Trond Furuhovde from Norway met with the Tigers' political chief S.P. Thamilselvan more..

July 22 (AFP) Violence between rival factions of Tamil Tiger rebels claimed another life when a man was gunned down in the east of the country, officials said. The victim was believed to be a supporter of a breakaway Tamil Tiger leader Karuna, officials said. more..

July 23 (TN) "The SLMM has strongly urged the government to take meaningful and effective action to curb the activities of paramilitary groups including that of Karuna faction and the EPDP", Major General (retd) Trond Furuhovde, Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission told more..

July 23 (TN) Mr.David Binns, High Commissioner for Australia in Sri Lanka Thursday morning paid a surprise visit to Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. Accompanied by the First Secretary, Mr.Binn arrived at Palaly main military air base by a special aircraft and later held discussion with the Jaffna District Secretary more..

July 23 (TN) Mr.S. Sasikumar, a trader residing in the Liberation Tigers controlled village Thalaiyadi located in Vaththirayan north of Vadamarachchi east in Jaffna district Thursday complained to the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that he is intimidated and threatened by Sri Lanka Army soldiers more..

July 23 (TN) Several peoples' organizations including leading student groups in Jaffna district have condemned the request made by Major General Susil Chandrapala, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army, to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to stop students participating in events organized by the LTTE, more..

July 23 (WF) A newly enacted tax treaty between the United States and Sri Lanka will serve to eliminate tax barriers to bilateral trade and help guard against the threat of double taxation, according to a July 22 Treasury Department press release. more..

July 23 (Telegraph) Glamorgan may have beaten all the major Test-playing nations, but they were overshadowed by Sri Lanka A on the first day-and-a-half of their four-day game at St Helen's. more..

July 23 (AT) The CID submitted a report yesterday to the Colombo Fort Magistrate on the progress of investigations into the case against former Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ravi Karunanayake and the former Minister Secretary Harsha Wickremasinghe. more..

July 23 (AT) Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle raised a parliamentary privileges issue over a programme to telecast recently by a private television station. According to Mr.Fernandopulle, the programme which focused on the food provided MPs was an attempt at creating disaffection about the parliamentary system and parliamentarians among members of the public. more..

July 23 (AT) The UNP has come out in support of a government decision to sound out the opposition on the peace process. Addressing a news conference held at the parliamentary complex yesterday, Professor G.L.Peiris MP said that they would extend all possible support for the success of the peace process. more..

July 23 (AT) Chandrika Kumaratunga – Sri Lanka's President says that if an investigation is held on the promotions given with the approval of the national police commission, it would help to protect the good name of the police as well as the commission. more..

July 23 (AT) The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) says that a group of LTTE cadres have set fire and destroyed the handicraft training centre launched in Keeran-Batticaloa by the Palmyra Development Board. more..

July 23 (HT) A group of pro-LTTE Tamil members of the Sri Lankan parliament is to leave for India on Saturday on a mission to convince Indian leaders that the LTTE is not fighting for a separate Tamil Eelam at present. more..

July 23 (TN) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) is planning to fund rehabilitation of internal roads in two pradeshya sabha divisions in Jaffna district, local media in Jaffna reported. more..

July 23 (TN) "The Sri Lankan state and military are using armed groups to divide and rule Tamil society in Batticaloa. They did it in the past. My people will never fall prey to the machinations of divisive forces because they have made immense sacrifices for the Tamil cause", said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, more..

July 23 (SLA) A field officer of the Union Assurance Company Ltd, AMPARA Branch, who was in KARADIYANARU, about 23 km west of BATTICALOA in un-cleared areas for business matterrs, has been assassinated by suspected LTTE men late in the evening on 21 July 2004, more..

July 23 (SLA) Two Tamil civilians under the influence of liquor have been beaten badly by a group of LTTE men for reasons best known only to the LTTE while those civilians were in the general area of KANDALADITTU, about 11.5 km of southwest of TRINCOMALEE on 21 July 2004 around 6.30 p.m. more..

July 23 (SLA) Nineteen Sri Lankan refugees, dropped near the general SAND BANK area west of URUMALAI, TALAIMANNAR with their personal belongings, were picked up by naval troops on 22 July 2004. Those refugees had paid Indian Rs. 2500 each for their passage to SRI LANKA. more..

July 23 (SLA) The seventh batch of three Officers and ninety Other Ranks who underwent the Special Infantry Course conducted in Jaffna received accolades during their passing-out on Wednesday (21) at a ceremony held in Vasavilan Teacher Training School grounds, more..

July 23 (SLA) A number of long-felt medical necessities and other requirements at Palaly Army Base Hospital were realized on 21 July morning after several new wings in the premises were declared open for the benefit of troops by Major General M.D.S Chandrapala, more..

July 23 (KN) He is Sri Lanka's best known cricket cheerleader, who once ruffled former India captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, claiming that he induced them to make mistakes while batting. more..

July 23 (Gulf) The head of the Scandinavian monitors has met with the Tamil guerrilla political wing leader in northern Sri Lanka to discuss measures to protect the truce as fresh allegations poured in about guerrillas building up around a northeastern port city. more..

July 23 (AT) The country office of World Bank in Sri Lanka has been condemned severely by the Patriotic National Movement, an organization in Sri Lanka for dealing with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. more..

July 23 (AT) On the anniversary of the 1983 July Holocaust Poet laureate Pulavar Pulamai Pithtan castigated Indian Government to put behind the hatred and dislike they have developed over the years against the LTTE and take an abiding interest in participating in solving the problems Tamils in Sri Lanka are facing at present. more..

July 23 (PRIU) The Government has launched a Dengue Eradication National Programme commencing today, July 23. The Eradication Programme was decided on at the 106th session of the National Health Council held under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as directed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. more..

July 23 (PRIU) The Indian Government has extended a credit line of US$ 150 million to purchase petroleum products. The Indian Government further agreed to build a dairy factory like the Amul factory of India in Sri Lanka and to provide Sri Lanka with technical knowledge to increase our milk production. more..

July 23 (LBO) In less than six months thousands of Sri Lankans working abroad in garment factories will return minus employment. They will join thousands more back home also in the ranks of the unemployed. more..

July 23 (LBO) The corporate sector took a whacking, as state educationists say they need more than the right noises and more private sector involvement to provide services in rural schools. more..

July 23 (LBO) Six-month tourist arrivals to the paradise isle are slightly wobbly, responding to the peace sensitivity index, but are on track with year-end expectations. June’s month on month tourist arrivals showed only a marginal increase of 0.9 percent and the six-month total of 224,905 showed a 4.1 percent increase compared to 2003. more..

July 23 (Xinhua) Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen is due to arrive here on Sunday in a fresh bid to revive the stalled peace process in the country, the Norwegian embassy said in a statement on Friday. more..

July 23 (OW) Lawyers and rights activists in Sri Lanka have launched a campaign to collect one million signatures for a memorandum demanding the repeal of a 1979 introduced draconian anti-terrorism law under which 65,000 persons have been detained so far. more..

July 23 (DN) President Kumaratunga yesterday noted that there should be a public apology for the events of July 1983 if the country is to move forward. President said her apology in this regard made at the country's 50th Independence Day celebrations was not sufficient to redress what happened in July 1983. more..

July 23 (AFP) Hundreds of Tamil activists carried the body of a slain politician in his coffin to the Norwegian embassy here to stage a noisy demonstration against the island's peace brokers. more..

July 23 (AT) The dead body of Kamalan alias Velayutham Raveendran, Chairman of the Alaiyadivembu Pradeshiya Sabha located in the Amparai district, who was shot and killed on 21 July, at Akkaraipattu was brought to Colombo yesterday evening and this morning placed in front of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, more..

July 23 (AFP) Hundreds of Tamil activists carried the body of a slain politician in his coffin to the Norwegian embassy in Colombo to stage a noisy demonstration against Sri Lanka's peace brokers. more..

July 23 (Reuters) Sri Lanka marked Friday's 21st anniversary of what many consider to be the start of the current Tamil rebellion with a call by the president for politicians to apologise for atrocities committed. more..

July 23 (CI) Bangladesh began their innings with a recklessness that left Dav Whatmore burying his head in his hands, but recovered to an extent after a show of resistance, and ended at 190 for 9. Mohammad Ashraful (69) and Manjarul Islam Rana (44) were the two who resisted, and their century partnership hauled their team back from the brink. more..

July 23 (LBO) Treasury Secretary Dr. P B Jayasundara said Friday that gradual changes in fuel prices are needed, but without much disruption to domestic prices. He said that unlimited amounts of subsidies were not healthy, given that the Treasury will have to fork out US$ 1.2 bn this year for fuel imports. more..

July 23 (HT) At a conference to be organised by the pro-LTTE Tamil Nadu leader P Nedumaran in Bangalore on Sunday, participating Sri Lankan Tamil MPs will be described as Tamil Eelam MPs and not as "Sri Lankan" MPs. more..

July 23 (CI) Sanath Jayasuriya returned to his devastating best with an unbeaten 107, and Avishka Gunawardene backed him up impressively with 64 not out, as Sri Lanka rampaged to a ten-wicket victory over Bangladesh with 16 overs to spare. more..

July 24 (BT) John Keells Holdings, Sri Lanka's biggest non-state company by sales, expects full-year profit to rise 40 per cent to 2.7 billion rupees (S$43.2 million), boosted by its transportation business, a senior executive said. more..

July 24 (CI) It was a very good feeling and a big relief because I had been through a hard time. But I knew I could come back and do something for Sri Lanka cricket and I am very happy to have done that on a special occasion like this. I knew that I just needed 20 or 30 runs. more..

July 24 (TN) An LTTE cadre identified as Mr. Seenithamby Mahalingam, 28, was shot dead in Kandaladi, near Vakarai, 64 kilometres north of Batticaloa. The LTTE cadre was shot dead by unidentified gunmen around 10.30 a.m. sources said.