Feb 9 (HT) One would have thought that the private sector is the biggest employer in Sri Lanka. Not right now anyway. Scanning through the newspapers, most of the advertised jobs in the post-tsunami period are from NGOs and UN organisations. more..

Feb 9 (N24) Australian leg spinner and the world's top Test wicket taker Shane Warne said on Tuesday that he was moved by the tsunami devastation and wanted to come to Sri Lanka to see what help he can provide. more..

Feb 9 (IL) The SLMC has viewed with deep concern the internal squabble within the UNP Municipal Council in which it is a major stakeholder. SLMC Colombo District Organiser Shafeek Rajabdeen notes that the SLMC alliance with the UNP is getting deteriorated and the omission of the SLMC in the Council’s Financial Committee, more..

Feb 9 (Scoop) I arrived in Sri Lanka on 21 January and will arrive home on 16 February. As I considered coming over, firstly aid agencies, then the NZ-Sri Lanka friendship societies I spoke to, were lukewarm about an enthusiastic volunteer coming over. more..

Feb 9 (ABC) Our trip with Gleaning for the World to Sri Lanka taught us a lot, including something you may not know. Did You Know that compared to Central Virginia, traffic there is very, very different! The Island nation of Sri Lanka is rich with natural beauty, kind people and a culture all its own. But the traffic? more..

Feb 9 (SAMN) In a show of rare unity amidst signs of dirty politics returning to its pre-tsunami levels, all political parties Tuesday requested Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara to appoint a select committee to study the disaster preparedness capability of the country. more..

Feb 9 (SAMN) The long delayed Bill on National Policy on Pharmaceuticals will be presented in Parliament within the next two weeks, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday. The Bill composed by the National Pharmaceutical Authority (NPA) seeks to generalise the price of the pharmaceuticals more..

Feb 9 (SAMN) Acting fast to defuse a crisis, the government yesterday condemned the killing of LTTE Ampara-Batticaloa political leader E. Kaushalyan, former parliamentarian A. Chandra Nehru and four others and called on all concerned parties to prevent further ceasefire violations that could risk a return to the conflict. more..

Feb 9 (ANN) Batticaloa-based political analysts Tuesday warned that the situation in the entire eastern province — and Batticaloa, in particular — was "highly unstable" following Kaushalyan ‘s killing and hinted that the main LTTE leadership was "unlikely to take this lying down". more..

Feb 9 (Bloomberg) United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the killing of a senior member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, according to the international body's news service. more..

Feb 9 (Xinhua) The international truce monitoring group in Sri Lanka said Tuesday that slaying of a top Tamil Tiger leader is no violation of the three year old ceasefire but expressed fears that it could have serious repercussions on the process. more..

Feb 9 (Kyodo) Japan will give Sri Lanka a $1.24 million grant to help the Sri Lankan government improve infrastructure in areas ravaged by its long-running conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels, the Foreign Ministry said. more..

Feb 9 (Reuters) Prime Minister Paul Martin should publicly call on the Tamil Tigers to end all recruitment of children in Sri Lanka and to release the children currently in their ranks, former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy and Human Rights Watch urged in a letter made public today. more..

Feb 9 (SAMN) On January, 29 the daughter of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Ms. Anita Tornoczky, arrived in Sri Lanka to observe firsthand the tsunami relief operations and to oversee the large donation the Hungarian Government recently granted American-based NGO, Food for Life Global. more..

Feb 9 (AFP) The killing of a senior Tamil Tiger and five others has cast a shadow over Sri Lanka's post-tsunami reconstruction which was already engulfed in bickering between the government and the guerrillas. more..

Feb 9 (AP) A Japanese peace envoy arrives in Sri Lanka Wednesday to try to persuade the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to resume peace talks in the wake of the tsunami disaster, the Japanese Embassy said. more..

Feb 9 (PIS) Eliyathamby Kaushalyan, the slain Tiger political division chief for Batticaloa-Ampara was Prabhakaran''s most trusted strongman in the region after the March 2004 split in the LTTE. Born on March 25, 1972 in Pandianveli, Batticaloa, Kaushalyan joined the LTTE on June 28, 1989, at the age of 17 and, more..

Jan 9 (TN) President of Fishermen Association, Valigamam North, Mr Pius Logathas, talking to TamilNet on the predicament of displaced fisher families of his district said that for the families to rebuild their lives, the Sri Lanka Government, in addition to providing compensation to buy boats, nets and other tools of trade, more..

Jan 9 (TN) Trincomalee district Wednesday shutdown completely as members of all communities responded to the call of general shut down (hartal) condemning the killings of Mr.E.Kousalyan, LTTE Political head for Batticaloa-Amparai district, Mr. Ariyanayakam Chandra Nehru former TNA parliamentarian more..

Jan 9 (TN) A total shutdown was observed in the Batticaloa district and the coastal areas of the Amparai district Wednesday to mourn the death of Mr. Kousalyan. LTTE officials in Batticaloa said that his funeral would take place Thursday afternoon and that he would be buried at the martyr’s memorial in Thandiyadi, more..

Jan 9 (TN) Commandos of the Special Task Force (STF) Wednesday assaulted an LTTE political worker who was putting up black flags in Komari to mourn Mr. Kousalyan, slain by gunmen suspected to be working with the Sri Lankan military. Komari is Tsunami devastated Tamil village on Sri Lanka’s remote southeast coast. more..

Jan 9 (TN) The killings of LTTE Political Head for Batticaloa and Amparai districts Mr.E.Koushalyan, TNA former parliamentarian Mr.A. Chandra Nehru and four others on February 7 raise question as to "how such an attack was carried in an area, which has a strong Armed Forces presence. more..

Jan 9 (PRIU) The World Bank President James Wolfenson called on President Chandrika Kumaratunga at Presidential Suite of her hotel in Islamabad yesterday to discuss the World Bank assistance for the reconstruction of tsunami-hit areas in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 9 (PRIU) Pakistan and Sri Lanka will sign five historic agreements today, including the long-awaited Free Trade Agreement, marking a major milestone in ties between the two SAARC partners. more..

Jan 9 (PRIU) Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri said he is confident that the recent tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka would contribute to country’s peace process in a positive way. Kasuri made these comments when he called on President Chandrika Kumaratunga in Islamabad yesterday. more..

Jan 9 (PRIU) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday said that Sri Lanka and Pakistan have worked together in various international fora to promote shared interests and address common concerns. “We will break new ground, in trade and economic cooperation between our two countries,” she said more..

Jan 9 (AP) A Canadian woman, believed to be a tsunami aid worker, drowned Wednesday while swimming in eastern Sri Lanka, police said. Upali Hewage, the regional police chief, said the victim was believed to be a volunteer aid worker helping with tsunami relief work in the area, although it was not immediately known which agency she was attached to. more..

Jan 9 (Yahoo) Leading test wicket taker Australia's Shane Warne talks to a group of fans in tsunami-hit Galle cricket stadium, southern Sri Lanka on February 9, 2005. more..

Jan 9 (TOM) The first house has been constructed in Little Malta, a new town in Sri Lanka being built by the Malta Red Cross. It has been named "Gozo". The house is one of 65 new abodes that will take shape in the former village of Ranna in the southernmost region of the island - Hamban-tota, more..

Jan 9 (Dawn) Federal Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan proposed single country exhibitions in Pakistan and Sri Lanka after the implementation of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. The minister made the proposal during a meeting with President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga here on Tuesday. more..

Jan 9 (LT) Parliamentary sessions were abandoned for twenty minutes due to unruly behaviour of the Parliamentarians of Tamil National Alliance. When Parliament sessions commenced today TNA members including K.Sivalingam sat in front of the Speaker’s chair and started behaving in an unruly manner. more..

Jan 9 (LT) Distributing dry ration or books is not difficult but if we don’t grasp the opportunity given to us by nature to unite the Nation and direct them in a correct path, we will never get this opportunity again said Mr. Wimal Weerawanse, Leader of the group of Parliamentarians of the JVP. more..

Jan 9 (Gulf) A proposed arrangement for tsunami relief distribution between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers could well become a "huge confidence building measure," a top minister has said. more..

Jan 9 (Gulf) Foreign Minister strongly rejected Tamil Tigers' charges that distribution of tsunami relief in his country was coloured by "ethnicity, race or region". "We have to recognise the tsunami led to utter devastation in the entire country; in the north, east and the south of Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 9 (Gulf) Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has called on India to expedite the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Pact. The agreement provides in the main for intelligence sharing, and training of Sri Lankan defence personnel in Indian academies. more..

Jan 9 (AP) The infant dubbed "Baby 81" after being found in the debris of Asia's tsunami and the couple desperately trying to claim him underwent DNA tests Wednesday that could resolve a case that has come to symbolize families torn apart by the disaster. more..

Jan 9 (DN) In her long history, stretching back to our 2600 years, Sri Lanka had never experienced a tragedy and a calamity as the one wreaked on her on the 26th December 2004, by the ravaging, destructive, swirling tsunami that ferociously struck and devastated the lengthy coastal belt extending from South to North-east. more..

Jan 9 (AP) Weeks after the Asian tsunami destroyed their homes and livelihoods, tens of thousands of hungry Sri Lankans are still pleading for help, accusing government officials of looting international aid and demanding bribes to deliver it. more..

Jan 9 (GI) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga (L) looks on as Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz answers a question during a press briefing after a meeting in Islamabad. more..

Jan 9 (AP) Sri Lanka's speaker suspended parliament Wednesday after a boisterous protest by opposition Tamil lawmakers over the slaying of one of their top political leaders and five associates. Twenty-two TNA lawmakers wearing black arm-bands shouted protests and some threw books and papers more..

Jan 9 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels, blaming the government for the killing of one of their most senior leaders, canceled a key meeting with international donors about tsunami relief work, in the first sign the slaying could disrupt reconstruction and peace talks. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Sri Lanka accused Tamil Tiger rebels of ignoring security warnings as protests over the slaying of a top guerrilla leader and five others forced a brief suspension of parliament. The defence ministry said the LTTE did not follow normal procedures of obtaining state protection more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Sri Lanka has asked local and international aid agencies to disclose their tsunami-relief operations and sources of funding, saying the information was essential to reduce waste. more..

Feb 9 (SLA) A self-claimed LTTE man from the general area of AALIGAMBAY, AKKARAIPATTU under the pretext of seeking a ride has robbed the motorbike belonging to a civilian. The civilian was on his way to his paddy fields at AALIGAMBAY area when an unidentified person on the wayside requested a lift on his motorcycle up to AALIGAMBAY. more..

Feb 9 (SLA) Police assisted by troops, at the request of LTTE leaders on Tuesday (08) evening provided security escort for transport of mortal remains of slain LTTE’s KAUSHALYAN and other LTTE members from POLONNARUWA to BATTICALOA hospital for post-mortem. more..

Feb 9 (SLA) LTTE during the opening of a new political office for women cadres in the general area of CHAVAKACHCHERI has hoisted the LTTE flag on 08 February 2005 around 11.45 a.m. defying provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). more..

Feb 9 (Xinhua) Pakistan and Sri Lanka here Wednesday called for an early holding of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka which has twice been put off, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. more..

Feb 9 (IPS) The murder of a high ranking Tamil Tiger political leader in eastern Sri Lanka two days ago is likely to heighten tensions between the rebels and government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. It is also feared that this could cast a shadow over the country's post- tsunami reconstruction efforts. more..

Feb 10 (SLBC) The number of patients suffering from a heart disease caused by a virus and treated at the Badulla general hospital has now increased to 74. The Medical Superintendent of the hospital Daya Dharmapriya said that most of them identified over the past four weeks were residents of the Badulla area. more..

Feb 10 (SLBC) An agreement on Italian assistance to the government's efforts to rebuild the tsunami affected areas has been signed. The Memorandum of Understanding will provide for Italian assistance to help tsunami affected people of the north east and the south. more..