Mar 4 (LT) Mr. R. Sambanthan of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (TNA) has obstructed the attempt by Mr. Jayanthe Wijesekera, JVP Member of Parliament for Trincomalee District from UPFA to construct temporary houses for the displaced from tsunami tidal waves say reports reaching us from the East. more..

Mar 4 (TN) Police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday evening stopped the construction of illegal Sinhala settlement and removed building materials brought to the esplanade of the Trincomalee Urban Council by a group of JVP cadres Wednesday night, Police said. more..

Mar 4 (TN) Displaced fishermen of Valigamam coastal villages inside the high security zone (HSZ) and currently living in the villages of Polykandi, Sakkotai and Supparmadam in Vadamaradchchi North are to launch a protest campaign demanding they be allowed to resettle in villages from Valalai to Thondamannaru which border the HSZ, more..

Mar 4 (TN) Mr.Nimal Dissanayake, Assistant Land Commissioner in the Trincomalee district secretariat was ordered remand by the Trincomalee District Judge and Additional Magistrate Mr.S.Thiagendran Wednesday in connection with the twelve generators missing from the land department store. more..

Mar 4 (BBC) An attempt to build temporary houses in a playground in the town of Trincomalee ended with clashes after the residents of the town protested against the move. Sinhala and Tamil residents of Trincomalee blamed the JVP for the violent incidents which took place as a result of the attempts to build houses exclusively for Sinhala tsunami victims in this multi racial town. more..

Mar 4 (AT) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Donald Camp said that “the increased Foreign Military Fund (FMF) funding will be used to help Sri Lanka’s navy meet threats posed by national and regional terrorist groups, and will help to reform and upgrade its military.” more..

Mar 4 (LT) CID has begun investigations into a Rs.1 billion fraud of tsunami aid by UNP Parliamentarian of Colombo District M.H. Mohommed. He has been accused of committing this fraud while occupying the post of President of Sri Lanka Islamic Institute. more..

Mar 4 (LT) Government Security sections have been reported that Wanni tiger organization is moving to commence a separatist political movement in the estate sector. This move has been launched with the support of P. Chandrasekeran, UNP Parliamentarian who contested the estate sector. more..

Mar 4 (LT) All Ceylon Ports Employees Union have complained to the minister about the import of explosives fraudulently at the import chamber of the Bandaranayake Jetty. According to them the findings of an investigation on this matter are: more..

Mar 4 (UCLA) The true idealist and the apolitical pacifists of the world often convince themselves that the corrupt world of politics exists in a vacuum detached from pure humanitarian work. more..

Mar 4 (LNP) The government had deployed police to prevent Karuna loyalists from infiltrating a leading private hospital in Colombo, where three female LTTE cadres, including Kuveni, their Ampara-Batticaloa women's political wing chief, wounded in an ambush off Akkaraipattu, had been warded. more..

Mar 4 (SAMN) THE Government said Thursday during efforts to evolve an agenda for peace talks it has agreed to the concept of setting up an Interim Authority within the context of negotiating a permanent settlement to the ethnic conflict. more..

Mar 4 (GSN) Last week a shell-shocked aid work team from Tsunami Surf Relief UK (TSRUK) returned from Sri Lanka reporting concerns over the distribution of aid in the region. more..

Mar 4 (SAMN) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday told the SLFP Youth Conference in Maharagama that the SLFP did not belong to the Bandanaranaikes or the Rajapakses or to a handful of other politicians. "It is a political party of the general public of this country", he said. more..

Mar 4 (LNP) The Health Minister at a media briefing yesterday threatened legal action against those whom he termed media `specialists` and certain politicians for `misleading` the public over the heart disease in Badulla. more..

Mar 4 (SLBC) The retirement of the Chairman of the Commission, retired Supreme Court Judge Ananda Coomaraswamy has made the Institution inoperative. The President has rejected the nominee of the Constitution Council, a former IGP who retired under a criminal cloud as he is found to have had connections with the narcotics mafia. more..

Mar 4 (TN) Tsunami-hit fishermen of coastal areas in the Trincomalee town are to receive assistance from Trincomalee branch of the Economic Consultancy House (TECH) to buy fishing gear. An event to mark the first phase of the project was held in the office of the Pallathoddam Rural Development Society hall in Uppuveli, more..

Mar 4 (TN) Tension prevailed in Jaffna town after a school girl was knocked down dead by a speeding Sri Lanka army vehicle Friday morning. Hundreds of students and teachers from Vembady Girls' Scool blocked traffic in protest following the accident. more..

Mar 4 (TN) One civilian was killed and another wounded when Sri Lanka army opened fire on students and civilians who were protesting near Jaffna University Friday afternoon around 2.15 Protests sparked in Jaffna town Friday after a twelve year old school girl was killed when a speeding Sri Lanka army truck knocked her down on Hospital Road. more..

Mar 4 (SLA) Mobs incited by the LTTE now desperately geared to provoke peace-loving civilians as well as members of the Security Forces in the north, incited a section of Jaffna townsfolk on Friday (4) morning to confront Security Forces after a traffic accident caused by an Army vehicle, killed a thirteen-year old girl near the SEYLAN BANK in JAFFNA town on Hospital Road. more..

Mar 4 (SLA) Several acts of violence that flared up between a group of relief workers and some civilians, believed to have been incited by LTTE men in the general town area of TRINCOMALEE on 03 March 2005, had to be brought under control by the Police in cooperation with troops. more..

Mar 4 (SLA) Naval troops had arrested an Indian dhow with three Indian crewmembers and three Sri Lankan refugees (one Sinhala, one Muslim and one Tamil) dropped near the 5th SAND BANK in TALAIMANNAR on 03 March 2005 around 4.10 p.m. more..

Mar 4 (PRIU) The Ministry of Finance and Planning has set up the Centre for Non Governmental Sector (CNGS) to facilitate NGOs, charitable organizations, associations etc., engaged in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 4 (PRIU) The first copy of the Tripitaka of Theravada Buddhism printed in English will be presented to President Chandrika Kumaratunga by HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana of Thailand. The presentation ceremony will take place on Sunday 6th of March 2005 at the BMICH. more..

Mar 4 (Hindu) FEW FORMS OF child abuse are more abhorrent than the practice of training and sending children into armed combat. Yet the LTTE has got away with the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, some of them as young as nine or ten years of age, and perhaps weighing only slightly more than the weapons they are forced to carry. more..

Mar 4 (LT) Mr. V. Ananda Sangaree, leader of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) wrote to the President yesterday (3rd) that appointing a commission to probe the killing of Kaushalyan and Chandra Nehru and shooting of Kuveni and the party is in no way justifiable. more..

Mar 4 (LT) United National Party has no intention of being a prop to the Government of UPFA said Mr. Tissa Attanayake, Parliamentarian and Deputy Secretary General of the UNP. If the UPFA is unable to administer the country the UNP was ready to take over said the Parliamentarian. more..

Mar 4 (AT) Sri Lanka Government has reiterated its willingness for a negotiation with the LTTE, but not based on the Interim Self Governing Authority proposal put forward by the Tamil rebel outfit and placed as the precondition for talks, but on an Interim Authority proposed by the Government. more..

Mar 4 (Reuters) Tropical Sri Lanka is grateful for a deluge of tsunami aid but says it draws the line at used winter jackets, blankets and other second-hand clothes and would tax unsuitable aid to discourage it. more..

Mar 4 (Reuters) Sri Lanka stocks ended slightly lower on Friday after a string of record closing highs as small investors skimmed profits in counters across the board, offsetting buying interest in second tier shares, brokers said. more..

Mar 4 (DN) A PROMINENT liquor club owner was gunned down yesterday in broad daylight opposite his home in Slave Island. Police said T. Earnest Peris, a well known club owner in the Slave Island area and one time member of the Colombo Municipal Council was shot in the head by his assailant. He died on the spot. more..

Mar 4 (LNP) Five undergraduates, who were involved in last Tuesday's bloody brawl, at the Ruhuna University, were produced before the Matara Magistrate Court yesterday and remanded till March 14. The undergraduates, who had been absconding, were arrested on Wednesday evening by special police units of the Matara police. more..

Mar 4 (AP) Tension gripped the main town in northern Sri Lanka on Friday after an army vehicle accidentally hit and killed an ethnic Tamil minority student, the military said. The 12-year-old girl was riding a bicycle to school when she was hit by the military vehicle and died immediately, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said. more..

Mar 4 (HT) SP Tamilselvan, the LTTE political wing leader, has warned that the Sri Lankan government is trying to "trap" India into a difficult situation by suggesting that New Delhi should take a pro-active role in finding a solution to the island's ethnic conflict. more..

Mar 4 (AP) The skeletal remains of eight more people have been found at the site where the Dec. 26 tsunami swept away a commuter train in Sri Lanka, police said. The remains of two people were found Friday, and six others Wednesday, said D.W. Prathapasinghe, police chief of the southern region. more..

Mar 4 (AP) Norway's Ambassador to Sri Lanka was set to hold talks Saturday with a top Tamil Tiger leader, as the guerrillas warned that a recent spate of violence could hurt long-term prospects for the fragile truce that halted this country's two-decade civil war. more..

Mar 5 (AP) Sri Lankan musicians are trying to rally stars such as Elton John, Madonna and Ricky Martin to record an album to raise relief funds for countries hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami. Asoka Gunawardena, spokesman for United Artistes of Sri Lanka, said the group hopes to release "One Nation, One World, One Love" on March 26, more..

Mar 5 (EU) European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, will visit Sri Lanka on 7 and 8 March. The visit coincides with the Commission’s preparation of a post-Tsunami reconstruction package for the region, worth €350 million. more..

Mar 5 (TT) European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, will visit Sri Lanka on 7 and 8 March. The visit coincides with the Commission’s preparation of a post-Tsunami reconstruction package for the region, worth €350 million. more..

Mar 5 (AN) Joseph Wehrman didn't need to travel to Sri Lanka to know what children there would draw for him. "Before I went there, I already knew what the drawings were going to be," he said Thursday. They contained dead bodies, destroyed homes and large waves. more..

Mar 5 (LBO) The first instalment of Euro 100 mn tsunami aid from the European Union is to come in by mid this year, to help people get back to work. "In addition to the Euro 31 mn in humanitarian aid already made available to Sri Lanka, the European Commission (EC) is now working with the country to programme a further allocation of Euro100 mn," more..

Mar 5 (LBO) The United Nations warns that more women going abroad to work is leading to more human trafficking. A UN report on migration shows that increasing female migration is also leading to more human trafficking. Women now account for nearly half – 49 percent - of the world’s 183 mn migrant population. more..

Mar 5 (LT) JVP has proposed to the Government that a select committee should be appointed to look into the activities of NGOs. The proposal regarding this will be handed over to the Speaker Mr. W.G.M. Lokubandara by JVP Parliamentarian Mr.Nandana Gunatilleke when the next Parliamentary sessions begin. more..

Mar 5 (PA) Sanath Jayasuriya is delighted to finally have a chance to play county cricket, after signing a short-term contract with Somerset. The 35-year-old former Sri Lanka captain is to replace Ricky Ponting as one of Somerset’s overseas players for the early part of the 2005 season. more..

Mar 5 (TN) Sri Lanka army troops Friday severely assaulted a journalist working for the state run Lake House Newspapers as restive crowds in the northern town set fire to six military points and smashed up President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) office. more..

Mar 5 (TN) Federation of Trincomalee District Sports Associations (FTDSA) Friday requested the Government of Sri Lanka not to allow any illegal settlement on the Trincomalee Urban Council esplanade, which is being used by members of all three communities for the development of sports activities in the east port town, sources said. more..

Mar 5 (BBC) The rebellion by former eastern commander Karuna from the mainstream LTTE exactly a year ago was a major setback to the rebel organisation, defense analysts say. Iqbal Athas, defense analyst and a senior journalist of Sunday Times says the LTTE had only 1500 armed cadres before signing the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with Sri Lanka’s government in February 2002. more..

Mar 5 (FVW) Sri Lanka and the Maldives have unveiled a series of measures to try to win back German tourists. The island states, busy rebuilding and restoring hotels and other infrastructure damaged by the December 26 tsunami, are hopeful they will soon bounce back to normal business. more..

Mar 5 (CNW) Global News presents a special one-hour, prime time documentary, Sri Lanka: A Journey Home, on Monday, March 14th. This special program produced by Mark Miller Productions in co-operation with Global News, will take viewers on an emotional journey of discovery back to Sri Lanka more..

Mar 5 (Reuters) The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved $157.5 million in emergency aid for tsunami-hit Sri Lanka, to be made available to the South Asian country immediately. In a statement, the IMF said the cost of replacing Sri Lanka's infrastructure damaged in the tsunami was between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion, more..