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Gunfire at Colombo airbase Friday, 27 April 2007 - 1:33 AM SL Time Sounds of explosions and gunfire was heard from the Air Force base adjacent to the Colombo International Airport. residents in the area say explosions and gun fire was heard after the anti aircraft system was activated as a result of an attack. No further details were immediately available but the capital was plunged into darkness by a power failure soon after the gunfire was reported. 
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LTTE gathering point destroyed in SLAF air raid- Killinochchi Friday, 27 April 2007 - 12:21 AM SL Time A prominent LTTE gathering point east of Killinochchi, came under heavy SLAF air bombardment, obtained on real-time ground information through intelligence sources, on Thursday the 26th of April at 07.15a.m. Air force sources said that, the identified LTTE target was completely neutralized and it was believed that a number of high profile terrorists were present at the gathering. According to the SLAF sources the precision air strikes were made as a surprise assault on the terrorist gathering, who were believed to be regrouping for a fresh offensive against the security forces. Tamilnet Says: SLAF bombs Kilinochchi suburb, civilians wounded.
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Sri Lankan president leaves to witness cricket final match Thursday, 26 April 2007 - 10:05 PM SL Time Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa departed Thursday to witness the Saturday`s World Cup final Cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Bridgetown, Barbados. Rajapaksa had departed heading for Barbados in the Caribbean islands to witness the final match, said Chandrapala Liyanage, a senior Presidential Secretariat official, adding that the president was invited by the Prime Minister of Barbados Owen Arthur. `The president`s visit indicates his appreciation of efforts of the national cricket team in reaching the world cup final,` Liyanage said. Cricket, a legacy of Sri Lanka`s colonization of Britain is the island` most popular sport. The island enjoys a top position among the cricket playing nations in the world and was one of the 16 nations participating in the World Cup which began on March 13.
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More Headline News
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| Security
Security Forum
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Air scare: Was it a false alarm? Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:38 AM SL Time After Thursday night`s alarm over another possible LTTE air attack set off panic, fear and uncertainty all over the country, the Air Force has been placed on high alert with a probe being launched yesterday to ascertain whether reports of the sighting of `suspicious aircraft` were valid. `To start with the Air Force is checking whether there were really any aircraft movements,` military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe told the Daily Mirror yesterday. He said during the alarm period, the air defence systems at the airport were successfully activated but there appeared to be no suspicious aircraft over the area. `The Air Force confirmed there were no suspicious aircraft in the skies over the air port and we were able to bring the situation under control in less than an hour,` the spokesman said.
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Karuna warns against giving police powers to military Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:37 AM SL Time TMVP leader Karuna Amman yesterday expressed concerns over the possible implications for the Tamil community in case the government decided to vest police powers in the military, Karuna faction spokesman Azad Maulana told the Daily Mirror. While praising efforts taken by the government to eliminate terrorism, Mr. Maulana insisted that such efforts should not affect the ordinary Tamil civilians who continued to suffer the brunt of the more than two decade-long conflict between the government and the LTTE. `As a group which is also involved in fighting terrorists we remain firm on the need to eliminate terrorism from this country but whatever measures that are implemented should in no way affect the ordinary Tamils.
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Rajiv killing hatched in Paris hotel: Website Friday, 27 April 2007 - 10:20 AM SL Time A website has suggested that the plot to assassinate former Indian Prime Minister and the then Congress Party leader Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 was hatched in a Paris five-star hotel. According to politicsparty.com, French intelligence agencies were in possession of documentary evidence that the LTTE, Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochchi and several Congress Party bigwigs colluded to have Rajiv Gandhi eliminated, as he was seen as a looming threat to the LTTE and to some Congress leaders, in spite of not being Prime Minister at the time. The LTTE was convinced that Rajiv Gandhi would remain hostile to its activities in Sri Lanka, and therefore to prevent his return to power in 1991, plotted his elimination in a Paris hotel through its key intermediary Anton Balasingham, the website stated.
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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Court decision on Sripathy on April 30 Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:46 AM SL Time The court decision on ex-minister Sripathy Sooriyarachchi will be delivered on April 30, reports said. The Avissawella High Court will decide as to whether there is an actual criminal case to be pursued against Sripathy, reported Lakbima, the Sinhala language broadsheet published in Colombo yesterday. Sripathi is currently in remand custody for alleged misuse of the official vehicle bearing no GA 3040 belonging to Posts and Telecommunications Ministry from the day of his removal from the ministry to the day he handed over the vehicle. Mr. Sooriyarachchi, is a former non cabinet minister. He was sacked by the SL President Mahinda Rajapakse, for exposing an alleged scandal by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the brother of Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, involving Rs.600 million in the purchase of Russian-made MIG fighter and weapons.
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Cricketers delighted with President`s presence Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:41 AM SL Time Captain Mahela Jayawardana told the media in Barbados that the Sri Lankan cricketers were very happy that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would be present to watch them in action during today`s final. `The President`s presence will inspire us to give our best and we will endeavour not to let him down. We will fulfil the expectations of our supporters,` Jayawardana said. Many Sri Lankans from the US, Canada and several other countries have arrived in barbados to watch the final.
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`We will not allow a family regime`- Ranil Wickremesinghe Thursday, 26 April 2007 - 7:34 AM SL Time Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe stresses that he will not allow the country to witness a family regime. Addressing a function organized to hand over the letter addressed to chairman of the International Press Institute, to the media he said the UNP wouldn�t let the government continue to media harassment, threats to the media and human rights violations. `We wont let the media to be harassed. We wont let them mute our parliamentarians. We have 3 to 4 million people with us. We would unite all of them for the peoples supremacy and to protect their rights. We will face what ever it takes in doing so. If we are charged with false allegations we would face them also. We wont let the country walk into a family regime.` He said.
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| Business / Economy News
Business News Forum
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No foreign jobs for women below 25 Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:43 AM SL Time Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said the Government imposed a total ban on sending mothers of infants below five years as housemaids in foreign countries as it has resulted in discontented workers as well as social problems back home. Bogollagama said in the future only women who are above 25 years would be granted permission for overseas deployment. He was addressing a press conference in the capital city Riyadh of oil rich Saudi Arabia where thousands of Sri Lankans are employed. `This is not only because of their discontented life here but it also creates social problems back home,` he said. He said homesickness has been identified as the main cause of labour problems of Sri Lankan housemaids working in Saudi Arabia. The minister added, `A housemaid who came here leaving a five-month-old baby ran away from her workplace because she desperately wanted to see her child.`
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RMV to bring in new laws Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:40 AM SL Time The Department of Registration of Motor Vehicles is planning to introduce legal provisions to make it compulsory for the police to report each and every road accident. Assistant Registrar A.W. Dissanayaka told the Daily Mirror the settlement of road accidents without reporting to the Police borders on contravening the Motor Traffic Act. The novel vehicle insurance policy introduced a few years ago by a number of insurance companies became popular largely because it saved time, money and the hassle.
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Fuel hikes only decrease inflation Friday, 27 April 2007 - 10:14 AM SL Time Though there is a common belief that the cost of living would increase due to the hike in fuel prices, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. H. N. Thenuwara said that would not be so as the fuel hike would only bring down inflation because it would reduce government borrowing money to subsidize fuel and electricity. `Maintaining subsidies causes a large impact on the inflation because the government has to borrow money,` Dr. Thenuwara said. He said that changing the price of a litre of kerosene by one rupee alone would cause a 0.1% increase in the price index. However, the subsidy cost on long-run inflation would be more. Inflation is calculated based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index which is based on a fixed basket of goods and services.
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| Editorial News
Editorial News Forum
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A light aircraft ride to statehood? Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:43 AM SL Time LTTE military spokesman R. Illanthirayan has told the Hindustan Times that the outfit`s newly acquired limited air capability will help bolster its claim of statehood. Its air actions, he has said, open up new possibilities in the military, political and diplomatic fields. `We have territory, administrative, judicial, and law enforcement systems, an army, a navy and now an air force. Let`s call a spade a spade; we are a state,` he is reported to have said. Wow! What miracles light aircraft are capable of! They can turn an illegally held territory into a separate state! The Taliban should also acquire Zlin planes and ride to statehood by dropping a few crude bombs on the occupation forces! Hello, hello, Mr. bin Laden can you hear the Tigers? Why should you eye jumbo jets? The smaller, the better!
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Throttling national universities Wednesday, 25 April 2007 - 6:42 AM SL Time Universities are in the news again. But, it is not for any ground breaking research or any other achievement that they have grabbed headlines. They have attracted media attention over yet another protest. The non-academic workers have launched a strike, demanding the rectification of their salary anomalies and the payment of salary arrears immediately. Their trade union action has dealt a solar plexus punch to the universities struggling to stick to their academic calendars. Examinations have been postponed indefinitely and a protracted closure of universities is likely to be the outcome, if the strike continues, though some university heads claim they can manage with the non-academic workers who are either on contract or probation and therefore have to report for work. That, we have heard before! If universities could do without the strikers, why should they be employed at all?
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Negotiating from a position of strength Tuesday, 24 April 2007 - 5:02 AM SL Time Talks about peace talks are being heard again. The LTTE is reported to have offered to talk and the government, too, keeps on saying it is amenable to talks without preconditions. The international community is urging both parties to talk. The Opposition is also calling for talks. But, unfortunately, the war is on in all but name, churning out, as it does, death and devastation. Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has made an interesting observation. He says unless the government is strong at the negotiating table, it will have to give in to the LTTE. The government, he claims, has not succeeded in weakening the LTTE in spite of its claims to that effect and, therefore, it will be in a weak position at talks. One cannot but agree with him on the need to bargain from a position of strength at peace negotiations.
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| Sports News
Sports News Forum
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South Asia united against Aussies Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:44 AM SL Time It is an atmosphere of a carnival; they talk nothing but world cup in Bridgetown, Barbados , says our special correspondent Saroj Pathirana. He talked to cricket fans already celebrating the event. Yasmin Abdul Rahim is on a mission in Barbados. A lifelong fan of Indian cricket team Yasmin Abdul Rahim is determined not to let `arrogant` Aussies to defeat their tiny neighbour, Sri Lanka, at the Cricket World Cup. Australia, the favourites according to many pundits, are trying to create a new world record by becoming the first ever team to win three consecutive world titles. But Yasmin, 60, says the prevailing atmosphere is an advantage for Mahela Jayawardene`s team. `Yes they are underdogs and I want those underdogs to win,` she told BBC Sandeshaya while travelling from London to Bridgetown.
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Winners to get US$ 2 Million - Old enemies meet at Cricket`s Mecca Saturday, 28 April 2007 - 4:36 AM SL Time The rivalry between Sri Lanka and Australia in cricket has been going on for over a decade now, and it`s an open secret that Sri Lanka`s players are at their best when they play the old enemy. It was the scandals in Australia that unfolded in 1995 that inspired Sri Lanka toreach cricket`s pinnacle when they, as the underdogs, won the coveted WorldCup under the inimitable Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996 and the recent spitefulcomments by Australia`s players on the way the Sri Lankans play their game has spurred the team and it`s just what the doctor ordered, ahead of the all important final, here at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, on Saturday. Two weeks after the Super Eights clash between the teams, the Australians are still pointing out that Sri Lanka should be ashamed for not playing their full strength side. By doing so, they have played into the Sri Lankans` hands, as such comments only inspire players to better efforts.
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From washing dirty linen to watching cricket Friday, 27 April 2007 - 10:15 AM SL Time It is not only in cricket that anything is possible. In politics, too, that is so. Whoever thought Mahinda and Mangala would ever sit together for a meal again and make a good dessert of a World Cup cricket match at the Temple Trees after all the insult they had traded a few moons ago? The duo pretended that nothing had happened, when they met on Tuesday! Politicians are good actors, aren`t they? It was like a get-together of Darrel Hair and Murali! In politics, they say, there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends; there are only permanent interests! The Mahinda-Mangala powwow is considered part of the on-going rapprochement process and another round of talks is expected to take place after the President returns from the West Indies after cheering for the Sri Lanka team in the World Cup finals. The inevitable seems to be happening. Both of them are aware that they are engaged in a battle, in which neither of them is going to emerge victorious comprehensively.
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