July 3 (TP) Sri Lanka’s main Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is discouraging the practice of sending housemaids abroad as the cost of the damage caused to such families is huge due to children going astray and spouses getting addicted to liquor as well as the education of school going children being affected, the Island newspaper reported. more..

July 3 (DN) The Vice Chancellor and the Senate of the Sri Jayawardhanapura University yesterday took a tentative decision to reopen the University during the last week of July. This decision was made on a series of discussions with the special committee consisting of student leaders, council members and senior academics of the University more..

July 3 (TN) Sri Lanka Navy Friday early morning arrested 29 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and four boatmen in the Talaimannar Sea when they were returning from Rameswaram in South India. Refugees and boatmen were later handed over to the Talaimannar Police. more..

July 3 (SLA) One thousand eight hundred and fifty six (1856) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 25 June 2004 and 01 July 2004. more..

July 3 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general sea area north east of THALAIMANNAR have arrested 33 Sri Lankan refugees onboard a fiberglass dinghy along with its two crew members on 02 July 2004 around 4.30 a.m. more..

July 3 (CT) A three member gang had allegedly attempted to murder Customs Superintendent Athula Lankadewa who is inquiring into a massive gold coin scam. According to Maharagama Police, this gold coin scam is said to be linked to a popular pyramid scheme operating islandwide. more..

July 3 (PTI) Sri Lanka in Asia along with Zimbabwe (Africa) and Croatia (Europe) have been selected as winners of the global youth hockey marathon held in May this year. The three countries were declared winners yesterday by a jury comprising members of the FIH Working Group Youth and the FIH Youth Panel. more..

July 3 (CI) An unofficial inquiry into Tony Ware's drop-in pitch will doubtless unfold over the coming weeks and months. An official inquiry into world batting standards might be more appropriate. Sri Lanka, beginning their second innings in Darwin at 9.30 this morning, were shot out shortly after 3 o'clock for 162. more..

July 3 (Gulf) Despite the best efforts of the Norwegian peace brokers and the genuine desire for a lasting solution to Sri Lanka's civil war expressed by both parties to the conflict, the recurring message being increasingly heard has to do with a possible truce collapse. more..

July 3 (PTI) A major search operation has been launched for six Indian fishermen who escaped from custody in Sri Lanka's north-eastern town of Mannar, police said on Saturday. They said the search was intensified over the weekend as the men were due to be produced at a court. more..

July 3 (AT) A conspiracy to bring down the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government by United National Party (UNP) and LTTE Combine’s clandestine operation has been recently bared. more..

July 3 (HT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga would under no circumstance yield to the LTTE's demand that it be given complete control over any interim administration that might be set up in the North Eastern Province (NEP), a source close to her said. more..

July 3 (TN) A senior leader of the JVP, the main coalition partner of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's minority government Saturday declared that his party would not allow Colombo to restart Sri Lanka's long stalled peace talks on the basis of interim proposals submitted by the Liberation Tigers. more..

July 3 (SM) THE Australian and Sri Lankan teams blasted the state of the drop-in pitch after Australia wrapped up a quick fire 149-run first cricket Test victory inside three days at Marrara Oval in Darwin today. Australia's second innings 207 was the highest total of a match where 40 wickets tumbled for a total of 667 runs in three days play. more..

July 4 (UO) Malaysia nearly missed the boat to the semi-finals of the Asian Schools Under-15 football championship after losing 0-1 to Sri Lanka in a Group A match at the MPK field here Saturday. more..

July 4 (SL) With the ceasefire agreement and the peace process delicately poised following revelations that military intelligence was harbouring LTTE's breakaway eastern commander Karuna, President Kumaratunga last week unsuccessfully attempted to deflect the issue by offering to resume negotiations based on the ISGA proposals. more..

July 4 (SL) Police Chief Indra de Silva admits that on a specific request made by President's House he redeployed five police officers from their designated duties and instead demanded they serve under the Crimes Division to assist in probing an alleged criminal offence committed by former Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake. more..

July 4 (BBC) Sri Lanka A eased to a seven-wicket win over Yorkshire in a one-day tour match at Headingley reduced to 35-overs-per-side by rain. The county outfit laboured to 179-7 after losing the toss, with Phil Jaques hitting 79 off 72 balls and seamer Dammika Prasad returning 3-31. more..

July 4 (LT) “Our countries are in the same region. The aims of both our countries are peace and development. Both our countries are agricultural countries. In our tour in Sri Lanka we found that you have a very good potential to develop agriculture. You are a young Minister of Agriculture. more..

July 4 (LT) The Alliance Government will not take decisions to satisfy foreigners but would take decisions only to develop the Nation said Mr. Wimal Weerawanse, Propaganda Secretary of the JVP and Member of Parliament of UPFA. more..

July 4 (BT) Sri Lankan Shevanti Perera, 25, was killed while her husband and their two friends were injured when the Daewoo Racer carrying them veered off Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway and overturned at 9.30pm yesterday, writes Mazen Mahdi. more..

July 4 (HT) The LTTE has come to the conclusion that it is "at war" with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the eastern districts of Batticaloa and Amparai, according to reports in the pro-rebel Tamil media on Saturday. more..

July 4 (SO) The LTTE and Security Forces resumed routine security meetings in the North on Friday in a breakthrough in the suspended inter-party dialogue. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Deputy Chief Hagruph Haukland said the LTTE and Security Forces met in Jaffna to evaluate the security situation in the district. more..

July 4 (GD) SRILANKAN Airlines is to expand its services to Bahrain with a third flight, starting tonight. The flight is scheduled to arrive in Bahrain at 8.25pm and leave for Colombo at 9.45pm, said newly-appointed sales manager Dammika Kulatunge. more..

July 4 (Island) Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara Violated parliamentary conventions and traditions when he allowed a Buddhist monk MP to take his oaths despite a restricting order issued by Courts. "We will take action against the Speaker after July 20 when we prove our majority in parliament," more..

July 4 (KT) When the Indians meet Sri Lanka in Asia Cup during the upcoming meet in Dumbulla on July 17, they would not have to be worried about facing the "doosra" of Muthiah Muralitharan. more..

July 4 (AT) LTTE yesterday proclaimed a ban on the villagers located in the areas under their control, that they should not listen to the programs of the London based Thamil Broadcasting Corporation. Proclamation went on to declare that defiance would be a punishable offence. more..

July 4 (AT) An army officer in Sri Lanka, who claimed to have been tortured by two superiors, has accused his lawyer of depriving him of the right to seek redress by withdrawing his case from court, against his wishes, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said. more..

July 4 (AT) The new Indian Government had already called for the extradition to New Delhi of the leader of the LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman for involvement in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. more..

July 4 (TP) Medical drugs are to be declared as essential drugs and their prices controlled by the state, Consumer Affairs Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror. more..

July 4 (TP) Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha has rejected speculation that fuel prices will rise after provincial council polls on July 10. He also told reporters that the government was doing its best to avoid price increases. more..

July 4 (TN) The Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa Sunday charged that the Sri Lanka army intelligence was providing telephone facilities to an associate of renegade commander Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan (Karuna) who is in prison in the eastern town for possessing weapons illegally. more..

July 4 (ST) The Foreign Ministry is in the process of preparing its response to a recent Indian government communication covering New Delhi's recent decision to renew the ban on the LTTE for two more years, a senior ministry official said. more..

July 4 (UNI) The Tamil Tiger rebels are planning a large scale celebration to mark the 17th Black Tigers' Day in the North-East region tomorrow. According to reports, arrangements are being made to commemorate the day in all the military bases and political offices of the LTTE, schools, and government offices in the North-East. more..

July 4 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels have stepped up a war of words against the Sri Lankan government since Norway failed in its latest bid to revive stalled peace talks, officials said Sunday. more..

July 4 (AFP) Sri Lankan coach John Dyson has defended the decision to saddle wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara with the added responsibility of batting at number three. Sangakkara was the victim of poor judgment by batting partner Sanath Jayasuriya and was run out for a duck more..

July 4 (F2F) Fabric and apparel manufacturer Baneng Holdings Bhd plans to acquire existing garment factories in China and Sri Lanka early next year, to attain company's leadership position in international market, said Betty Lim Choon Hiok, Managing Director. more..

July 4 (AFP) Sex between men is a criminal offence in Sri Lanka and lesbianism has been officially labelled "sadism," but the island's gays believe their long fight for equality is picking up pace amid regional moves to legalise homosexuality. more..

July 5 (LBO) The Court of Appeal issued notice on two Sri Lankan members of Parliament, the Elections Commissioner and the Secretary General of the governing party on Monday. A Writ Application filed by Sunanda Deshapriya, a Co-convenor of the Center for Monitoring Election Violence was heard on Monday. more..

July 5 (LBO) Sri Lanka is hoping to use its traditional coconut based pick-me-up to rejuvenate the island’s ageing coconut industry. Coconut toddy made from the sap of the coconut flower is a local favourite when it comes to a drink with a kick and is also used to make arrack. more..

July 5 (LBO) The ADB on Monday formally established a trust fund to step-up assistance to developing member countries in fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism. more..

July 5 (LBO) A National Energy Committee has been setup to steer the future of the power and energy sector, fraught with a capacity and financial crisis. The Power Minister says the National Energy Committee consisting powerful bureaucrats is looking at reforms within the sector while exploring options for power plants to meet the long-term energy needs. more..

July 5 (TN) "Upcountry Tamil parties are preparing to make opportunistic deals to prop up this government as soon as the provincial polls are over this month. What do the people of upcountry gain by their politicians joining each government that comes to power? Nothing", said Mr. Vadivel Devaraj, more..

July 5 (TN) Mr.C. Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE said Saturday that recent talks between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Norwegian facilitator Mr. Erik Solheim gave no indication that the stalled peace process would resume in the near future. more..

July 5 (TN) An official of the political division of the Liberation Tigers was shot and wounded by unidentified gunmen in Batticaloa town Monday morning around 9.15 a.m. The gunmen shot Mr. ‘Senathy’, LTTE’s political division head for Batticaloa town and its environs at the busy Arasadi Junction while he was riding a motorbike with a colleague who was also injured. more..

July 5 (TN) Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Jaffna district TNA parliamentarian, joined Mr. Sampanthan, Parliamentary Group leader of TNA who arrived in the U.S. a week earlier, to address Tamil audience at the annual convention of the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) Sunday evening in Baltimore U.S., more..

July 5 (TN) A political division cadre of the Liberation Tigers was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Vanthaarumoolai, about 20 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Monday morning around 10 a.m. A person who was riding with him on a motorbike was wounded in the attack. He was rushed to the hospital. more..

July 5 (SLA) A Tamil person has been shot dead and another injured by an unidentified gunman in the general area of VANDARAMOOLAI, about 20 km northwest of BATTICALOA around 9.40 a.m. today (05 July 2004). more..

July 5 (LT) According to a very reliable source the document handed over to the Speaker by the united opposition has not been signed by 114 Members of Parliament. The document prepared and signatures obtained at the instigation of the UNP and JHU called for strengthening of democracy within the Parliament and to convene the Parliamentary sessions immediately. more..

July 5 (LT) Three more political parties have expressed their desire to join Liberation Tigers Karuna Faction led by Karuna Amman. EPRLF (Waradhan faction), EROS and PLOTE will have discussions with Karuna Amman’s party next week. more..