May 14 (AI) The UN Security Council was urged to take action after at least 35 people were reported to have been killed in northern Sri Lanka in an attack on a hospital in a designated �Safe Zone" on Wednesday. Amnesty International has demanded that the Sri Lankan authorities allow international monitors and humanitarian agencies access to the country's troubled areas � including the "Safe Zone", more..

May 14 (LBO) Janashakthi Insurance said it was confident of getting a 'sudden and unexpected' suspension of its licence by the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL) revoked soon. Janashakthi Insurance Managing Director Prakash Schaffter said that the public quoted company was totally transparent in its operations and has always fully complied with the regulations of the Colombo Stock Exchange and the IBSL. more..

May 14 (WV) World Vision Lanka is setting up special Child Friendly Spaces and Temporary Learning Shelters in the caemps for IDPs to provide a place for children to heal from the many ordeals they have been through. �Thousands of children in the camps have a critical need for psychosocial support. Creating safe places for children to play helps keep them safe from the risk of abuse and neglect,� more..

May 14 (UCAN) President Mahinda Rajapakse has assured Catholic bishops and Caritas officials that displaced Tamil war refugees currently residing in camps in the north, will be released in batches to return to their homes. The May 11 meeting in the presidential palace was attended by Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo, together with Bishops Kingsley Swampillai of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, Valence Mendis of Chilaw, more..

May 14 (LeN) President Mahinda Rajapakse is reportedly going to offer two posts of Minister and Deputy Minister to the National Freedom Front (JNP) that is a significant partner of the government coalition. Lanka-e-News learns that the post of Minister is to be offered to Nandana Gunathilaka, the Secretary of the JNP while the Deputy Minister post is to go to Kaluthara district MP Piyasiri Wijenayaka. more..

May 14 (Hindu) The European Union (EU) on Wednesday said it was deeply concerned about the high number of civilian casualties and deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and reiterated its primary concern for the civilians in the conflict zone who were surviving under appalling conditions. �The EUs second main concern is with access to the screening points and conditions in the holding centres for IDPs. more..

May 14 (IE) The war in Sri Lanka has reached a decisive stage, as far as the fate of the trapped civilians is concerned. The hold that the LTTE had geographically has eroded so much and so extensively that it now appears that it would be impossible for them to make a comeback. The issues that remain can be whittled down to two in number: first, how the trapped civilian population can be evacuated with the least possible casualties; and second, the fate of Velupillai Prabhakaran. more..

May 14 (TN) TNA has pointed out that 3000 Tamils have been killed and more than 1000 have been wounded in the last 3 days in the Vanni region, in a press conference held in Colombo on Tuesday night. TNA leader MP R.Sampanthan states, �The Government of Sri Lanka is mass killing Tamil civilians after denying them food and medicine. This is the reality. More bloodshed can happen in the next few days. more..

May 14 (MFA) Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister of the Environment and International Development, commented, �A humanitarian ceasefire in Sri Lanka must be put in place as soon as possible in order to stop the bloodbath.� If the hostilities continue, there is a serious risk of a further dramatic loss of life within the government-designated safe zone. According to the UN, at least 50 000 people are trapped in this area. more..

May 14 (AT) �Sri Lanka should not receive a verdict of �guilty� from various nations without the deliberation of a jury when facts are so stubborn and visible,� said Daya Perera P.C, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Ottawa. He said that the mass demonstrations in Toronto in the last two days with placards depicting that they are LTTE and their leader is Prabhakaran clearly indicates that, the protesters represent the terrorist group and not the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. more..

May 14 (AP) President Barack Obama scolded both sides of Sri Lanka's quarter-century-old civil war on Wednesday, demanding that the government stop shelling hospitals and that Tamil Tiger rebels cease using civilian shields. Before leaving the White House to deliver a commencement speech in Arizona, Obama told reporters that the situation on the south Asian island could turn from a humanitarian crisis to a full-blown catastrophe. more..

May 14 (AT) The speculation that the LTTE leadership will have to be rescued in order to save the civilians held hostage in the current war zone in Sri Lanka has triggered several questions as to the legality of finding asylum for leaders who belong to a terrorist organization. Can any government provide LTTE leaders, specifically V. Prabhakaran, a safe haven within legal and constitutional rights? Could this be challenged in the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague? more..

May 14 (AT) Japanese Buddhist dignitary Dr. L. Kawamura, Director of Eastern Religions, Calgary University, was a special guest at the 2553rd Vesak Celebrations organized by the Sri Lankan community in Calgary, Canada on May 9. He delivered a thought-provoking speech on Buddhism and its impact on the modern world, at the event. The Sri Lankan Buddhist society enlivened the festival with a typical Sri Lankan Vesak night atmosphere and more..

May 14 (LG) Yesterday morning we published a report by Catapult Thangavelu who in his own satirist style and speculations lampooned and predicted today�s news that would come from pro-LTTE news constructors like Tamilnet. Just as he was and his team kept watch on the Tigers from Kappang Highway (A9) which continues to be his hangout and stomping place as Liberation Highway now, he shuttles between A9 and more..

May 14 (LG) Speaking to the media at the UNP media unit today, (13 May), UNP M.P. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam warned the people to brace themselves for the worst economic sufferings; hardships which will devastate the country worse than that wrought by the Tsunami. This situation has been created by none other than the Government itself, he added. The Government has only one objective � to perpetuate its power craze. more..

May 14 (LG) Fourth Generation warfare (4GW) in the 21st century in simplest of terms is warfare between a legitimate armed force and a non-state violent actor. The essence of 4GW is its protracted nature of violence, use of asymmetry attempting to attain parity politically as well as psychologically. Since the first bullets fired in 1981 in Jaffna the Tigers fought a protracted 4GW campaign against the Sri Lankan Government Military morally, more..

May 13 (Reuters) The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday for the first time voiced grave concern over civilian deaths in Sri Lanka's war and ordered the army and rebels to take urgent action to protect civilians. "The members of the Security Council express grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in northeast Sri Lanka, in particular the reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days," the unanimously agreed statement said. more..

May 13 (CN) Another day, another long Tamil protest. We have been flooded with email about the latest demonstration at Queen's Park, as some GTA residents voice frustration with the ongoing disruptions - while others express their support for the cause. Here's a brief look at just some of your email, edited for length when necessary. Why on Earth are these people allowed to hold up the traffic, block the streets and the safe passage to more..

May 14 (LG) Velupillai Prabhakaran (born November 26, 1954), is the founder and leader of the LTTE, a Terrorist organization that seeks to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. He is currently wanted by Interpol for terrorism, murder, organized crime and terrorism conspiracy. Although during an interview he stated that the LTTE are not yet ready to give up the demand for an independent state, more..

May 14 (LG) There are many known and unknown reasons for the people who were in the No Fire Zone, in the strip of unsheltered land in northeast Sri Lanka, to cross over to the Sri Lankan government controlled area. Though in reality, the NFZ has in recent days seen fierce fighting, the severe starvation, uninterrupted shelling and use of deadly weapons against the innocent civilians by the Sri Lankan forces with the LTTE crossfire, more..

May 14 (DBS) Focus on Tamil protests by CBC "As It Happens".�This is an audio extract from the CBC �As it Happens� program of May 12th 2009 ~ [10 mts] more..

May 14 (CBC) Thousands of Tamil-Canadian protesters were on the move in downtown Toronto Wednesday evening. After amassing at Queen's Park, the group made its way across College Street, down Yonge Street, west along Queen Street and stopped in front of the U.S. Consulate. The demonstrators were expected to wind back up University Avenue to the Ontario legislature later in the evening. more..

May 14 (SG) Tamil Tiger chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran�s luxurious lifestyle has been made public through photos from a family album allegedly found by Sri Lankan troops in his hide-out in Puthukudiyiruppu. The defense ministry, which released the photos with an accompanying commentary, said that the images showed the �dark corners of Mr Prabhakaran�s duplicitous and pampered lifestyle� more..

May 14 (Guardian) A month ago my boyfriend's English mother asked me � in all innocence � if I'd been to the "Tamil Tiger march" in Westminster. She was referring to one of the many protests organised by the tenacious and active British Tamil Forum, camped 24 hours a day at Westminster for over a month now. Given the many � and widely photographed � Tamil Tiger flags at the protests, little wonder she mistook Tamils for Tigers. more..

May 14 (KT) The firm action being taken by the militaries of Pakistan and Sri Lanka against the Taliban and the remnants of the LTTE respectively over the last week, though deemed to be purely �internal national security issues�, have resulted in the biggest humanitarian crisis since the East Pakistan exodus of millions of refugees in early 1971. Almost three quarters of a million people are affected. more..

May 14 (LG) Recently, an analyst described the ascendency of any political leader as being the result of an inherent quality to be anchored to a purpose, attention-prone, assertive and affable-the four A-s of success. The American and Sri Lankan Presidents seem bent on out-staging all Presidents before them with a kind of stature and style judging by their popularity which is at its zenith now. more..

May 14 (LG) Political parties in the Bundestag (the German Parliament) passed a resolution on the �Humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka� during their afternoon session on the 7th of May in Berlin. It says that the Federal Republic of Germany demands and stands up for an immediate ceasefire between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. The German ruling coalition parties CDU & SPD (Christian Democrats & Social Democrats), the opposition FDP (Liberals), more..

May 14 (LG) The current offensive by the Sri Lankan government against the Tamil Tigers or LTTE rebel movement has trapped tens of thousands of refugees in a coastal strip still held by the rebels - with no place to go and no impending hope in site. Sri Lanka's military has been accused by human rights organizations of using massive firepower against the guerrillas that is resulting in civilian casualties. more..

May 14 (LG) In the early 1960s, it was the Irish of Derry who would phone late at night, speaking in a single breath, spilling out stories of discrimination and injustice. Who listened to their truth until the violence began? Bengalis from what was then East Pakistan did much the same. Their urgent whispers described terrible state crimes that the news ignored, and they implored us reporters to �let the world know�. more..

May 14 (GDI) A team from Pensions Department would visit the welfare camps to look into the needs of pensioners rendered homeless following the exodus from Mullaitivu. The main task of the Department would be to ascertain details of IDPs, Department of Pensions revealed. According to statistics with the Pensions Department there were 13,500 pensioners in Jaffna, 990 in Mannar, 2150 in Vavuniya, 570 in Mullaitivu and 918 in Kilinochchi. more..

May 14 (GDI) The rate of power generation has reduced considerably in major hydro power stations, but there is not any imminent danger of drastic power cuts effecting daily lives of consumers. �This is due low water levels in major reservoirs and the situation could be controlled if consumers cooperate minimizing electricity consumption,� more..

May 14 (GDI) Ninety present territory of the Northern Province has been cleared of terrorism by the Security Forces under the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Chairman of the Task Force Basil Rajapaksa MP told the first meeting of the Task Force. He further said that the highest tribute that can be paid to the war heroes was to provide IDPs with basic facilities, to resettle them in their original places of residence and to restore their livelihoods to normal. more..

May 14 (GDI) June 22-28, 2009 has been declared 'National Food Week' under the theme of �Let us Cultivate and Uplift the Nation for promoting local food production and consumption�, and implement this undertaking island-wide, The Ministry of Agriculture announced. The Ministry has requested all Ministries, Departments, Provincial Institutions, Boards/Corporations, Statutory Bodies to extend their fullest cooperation to make the project a success. more..

May 14 (GDI) The Education Ministry has expedited the appointment of school principals, which was delayed due to the delay of relevant examination for recruitment of principals, an Education Ministry release said. Though the Government restored this examination in 2006 and appointed grade II principals these appointments were delayed following a Supreme Court decision on the matter. more..

May 14 (GDI) The Government has taken steps to issue birth, death and marriage certificates to the IDPs currently housed in welfare centres in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna, the Department of Registration of Persons said. The District Secretaries of Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi have been informed of the steps to issue birth, marriage and death certificates to IDPs who are in need of such documents. more..

May 14 (GDI) The venue of annual Chief Ministers' Summit this year is Batticaloa and police beefed up security in the Eastern Province in preparation for the event scheduled on this weekend. A special security system has been launched in the city since Wednesday (13) morning as the first step of this new security system, Batticaloa police revealed. Chief Ministers from all nine provinces will together to discuss their future plans, and, more..

May 14 (SLA) The Army found 18 claymore mines,highly powerful in nature, hidden inside a garage at Grandspass, Colombo 14, a densely populated town last evening, military sources said. Sources believe that the claymore mines had been brought t the city to cause extensive damage to life and property in the wake of a humiliating defeat suffered by the LTTE in the battle front. more..

May 14 (GDI) The District Crime Bureau of Vavuniya yesterday(13) arrested the suspect who masterminded the assassination attempt on Defence Secretary Gotabya Rajapaksa, Police Spokesman Ranjith Gunasakara told news.lk a short while ago. The arrest has been made at a welfare center in Tamila Maha Vidyalaya,Vavuniya. The accused, Dharmalingam Dhamadaran alis Kili had crossed over to Government control area with other civilians. more..

May 14 (CT) The JVP ceremonially opened 'Ape Maha Gedera', the new headquarters complex of the party today. Located at no: 466, Pannipitiya Road, Pelawatte, Battaramulla, it has been built with contributions by local and foreign well-wishers of the party, the JVP said. Chief guest at the opening was 'Delgoda Raja', a Port worker who attended the party's inaugural meeting exactly 44 years ago, chaired by founder leader, the late Rohana Wijeweera. more..

May 14 (CT) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday (May 13) unveiled a concept of building nine Stupas in the provinces as symbolic structures portraying the reunification of the country. The discussion at Temple Trees on the erection of these holy structures were attended by ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Rajitha Senaratne, Pandu Bandaranayaka, Geethanjana Gunawardana and President's secretary Lalith Weeratunga. more..

May 14 (LNP) Any patriotic citizen in our country would not disagree that as a nation, we Sri Lankans could proudly rejoice in the wake of a new era of peace and harmony by defeating the LTTE, after three decades of brutality and bloodbath by Tamil-Nazi terrorism. After 500 years of colonial rule, we Sri Lankans seem to be obsessed with a rather dull, defeated and backward mentality prevalent until our cricketing heroes brought the honour of the world cup to our nation in 1996. more..

May 14 (LNP) Former LTTE military commander Karuna Amman was wise enough to take the tide in his affairs at the flood. After years of fighting for a megalomaniac given to fratricidal violence, finally it dawned on him that the LTTE's violent campaign was doomed to fail. He also fell from grace like the LTTE deputy leader Mahendraraja or Mahattaya. Prabhakaran is the LTTE and the LTTE Prabhakaran no other person could emerge popular within that organisation. more..

May 14 (MoD) Sri Lanka Army 53 and 58 Division are now sweeping around the new civilians safety zone, reveal latest reports from the battlefront. With this manoeuvre, troops have been able to rescue about 1000 civilians held hostage by the terrorists in the Vellamullivaikkal area. Over 1000 civilians have been able to seek refuge with the soldiers of Army 59 Division manning the southern frontage by this afternoon. more..

May 14 (MoD) LTTE terrorists are preparing the worst slaughter of civilians ever witnessed by the civilized world in modern times with the systematic use of hostages as a weapon of mass destruction, said defence observers commenting on the unfolding human tragedy at Mullivaikkal. Substantial evidence has surfaced from the battlefront that LTTE terrorists are using white phosphorous as a weapon in reprehensible attacks at both advancing security forces and hostages fleeing from the LTTE, more..