July 28 (IL) I had the opportunity to read the letters titled "An open letter to my countrymen" by Vimukthi Jayadeva and "War was thrust on Thamils" by V. Thangavelu,. I request you to publish the following document in relation to the above two documents. more..

July 28 (LBO) Limited Brands Inc., the owners of the famous �Victoria�s Secret� brand has apologised for inadvertently offending Sri Lankans, particularly Buddhist, with their floral bikini depicting the image of the Buddha. more..

July 28 (SLA) The dead body of a civilian kidnapped and subsequently shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres was recovered from the general area of VELLAVELI, about 20 km north of AMPARA on 26 July 2004. more..

July 28 (SLA) An LTTE political leader received stab injuries to his back when he had reportedly tried to mediate in a brawl that occurred between two parties in the general area of URUMPIRAI, about 08 km north of JAFFNA town on 26 July 2004. more..

July 28 (SLA) The explosion of a hand grenade in the general area of THARAVAI in un-cleared areas of ERAVUR on 25 July 2004 around 3.30 p.m. killed a child and injured two others. more..

July 28 (SLA) A vehicle stopped at a snap roadblock near the GALLE FACE esplanade on 27 July 2004 around 4.30 p.m. was found carrying some suspicious persons in possession of an LTTE pass and some passports. more..

July 28 (SLA) Twenty men on seven fibre glass dinghies were arrested from the general restricted harbour zone in TRINCOMALEE on 27 July 2004 at about 11.00 a.m. while they were engaged in fishing. more..

July 28 (BBC) A middle-aged cricket coach in stylish sunglasses and whites is putting a group of young boys through their paces. "Play a square drive," says the coach and throws the ball towards him. The boy responds in copybook style. more..

July 28 (Dawn) Visiting Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgessan, has pledged to take up the Muslim aspect of the peace process with the LTTE, according to the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. more..

July 28 (TP) After successfully organising fun and food programmes for the special and underprivileged children for about three years in Pakistan, Jimmy Engineer has expanded this programme to Sri Lanka. more..

July 28 (IANS) A book on Tamil epigraphy has been chosen for a prestigious award in Sri Lanka. The book, "Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the 6th Century A.D.", by Iravatham Mahadevan was published in 2003. more..

July 28 (TT) Peace is always elusive in an ongoing conflict.The recent massacre of the supporters of a former military commander of the LTTE will damage the peace process even further. On Sunday, seven supporters of the LTTE�s former military leader, Mr V. Muralitharan, were gunned down near Colombo. more..

July 28 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday accused the government of having a 'hidden agenda' to weaken them, as a Norwegian envoy met Sri Lanka's president in hopes of getting derailed truce talks back on track. more..

July 28 (DN) The Government yesterday introduced a series of new sophisticated measures to beef up security in Colombo and suburbs designed to combat the current crime wave. The new initiatives followed a special directive by President for measures to revise the present security set-up in the wake of the rise in the incidents of violence more..

July 28 (AFP) Central bank has suspended sales of precious metal commemorative coins that were becoming gold mines for speculators, an official said. Buyers could make a mint out of the eight gram gold coin priced at 8,000 rupees (80 dollars) when the equivalent gold value in the open market had shot up to at least 10,000 rupees. more..

July 28 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government is willing to resume peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels on the basis of the rebel demand for self-rule in the war-battered north and east, her office said Tuesday night. more..

July 28 (AFP) Elephants at Sri Lanka's "old folks' home for jumbos" may have reached retirement age, but they still have to earn their keep -- which means giving rides to tourists and posing for pictures. more..

July 28 (HRW) A spate of killings between factions of the separatist LTTE threatens Sri Lanka�s ceasefire, Human Rights Watch warned today. More than a dozen people have been murdered over the last month in apparently politically motivated killings attributed either to the LTTE or a faction led by the LTTE�s former eastern commander, Colonel Karuna, more..

July 28 (AT) Tamil Tigers has warned the relatives and parents of the slain men last Sunday at Kottawa, not to bring the dead bodies to Batticaloa to hold the funeral ceremonies. The intelligence group members of the Tamil Tigers belonging to Velupillai Prabakaran visited the houses of each of those slain men and had threatened the parents and relatives more..

July 28 (AFP) Norway admitted failure in its latest attempt to revive Sri Lanka's stalled peace negotiations and warned of a resumption of war unless its leaders salvaged the faltering process. more..

July 29 (TN) "Hundreds of refugees are risking their lives, paying high fares to unscrupulous boatmen, to return from India to their homes in the northeast. The influx of refugees is increasing by the day. more..

July 29 (TN) Hopes that the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers would soon restart peace talks plunged Wednesday after a top Norwegian envoy said there is �little reason for optimism� and warned of a resumption of the protracted ethnic conflict. more..

July 29 (Reuters) South Africa have identified their tour of Sri Lanka as a launching pad for their bid to challenge Australia for top spot in the world test rankings. England's recent run of test victories has knocked South Africa out of second position but they will reclaim the spot if they defeat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the two-match series. more..

July 29 (Rupavahini) The names of 17,000 unemployed graduates who are given jobs will be announced tomorrow in the Dinamina newspaper. Finance minister. Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that the letters informing them of their job training assignments will be posted to their respective addresses by the ministries and provincial councils concerned within a week. more..

July 29 (ANI) India on Wednesday said that it had alerted a British ship to rescue 18 crew members of a Singapore-based tanker sinking off the Sri Lankan coast. Vice-Admiral Suresh Mehta, the Director General of Indian Coast Guards, said that six crewmen of the tanker named "Sethu Baru" had died before rescuers could reach them. more..

July 29 (CI) Sri Lanka A are facing a struggle to maintain their unbeaten record, after Somerset cemented their advantage on the second day at Taunton. By the close, Somerset had added 159 to their healthy 92-run first-innings lead, thanks to an unbeaten 67 from Neil Edwards, more..

July 29 (LBO) Sri Lanka�s million-dollar tourism promotion spree is paying off in higher revenues for the State and the industry, says the Tourist Board. The paradise isle�s tourism authorities have already busted US $ 1 mn this year promoting the island in the international tourism arena - and intends keeping it up. more..

July 29 (LBO) Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama sent out a strong warning to exporters asking them to repatriate their proceeds and help ease the pressure on the rupee. The Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by about five-percent against the US dollar todate, forcing the Central Bank to step in to prop up the currency. more..

July 29 (LBO) Taxpayers will be called up to pay around six billion rupees to train over 40,000 unemployable graduates over a two year period, the government said Wednesday. An election promise to absorb 27,000 unemployed graduates, got a mammoth response from over 52,000 applicants. more..

July 29 (HT) The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, said on Wednesday, that the widespread complacency in Sri Lanka about the peace process was worrying him. People, in general, were "mistaking the absence of war, for peace", he told the media after four days of discussions with Sri Lankan and LTTE leaders. more..

July 29 (AT) Either V. Thangavelu does not know his geography or he is floating in cuckoo land writes H.L.D. Mahindapala who intervenes to challenge the statement made by V.Thangavelu that �There is no war in the Sinhala areas and the LTTE is not laying claim even for an inch of land in the south.� more..

July 29 (AT) Sri Lanka will sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Thailand to increase trade between the two countries said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lakshman Kadirgamar. The Sri Lanka Foreign Minister who is in Bangkok at the invitation of the Thai Government met Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, more..

July 29 (AT) Vidar Helgesen, a worried looking man explained "Norway cannot bring peace to Sri Lanka. It is the people of Sri Lanka who must bring peace to their country." He pointed out, "People must realize that nothing comes for free, peace won't just happen. There must be effort put into the peace process." more..

July 29 (DT) Social worker Jimmy Engineer will leave for Sri Lanka on August 15 to hold Fun and Food Programmes for special children. �The smiling and glowing faces of the children who participated in pervious fun and food programmes prove that my way of bringing them relief has met some success,� more..

July 29 (TP) The capital of Colombo is teeming with dozens of lodges with many serving as safe houses for LTTE suicide bombers and underworld gangsters, posing a major security headache to the authorities, the Island newspaper said. more..

July 29 (TP) Tamil rebels hunting a breakaway LTTE leader have offered a reward of Rs22.5m to any person who brings the �head� of its renegade leader Karuna, security sources told the Daily Mirror. more..

July 29 (TP) The government will immediately revamp the Departments of Registration of Persons, Immigration and Emigration and Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) as they were the most corrupt state institutions, the Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order Thilak Ranaviraja told a press conference on Tuesday. more..

July 29 (TP) The Marxist JVP, a member of the ruling UPFA government, on Tuesday told the European Union representative in Sri Lanka Wouter Wilton that any solution to the country�s ethnic conflict must be based on safeguarding and protecting the sovereignty of the nation. more..

July 29 (LBO) Electricity tariffs will go up by five percent come-what-may in October, though Cabinet has yet to debate the issue, CEB officials said. "Prices will definitely go up by at least five percent in October. The proposal is now pending Cabinet approval," said a CEB top brass. more..

July 29 (TN) Jaffna Missing Persons Guardians' Association (JPMGA) said Wednesday in a statement that it has started losing confidence that Habeas Corpus (HC) applications filed by several members of the association would be inquired with out delay. more..

July 29 (TN) The Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah Wednesday instructed his Registrar to issue notice on the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army to appear in court on September 7 when it was brought to the notice of the court that the accused military officials in three Habeas Corpus applications failed to attend inquiry without reasons, more..

July 29 (TN) The government said Thursday that it is prepared to commence peace talks with the LTTE at any time and anywhere. Speaking at the post Cabinet press briefing held Thursday Media Minister Mr. Mangala Samaraweera said that the LTTE should adopt a policy of flexibility in its stand, more..

July 29 (SLA) An attempt to recapture a seventeen year old LTTE deserter from the general area of THOLAWIL, AKKRAIPATTU by two men, suspected to be from LTTE was foiled by his parents on 28 July 2004 at about 5.00 p.m. more..

July 29 (SLA) Information received by naval troops from the general area of DELFT ISLAND on 27 July 2004 around 4.45 p.m. confirmed that two seventeen- year old girls resident in the area had left the DELFT ISLAND with some LTTE cadres on a fiberglass boat for an undisclosed destination. more..

July 29 (SLA) A bush fire, broken out in the general area of KILALY, JAFFNA , ahead of the Forward Defence Line of the Security Forces on 28 July 2004 around 6.00 p.m. destroyed thirty five Anti-Personnel Mines, four Improvised Explosive Devices with 120 mm mortar rounds and eight claymore mines. more..

July 29 (SLA) Hundreds of soldiers, attached to the Army Headquarters, Colombo on Wednesday (28) joined hands together for a Shramadana campaign to help eradicate fast spreading dengue epidemic in the country. more..

July 29 (LBO) The Central Bank is coming out with a fresh batch of new currency notes called "Sri Lanka Heritage Series." The new series will cover all denominations � Rs. 1,000, Rs. 500, Rs. 50, Rs. 10 � bearing the date April 10, 2004, the bank said in statement Thursday. more..

July 29 (PSL) The Norwegian facilitators yesterday ruled out any "robust military engagement" by the international community in Sri Lanka if the peace process which they described as in "real danger," failed. "The patience of the international community is being tested," more..

July 29 (PRIU) President Chandrika Kumaratunga arrived at the Bangkok International Airport on Thursday afternoon and was received by the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Chaturon Chaisang, Sri Lankan ambassador to Thailand, Ariyarathne Wijewardene and Mrs. Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

July 29 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed Prof. Chandima Wijebandara as new Vice Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura for a three-year period with effect from July 27, 2004. more..