Sep 1 (AP) A Paris-based media advocacy group yesterday condemned a bomb attack on a Sri Lankan Tamil-language newspaper that killed a security guard and wounded two others, while Tamil journalists demanded protection from the government. more..

Sep 1 (AP) LTTE on Wednesday rejected a government offer to hold crucial ceasefire review talks in Sri Lanka, striking a blow at efforts to revive the island's stalled peace process. The guerrillas response came a week after the government refused Norway as a venue for the talks to review an increasingly fragile truce, more..

Sep 1 (LBO) Cost of living in Sri Lanka still going up despite the contribution by the Yala harvest, says the Central Bank. Prices dropped in August, compared to July, reflecting the historic seasonal pattern because of the influx of agricultural commodities from the Yala harvest. more..

Sep 1 (LBO) Sri Lankan tea is facing increased competition form other tea producing countries with lower costs of production and younger plantations. Emerging tea producing countries are also testing the waters for stronger brand building and marketing. more..

Sep 1 (AFP) Sri Lankan tsunami survivors were told Wednesday of job and training opportunities which would help them avoid falling victim to traffickers, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. more..

Sep 1 (Xinhua) China and Sri Lanka pledged in Beijing Wednesday to enhance parliamentary exchanges during a meeting between Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo and Sri Lankan President Bandaranalke Kumaratunga. more..

Sep 1 (BBC) Sajith Premadasa, son of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, strongly criticised Sri Lankan judicial process for failing to bring his father�s killers into justice. There have been a �mysterious� silence, he said, by the authorities since the assassination more than 12 years ago. more..

Sep 1 (ATO) Police are looking for three unidentified persons for kidnapping and raping a Sri Lankan woman in a desert in Salmi, reports Al-Rai Al-Aam daily. The daily quoting a security source the victim was found by police in a pathetic condition. more..

Sep 1 (FE) Sri Lanka�s inflation rate accelerated for the 15th straight month in August as the cost of goods including eggs, fish and local whiskey rose, adding to pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates. more..

Sep 1 (AT) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced that Chinese will take clear cut actions to reduce trade deficit with Sri Lanka in future. Chinese Premier said, when he met Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge at the Great Hall of the People, on Wednesday evening. more..

Sep 1 (AT) To develop the country, it is inevitable that the society and the economy has to be changed into the modern technological order, said Prof Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology more..

Sep 1 (Xinhua) President Kumaratunga on Wednesday called on Sri Lankan and Chinese firms to further their cooperation in investment, trade and tourism. While attending a seminar on China-Sri Lankan investment, tourism and trade in Beijing, Kumaratunga expressed hope that the two countries could set up more joint ventures and step up cooperation in power, transport and communications. more..

Sep 1 (SN) The UNP has strongly objected to the proposal by the JVP to setup a special commission to investigate the activities of the evangelical NGOs and INGOs saying that it violates the religious freedom. more..

Sep 1 (LT) It�s reported that the internal committee of the Jathika Hela Uruamaya has decided to compete alone in the forthcoming presidential election. Internal committee of JHU comprise of four members, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Udaya Gammanpila and Kamal Deshapriya. more..

Sep 1 (LT) CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman has stated that if the JVP supports SLFP candidate Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse in the presidential quest so be the CWC. Mr. Thondaman has also said if JVP decides to compete on their own CWC support goes to UNP candidate Ranil Wickramasinghe. more..

Sep 1 (LT) President Chandrika Bandaranayake has decided to call a special session of the SLFP executive body on the 4th of September. This executive body meeting to he held at the presidential mansion is expected to gather about 900 members of SLFP executive organization. SLFP sources said. more..

Sep 1 (LT) 32 suspects arrested by Dehiwala police under the allegation of suspicious behaviour have been released by force by the involvement of UNP Colombo district parliamentarian T. Maheshawarana. more..

Sep 1 (LT) Ruhunu Janatha Party has decided to support Ranil Wickramasinghe in the forthcoming presidential election. The leader of the party Ajantha De Soysa yesterday obtained the membership of the UNP from Ranil Wickramasinghe at the ceremony held at Sirikotha, the Headquarters of the UNP. more..

Sep 1 (TP) With oil prices rising due to the hurricane on the US Gulf coast, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) warned on Tuesday that local fuel prices too would have to be raised. CPC chairman Jaliya Medagama was quoted in the Daily Mirror as saying that the price of petrol would have to be increased by 12 rupees a litre, more..

Sep 1 (SLA) Hit and Run terror tactics of Tamil Tigers were once again put into practice by them in the general area of SITTANDY, BATTICALOA on Thursday (1st September 2005) around 11.05 a.m. after inflicting gunfire injuries on one more soldier who was taking lunch to his fellow-soldiers with others. more..

Sep 1 (SLA) An LTTE attempt to conscript an underage school student and force him into un-cleared areas by providing him with a false Identity Card (ID) was foiled at the MUHAMALAI Entry/Exit point on Wednesday (31) morning after the troops were told by the 14-year old student that he was abducted by LTTE at about 2.00 p.m. on Tuesday more..

Sep 1 (LBO) India has called for duty free access for its teas into Sri Lanka under the latest round of CEPA talks that concluded in end August. A weekly Asia Siyaka Commodities report said India is asking for duty free access for green and black teas in three kilos and larger pack sizes. more..

Sep 1 (AFP) Tom Moody, the Sri Lankan coach, has ruled out resting his key players for the second one-dayer against Bangladesh tomorrow, hoping to complete a clean sweep. Sri Lanka lead the three-match series 1-0 following their emphatic 88-run victory in Colombo. more..

Sep 1 (LM) The Commission for Investigating Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) will consider possibilities of initiating steps to prevent misuse of state properties and funds for election propaganda in the run up to the upcoming Presidential Poll. more..

Sep 1 (LM) President Kumaratunga's signing an agreement with the Chinese government to set up a Coal Power Plant in Norachcholai has come under severe criticism by Politicians, Civil and Environmental Organizations in the area. more..

Sep 1 (LM) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Secretary General H.T.Hasan Ali MP accused in Parliament that the appointment of incompetent and idiotic individuals as heads of government institutions had contributed to their deterioration and collapse. more..

Sep 1 (AT) Minister of Railway, Felix Perera has decided not to have any talks while the Railway engine drivers are on strike as the strike entered yesterday the second day. more..

Sep 1 (BBC) A Buddhist monk was admitted to hospital after he was subjected to excessive ragging by the senior monks at the Rajarata university. Diyabedume Rathansara thero, a diabetic patient, told journalist Athula Bandara at Anuradhapura hospital that his condition deteriorated after he was subjected to hard physical activities by four senior monks at the university. more..

Sep 1 (BBC) A detainee was shot dead in front of Colombo magistrates court by another detainee. Detainee Mohamed Rizvan was shot and killed inside a van carrying them to courts by Anuruddha Perera alias Dhanushka on Thursday. more..

Sep 1 (PIS) The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the Batticaloa district and called on both the government and the LTTE to practise restraint in order to safeguard the Cease Fire Agreemet (CFA). more..

Sep 1 (SAMN) A six-member gang comprising Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims were yesterday remanded till September 7 after they were arrested for allegedly trying to extort one million rupees from a Colombo businessman posing as LTTE cadres. more..

Sep 1 (SAMN) The TNA yesterday challenged the Government to table in parliament the instances of ceasefire violations committed by the LTTE, saying the TNA was prepared to give a detailed response to the statistics and even agreeable for a full day debate on the matter. more..

Sep 1 (LNP) The TNA and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) have responded with mixed reactions to reports that SLFP Presidential candidate and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was willing to meet LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran to discuss peace, if he comes out victorious at the upcoming elections. more..

Sep 1 (LNP) Monetary aid promised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Banking Co-operation (JBIC) for the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will be further delayed, according to senior CEB officials. more..

Sep 1 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan government said Thursday that no adverse decisions had been made on the role of the Royal Norwegian government on its peace facilitation role in the island. Nimal Siripala De Silva told reporters that the Norwegians would continue its peace facilitation role between the government and the Tamil Tigers. more..

Sep 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's peace is fragile and political uncertainty rages ahead of elections, but investors like Dharmadasa De Silva are undeterred and are making the island's bourse Asia's top performer. more..

Sep 1 (TP) A Sri Lankan maid suffered severe burn injuries in her right hand when her sponsor's wife allegedly threw boiling water on her. The injured maid came to the embassy of her country and reported the incident on Monday. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment by the mission staff. more..

Sep 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's government offered on Thursday to hold emergency talks with the Tamil Tigers in no-man's land in the island's north to discuss how to preserve a strained truce but rejected rebel demands for talks abroad. more..

Sep 1 (DN) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said yesterday they were planning to meet the two main contenders in the forthcoming Presidential Polls next week to tender their set of conditions to offer support. more..

Sep 1 (BBC) Rejecting the LTTE�s call to have talks on the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in Oslo, Sri Lankan government is offering to start talks in no-man�s land. Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, said that the authorities are keen to discuss matters pertaining to the violations of the CFA after the killing of Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Sep 2 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga have conveyed sympathy to the United States following the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina which hit the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. more..

Sep 2 (PRIU) President Chandrika Kumaratunga now in China on a state visit has conveyed her sympathy to the government and the people of the USA following the devastation caused by hurricane �Katrina� which hit the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) Two International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials carrying the dead body of an LTTE cadre reached OMANTHAI Entry/Exit point on 01 September 2005 around 4.05 p.m. in order to proceed to un-cleared areas. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) An LTTE member, who crossed the lagoon in the general un-cleared areas of UPPARU and GENGE has died on 01 September 2005 around 9.45 a.m. according to information given by some civilians. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) Troops at BLACK BRIDGE Entry/Exit point in BATTICALOA arrested a Tamil Tiger with twelve rounds of T-56 ammunition on Thursday (01) around 6.25 p.m. while he was trying to enter cleared areas on a three-wheeler. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) Troops at the roadblock in the general area of MAMANGAMA, BATTICALOA narrowly escaped death when two motorbike-riding Tamil Tigers threw a hand grenade towards them on Thursday (01) evening around 5.10 p.m. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) A bullet-riddled dead body of an ex-LTTE cadre, who had gone reportedly missing from home since 14 August 2005 was recovered from a jungle in the general un-cleared area of POONANI, BATTICALOA on 30 August 2005. more..

Sep 2 (SLA) The owner of a tile factory in BOLAWATTA, WENNAPPUWA was slain Friday (02) morning by unidentified pistol men for reasons best known only to his assassins. The factory owner was inside his FATHIMA TILE FACTORY when three pistol men stormed the premises and shot him down at point blank range. more..

Sep 2 (LBO) Sri Lanka government says it is thinking of giving tsunami victims money to buy land to rebuild their homes, eight months after the tsunami. Sri Lanka�s central tsunami reconstruction agency TAFREN said on Friday, the government is facing difficulties acquiring land for tsunami displaced. more..

Sep 2 (LBO) The Colombo International Book Fair (CIBF), Sri Lanka's most patronised public exhibition, opens at the BMICH on September 10 with a record 382 stalls, and a host of special events and features that organisers say will set new standards for exhibitions in this country. more..