Sep 2 (AT) Another proof of Norwegian double standards: Norway condemns Beersheba suicide bombings, but refuses to condemn suicide attack in Sri Lanka. The representatives of Sri Lankan Tamil democratic parties in Europe said that yesterday’s condemnation of suicide bombing in Beersheba in Israel by the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen has proved once again the hypocrisy and double standards of Norway. more..

Sep 2 (MN) As if a wedding isn't dramatic and emotional enough, Suresh Joachim will give his special day an extra dose of pizzazz when he attempts to break three Guinness World Records as he and his bride-to-be walk down the aisle. more..

Sep 2 (UKR) The BBC World Service can now be heard in English on FM right across Sri Lanka following the signing of a new agreement with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). SLBC will broadcast BBC programmes in English on seven of its national FM stations in Colombo, Yatiyantota, Karagahatenna, Haputale, Deniyaye, Radella and Hunnasgiriya. more..

Sep 2 (Rupavahini) Norwegian peace envoy Eric Solheim has impressed on LTTE's theoretician Anton Balasingham the need to resume the peace talks and to safeguard the ceasefire agreement. more..

Sep 2 (Rupavahini) The strike by health sector employees of the Sabaragamuwa province has ended. The health services trade union alliance has accordingly requested its members to report for duty immediately. more..

Sep 2 (SLBC) Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake has invited Chinese entrepreneurs to invest more in Sri Lanka. He extended the invitation at a meeting in Colombo this morning with a delegation of Buddhists from China's Yunan province. Strengthening bilateral relations and the promotion of Buddhism also came under discussion. more..

Sep 2 (LBO) SriLankan Airlines says it will need a fuel surcharge of about US$ 5 on a one-way ticket if it is to cover fuel costs soaring through the roof. “Last year aviation fuel prices were US$ 0.98 a gallon last year. This year we budgeted for US$ 1.15 a gallon and we are buying fuel at US$ 1.31 right now,” more..

Sep 2 (AT) President Chandtika Kumaratunga who is on a private visit to London is expected to be back in the country today. According to informed sources it is learnt that she is expected to make some important announcement once she is back in the country. more..

Sep 2 (AT) Suddenly the country has found an advocacy for the Interim Self-Governing Authority proposal’s in Dr. Kumar Rupasinghe. He has forcefully advocated that the Government should accept- with emphasis laid, the ISGA as the basis of Talks. more..

Sep 2 (AT) Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP) has flatly rejected the offer by P.Chanrasekeran of the Up-Country People’s Front to broker talks between the JVP and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). more..

Sep 2 (AT) Our legal correspondent reports that Norway, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and Prabhakaran are to be arraigned for violations of international law and /or crimes against humanity. more..

Sep 2 (TP) Karu Jayasuriya, deputy leader of Sri Lanka’s biggest opposition party, on Tuesday called for a combined effort from all sections of society to combat the rising incidence of crime in the country. more..

Sep 2 (TP) A delegation from Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is visiting the United Arab Emirates in November to market the bourse and attract investments especially from Sri Lankan expatriates, the Daily Mirror reported. more..

Sep 2 (Reuters) A spate of killings in Sri Lanka’s east is piling pressure on a truce that halted two decades of civil war, but Tamil Tiger rebels and their army foes both want peace, the top ceasefire monitor said yesterday. more..

Sep 2 (LT) The JVP and the SLFP officials decided to urge the government to give new vehicles only to the newly elected MPs. “The government has to spend more than five hundred million rupees, if every MP is going to have a new vehicle. It’s an unnecessary expenditure for the current situation in the country”, the senior MP of the UPFA government said.

Sep 2 (NW) The Colombo Chief Magistrate yesterday ordered prison authorities to provide necessary facilities to a US Immigration officer to record the statement of the retired US Naval officer who has been remanded in connection with allegedly sexually abusing underaged children through the internet. more..

Sep 2 (NW) A top minister yesterday warned that ministers will not be able to walk on the streets or save their heads if the prices of goods increase at such an alarming rate. more..

Sep 2 (NW) No one can approve certain moves taken by the LTTE leaders. Human slaughter cannot be approved at any rate. Both the government and the opposition should get together to find a solution to the ethic issue. more..

Sep 2 (NW) A range of sand-dunes which provided an eye-catching backdrop to the coastal beaches and protected them at Andimunai, a hamlet near the fishing village of Udappu, off Chilaw, have been destroyed by a prominent local politician of the area to provide land to his supporters to build houses. more..

Sep 2 (TN) "Unless the [Sri Lanka] government takes effective measures to end this series of violence perpetrated on the LTTE, it is hard to imagine how one can seriously talk about recommencing peace talks," Balasingham, told Norwegian Special envoy Erik Solheim more..

Sep 2 (LBO) Book publishers in Sri Lanka are ganging up against publishing pirates. Whether it’s the magical adventures of Harry Potter or just your boring old school textbooks the publishing pirates in Sri Lanka are minting on it. more..

Sep 2 (TN) “We told France if indeed talks on the ISGA commence, there is a good chance that an agreement could be reached in this matter. We said that this is exactly what the Singhalese are afraid of, as it would mean that they would no longer have a monopoly on power, and their hegemony over the Tamil nation will cease for once and for all time. more..

Sep 2 (TN) "Younger generation is the cornerstone of our struggle. We are fully aware of the efforts by our adversaries to spread social ills among our people. We accept that some level of distraction among the teen-agers is unavoidable. But this helps us in building strong social resistance against negative influences in the long term," more..

Sep 2 (SLA) Ten fishermen and three trawlers arrested and detained by the LTTE on 31 August 2004 in the general area of PALAITIVU have been released by the LTTE on 1 September 2004 around 7.25 p.m.. The LTTE have reportedly retained fishing items and other equipments to the worth of Rs. 300,000 belonging to those fishermen before they were released. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) A twenty two year old Tamil youth taking photographs of the Army Headquarters (AHQ) main entrance in COLOMBO was arrested by troops on 01 September 2004 around 4.30 p.m. At the time of arrest, the suspect, YOGARASA NIMALAN was taking photographs of the AHQ main entrance using a hi-tech camera fixed to a cellular phone. more..

Sep 2 (PSL) The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the main constituent party of the ruling Alliance celebrates its 53rd anniversary today. The SLFP was founded by late Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike on September 2, 1951. The SLFP won nine Parliamentary seats in 1952. more..

Sep 2 (wsws) About three million people, mostly poor rural farmers, have been severely affected by a drought throughout 14 of the 25 districts in Sri Lanka. Some have been unable to cultivate their land at all this season. Others have lost their crops. more..

Sep 2 (AFP) Sri Lanka has agreed to revise the schedule of its two-Test cricket series against Pakistan to enable the host country to tour India early next year, cricket managers said. more..

Sep 2 (Sun) The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has said the ferry service between Tuticorin and Colombo would be started only after adequate security infrastructure was in place and appropriate conditions obtained for its operation. more..

Sep 2 (NP) A Sri Lankan gangster caught in Toronto with an AK-47 assault rifle and sawed-off shotgun that police believe were meant for a murder has won the right to stay in Canada after a refugee judge ruled the man's family would suffer if he were sent home. more..

Sep 2 (Reuters) Sri Lanka has closed its biggest wildlife reserve because a severe drought has dried up watering holes and left wild elephants thirsty, angry and ready to charge, park officials say. more..

Sep 2 (Reuters) Stocks fell on Thursday as some retail investors took profits and on foreign selling in select bluechip counters, brokers said. The Colombo all-share index fell a provisional 0.32 percent, or 4.41 points, to 1,388.40. more..

Sep 2 (TP) SriLankan Airlines, as part of its silver anniversary celebrations, yesterday announced a 15 per cent limited period discount on tickets between Doha and Colombo bought up to Monday, country manager Ajith De Alwis said yesterday. more..

Sep 2 (AP) Sri Lanka would soon set up its centre on trade and tourism to explore opportunities in these two sectors, Sri Lankan Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment Promotion, Anura Bhandaranaike, said today. more..

Sep 2 (DN) The Samurdhi Society Development Fund was established with Rs. 20 million Government funds through an Act of Parliament. Therefore any person violating or misappropriating the Samurdhi Society Development Funds comes within the ambit of Public Property Act, more..

Sep 2 (Reuters) Sri Lanka, battered by high global oil prices and a punishing drought that have sent the cost of local goods soaring, is talking to India and Pakistan about importing cheaper foreign food. more..

Sep 2 (HT) During the 20-year war against the Sri Lankan Government, the LTTE was able to enforce its writ without anyone being able to question it. But today, with the war halted, this militant group is facing the problem of enforcing its will. High-handedness on its part is being met with resistance, and even agitation. more..

Sep 3 (SLBC) Consultant surgeons in the country say that Sri Lanka is in a position to save the lives of women with breast cancer. They said that the local doctors could cure the patients without removing affected breast. more..

Sep 3 (SLBC) General Secretary of the SLFP Minister Maithripala Sirisena says that the SLFP has rendered a valuable service to the people by following the footsteps of late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. more..

Sep 3 (SLBC) Minister Susil Prema Jayantha says that the government will not sell any government institution that is needed as a public utility to the private sector. He said that the government has no necessity to sell the petroleum corporation or a part of it. more..

Sep 3 (TN) Sri Lanka's army commander, Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda began a two day visit to Jaffna Thursday. He vistited Sri Lankan armed forces positions in Kankesanthurai, Palaly and in some parts of the islands off Jaffna, Sri Lankan military sources in the northern peninsula said. more..

Sep 3 (TN) A three month training program for hundred and sixty eight unemployed graduates in the Vavuniya district was inaugurated Thursday. The program is part of a controversial scheme by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government to provide state jobs for more forty one thousand unemployed graduates. more..

Sep 3 (Rupavahini) Finance minister Dr. Sarath amunugama points out that the granting of permanent employment to 41,305 unemployed graduates in the public sector is a great investment for the future of the country. more..

Sep 3 (Rupavahini) Transmission disturbances experienced by the viewers in several areas in central, Sabaragamuwa and North-Central provinces when watching programmes of the National Television have been removed effectively. more..

Sep 3 (HT) Relentless persecution by the LTTE on the one hand, and the increasing influence of Islamic fundamentalist movements on the other, has the potential to drive the embattled Muslims of Sri Lanka into the arms of radical Islamic groups, says counter-insurgency expert, Col (Rtd) R Hariharan. more..

Sep 3 (BS) The government today approved the setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) — Sethusamudram Corporation Limited — with Rs 800 crore equity and Rs 1,200 crore debt for completing the Sethusamudram Ship Canal project. more..

Sep 3 (SN) A reliable political source in the UPFA informed SinhalaNet that their party has made a new attempt to bring CWC to government's folder. Mr Mangala Samaraweera, Minister for Media has been given this assignment by the president before she was leaving for the private overseas visit. more..

Sep 3 (SN) Tamil fishermen held a protest campaign at LTTE's fisheries office at Gurunagar to mark their protest against LTTE's harassments on fishing community. LTTE has damaged three fishing trawlers entered to Palaitivu lagoon by firing motars. more..

Sep 3 (PSL) The Government of the Republic of Korea has expressed its deep sympathy for the victims of the ongoing drought in several districts of the country. more..

Sep 3 (SLBC) Some localised thunderstorms have occured in Badulla and Hambantota areas, but the drought continues in most of the dry zone areas. A programme for the construction of rain water tanks in Matale district is a fair solution to water scarcity. more..