(AFP) - Maldives main opposition party vowed yesterday to protect the “constitutional rights” of resigned president Mohamed Nasheed, amid calls for him to be taken into military custody and charged with corruption. “We have asked the military to...

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) yesterday welcomed talks between the government and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) parliamentarian Tiran Alles with a view to freeing former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka from jail, but added it...

Two government allies, the TMVP and the SLMC, are expected to oppose the Town and Country Planning Ordinance Amendment Bill when it is presented to the Eastern Provincial Council on February 13. An SLMC member of the Eastern Provincial Council told...

The sudden discovery of grenades in Keselwatte, an area close to Hulftsdorp, could be an attempt to stop today’s protest over the imprisonment of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, the Movement for Democracy charged yesterday. Democratic National...

Shortly after the resignation of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, the opposition parties which led the street protests called off their agitation campaign and asked their supporters to stay calm and thank Allah for the victory gained. Opposition...

Ten hand grenades were detected in Keselwatte near the Hulftsdorp Court Complex area yesterday, a day before the Movement for Democracy is to hold a protest outside the Supreme Court to mark the two years in jail of former Army Commander Sarath...

The 33rd Gangarama Navam Perahera was concluded yesterday. Here the Gangarama tusker carries the casket containing the relic at the head of the procession. Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

Three wild elephants which were seriously injured in landmine explosions at Silavatturai in Mannar were saved from death by Wildlife Conservation Officers. Wild elephants which stray into the wartime Sitha Base of the LTTE camp face the threat of...

Four Sri Lankans were sentenced to jail in Britain for their part in a racket to supply fraudulent identity documents to illegally secure employment there, the British High Commission said yesterday. The last of the four men was sentenced to 13 months...

The wave of anti-government protests in the Maldives reached its climax yesterday with Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed resigning after a section of the police also joined the protestors defying government orders. A few hours after the resignation,...

Two bank employees were killed and four others injured where a van returning after a pilgrimage to Kataragama ran off the road at Seenimodera and crashed into a telephone post in the night of 6th, said the Tangalle Police. One of the severely injured,...

Police uniforms used since 1815 are displayed at the Police Exhibition Zone at the Deyata Kirula exhibition currently held in Oyamaduwa area in Anuradhapura. Seen here President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Inspector General of Police (IGP) N.K Illangakone...

A group of six young men who allegedly pelted stones at an Anuradhapura bound special train from Colombo on Monday evening (06) were arrested by Thalawa police. The six men who boarded the train at Galgamuwa had behaved in an unruly manner after...

Police arrested two men when they were transporting 125 Ebony log pieces in a CTB bus which was bound to Matara from Polonnaruwa. Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said that the CTB bus belonging to the Pollonnaruwa bus depot was stopped by a police...

(IRIN) - Landmine clearance in Sri Lanka's conflictaffected north could take more than a decade, experts say. "It is expected to take [in] excess of 10 years to fully mitigate all remaining contamination in Sri Lanka," the Mine Action Project of the...

A jail guard working at the Mahara Prison was remanded till February 17 on charge of having demanded Rs.400,000 from a woman after threatening her with death. The woman who is the sister of an Ambalangoda lawyer in a complaint to the police said she...

A pavement hawker, who had been selling oranges on a Colombo street after the removal of the pavement hawkers was allegedly manhandled by a Kandy Municipality raid unit, where it is alleged his teeth had been broken. During the past few weeks the...

Four people including two women who were injured in an attack by two wild boars were admitted to the Ratnapura General Hospital. One woman who was in a serious condition was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. A 52-year-old woman who was walking...

Minister Maitripala Sirisena said he was pleased that more private hospitals were being established in the country, in that it would reduce the government’s expenditure on the health sector. Addressing the opening ceremony of a private hospital in...

A speech impaired girl of around 11-years who had been deserted near the Kalutara Bodhi last morning was handed over to the Kalutara South police by the public. At the police station she wrote her name as Dilrukshi. Police admitted her to the Nagoda...

Despite the financial woes of many residents in Dubai since the economic slowdown began in 2009, salaries of maids in the city including the Sri Lankan maids, have doubled, the Emirates 24|7 reported. Residents of the city complain that there have...

A pilgrim died of chill on the Sri Pada route in the early hours of Monday. The 61-year-old pilgrim Wijeyamuni Upali de Soysa was from Ambalangoda. The District Medical Officer of the Maskeliya hospital Dr. Ayesha Wethasinghe who performed the post...

Navy’s Rapid Response Rescue and Release Squadron (4Rs) saved the life of a student who was drowning in the Kala Wewa on February 5. The 14-year-old boy had been bathing in the lake when he met with the disaster. Quickly responding to the situation,...

The City Coroner Edward Ahangama said he had received complaints that the employees of the Police Mortuary demand bribes to stitch up the bodies which are opened up for post mortem examinations. They had demanded amounts ranging from Rs. 4,000 to Rs....

Another batch of 42 rehabilitated ex-tiger cadres including six women cadres will be released at the Deyata Kirula exhibition today. The information department said Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera would hand over...

The police said a former Army soldier was being questioned at length with regard to the killing of a mother and daughter in Kotakeththa, Kahawatte. The police team conducting investigations said they had received information about the soldier, a...

Three Sri Lankan citizens who had attempted to sneak into Sri Lanka through a sea route have been arrested by the Q Branch police patrolling Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on Monday. The middle aged trio from the Vavuniya District had been hiding in a boat...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa instructed the authorities yesterday to extend the period of the 6th ‘Deyata Kirula’ National Development Exhibition which commenced last Saturday in Oyamaduwa in Anuradhapura until February 12 after considering the...

The Central Province District Crimes Branch attached to the office of the DIG had apprehended an employee of a Kovil in Nawalapitiya for duping a Tamil woman of Galaha on the pretext of marriage and stealing her gold jewellery worth more than Rs....

TORONTO The refugee claims from the nearly 600 Sri Lankans who paid smugglers to ferry them to Canada are moving slowly and face dwindling odds of success, new statistics show. More than two years after the Ocean Lady arrived off Vancouver Island...

The Jaffna peninsula was connected with the national electricity grid on Monday after 20 years with the construction of the new transmission line from Paranthan to Pallai through a medium voltage line, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said yesterday....

US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Maria Otero and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake Jr. will be in Colombo from February 12 to 14. They will meet a broad...

The Wattala Police informed that they discovered on Monday the bodies of an elderly couple alleged to have committed suicide, hanging from a rafter in a house located at First Lane Averiwatta in the Wattala Police division.the deceased had been...

Shashi why not you join Hirunika and get involved in politics. Sure to get a seat in the Parliament. You want get lost because you will get backup vehicles, body guards and so on Bertramshedden

The leader of the Janata Party of India Dr. Subramanian Swamy has stressed that history of LTTE cannot be a reason for the denial of political rights to the Tamils in Sri Lanka today. He had also called for the full implementation of the 13th...

A pedestrian who was knocked down by a van at the Sea Avenue in Wellawatte on Sunday night died on the spot. The victim, Suresh Kumara was walking along the road when he was knocked down by the van. The Wellawatte police were conducting further...

Like other national heroes of the country SF was not imprisoned by the colonial rulers. They put him behind the bars keeping black mark to the country's history. This cannot be erased even he was released by them Chandrapala

Why should SF apologise. He is not guilty of any of those charges. The government is scared to release him. Even he is released he will be kept under house arrest. It is better for him to leave the country after the release Bertram Shedden Even at...

A 43-year-old person was killed when his bicycle crashed against a culvert in the Kalutara South area on the GalleColombo main road. He was admitted to the Nagoda General Hospital by the residents of the area, but he had already succumbed to his...

Police arrested a suspect who hid 13 kasippu bottles inside his house when they conducted a raid in the Morayaya area in Hasalaka. The raid was carried out by a team attached to the Hasalaka police after they received a tipoff. The suspect had even...

Police found a T56 assault rifle, a night vision binocular and a hand grenade during a search operation in Karadiyanaru Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said that the weapons were found buried in a forest area and the search was carried out by the...

The body of an unidentified woman was recovered from Diyawanna Oya in Kotte, the Welikada police said. The residents had informed the police after they noticed the body of a woman of about 55 years of age floating in the oya. The body was taken to...

Police were investigating to arrest a trishaw driver who had allegedly raped a 16-year-old school girl in the Rattota area. She was sent to the nearby government hospital for a medical examination. A complaint was lodged by her parents immediately...

A double cab transporting three Austrian tourists from Colombo to Kalpitiya veered off the road and plunged into the Puttalam lagoon after hitting a wayside lamp post in the early hours of yesterday. Police said when the driver had attempted to avoid a...

The Sri Lanka Navy yesterday rejected Indian media reports that they had pelted stones at Indian fishermen to stop them from crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near Katchchativu Island in 600 fishing boats. Navy spokesman Kosala...

A python that glided into the poultry farms in Thambalagamuwa area and fed on poultry was caught and handed over to the wildlife conservation officers in Kanthale. More than 08 feet long python was later released to the Somawathi National Park. The...

Devapathiraja MMV Rathgama skipper and Sri Lanka youth player Tharindu Kaushal and Yohan Soysa of St Benedict’s stole the limelight in the batting and bowling achievements in the under 19 inter-school cricket encounters that concluded over the...

Australian media reported yesterday that the cricket TV broadcaster had decided to dump today’s Tri-series game between Sri Lanka and India in Perth to one of their lesser patronized channels as there is no interest among Australians for the...

Best wishes continued to pour Yuvraj Singh's way with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday wishing the Indian batsman a speedy recovery from impending treatment for a lung tumour. "President and the Members of the Executive committee of Sri Lanka...

Tom Brady's team are said to be furious after Gisele Bundchen poured salt on their wounds following the New England Patriots' defeat at the Super Bowl yesterday. Just moments after Brady's team lost to the New York Giants 21-17, the supermodel was...

Swansea striker Leroy Lita spent Sunday night in a police cell after he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly outside a celebrity hang-out. Metropolitan Police officers were called to a disturbance outside London's Mayfair Hotel, a regular haunt...

St Sebastian’s College, Katuneriya, emerged winners beating Sri Devananda College by 3 goals to nil in the 2011 final Group 111 football tournament organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Football Association 128 schools teams islandwide participated in...

David Beckham confessed he 'didn't know where to look' when his raunchy new underwear commercial aired during the Super Bowl. The football ace, whose H&M ad was broadcast for the first time yesterday, said he watched the game with about 20 friends and...

A six-a-side cricket tournament played with a white ball and coloured clothing organized by the former cricketers of St. Anthony’s College, Wattala under the name of the Champion Antonian Cricketer’s Association (CACA) will be held on February 11 at...

The Cosmo 2012 Open Ranking Tennis tournament will be held on February 16. The draw will take place on February 13 at the Club Premises. Entries are accepted until February 10. The event is sponsored by Dunlop Events are as follows Men’s...

A superb bowling performance by Matale Thomian all-rounder Lahiru Madushanka who captured a match bag of 11 wickets for 93 (5/24 and 6/69) helped St. Thomas’ Matale to beat Piliyandala Central College by 10 wickets and record their fifth outright win...

LIBREVILLE, Feb 7, 2012 (AFP) - Mali will have to defy history if they are to overcome the mighty Ivory Coast on Wednesday's Africa Cup of Nations semi-final. The Ivorians have met Mali 21 times, winning all with the Eagles emerging victorious just...

S. Thomas’ Mt Lavinia are having a fruitful Under 19 inter-school cricket season as they cruised through to their sixth outright victory with a six wicket win over Prince of Wales in the match concluded at Mt Lavinia yesterday. The foundation for the...

The left arm pace and spin attack of Nilanka Premaratne and Sachith Pathirana combined to steer Ragama CC to a comfortable first inning win over the formidable Chilaw Marians in the Premier Tier ‘A’ cricket encounter concluded at the Colts ground...

A match bag of 9 for 54 by Dulanjana Mendis and an all round performance by Chanaka Ruwansiri helped Navy record an innings and 12-run win over Police in their Premier Tier ‘B’ cricket encounter concluded at Welisara yesterday. Police resuming from...

Apollo Hospitals India's representative office in Sri Lanka-medref Services (Pvt) Ltd is a pioneering medical tourism company and has a decade long experience in the industry, working with many leading local and international hospitals as well as...

The fourth Footwear & Leather Fair 2012 starting next Friday in Colombo is to be held conforming to international standards. “Sri Lanka’s Footwear and Leather sector is now growing rapidly, engaging more than a 30000 strong workforce across the...

The most popular TV commercial of the year has been awarded to Sarva Integrated for the advertisement titled “Thembili” which they developed for their client Lanka Bell at the Peoples Awards popularly known as the “Popawards” concluded recently at the...

The Tholons 2012 Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations report identifies the top global cities and counties for outsourcing IT/BPO services. With the improvement in the country’s value proposition in IT/BPO, Sri Lanka is clearly emerging as a global...

Lester Fonseka’s book ‘Vade Mecum’, described as an anthology of thoughts by the author is well worth having. It is invaluable for a writer, as it contains quotations of value with the author’s thoughts on them,often amusing. Lester is one of a dying...

Peel mangoes and dice flesh. Puree flesh with passion fruit in blender.beat in curd and lime juice. Chill and serve. Add sugar if needed. 3 large ripe mangoes 4 passionfruit Juice of 1 lime 300gms curd

I had an interesting morning with two ladies, wives of two retired career diplomats, both cultured and intelligent conversationalists; when Padmini Serasinghe invited Mona Mahendran and me to coffee at The Golf club. This is such a beautiful colonial...

2 tbsp oil 500gms pork cut in strips 2in ginger grated 2 cloves garlic chopped 250gms cabbage shredded 1/2pt chicken stock 1 tbsp soya sauce 1 tin peas 300gms noodles seasoning 2 tbsps chopped coriander leaf Stirfry pork in hot oil. Stir in...

I was honoured to be in the company of two of our most gentlemanly and refined MP’S, Mangala Samaraweera and D M Swaminathan, when Bobby hosted us to dinner.at her apartment. I have known Mangala for many decades and was one of the happiest when he...

Shirani and Wimal Fernando hosted a post anniversary celebration dinner.their home, is a beauty of the colonial era, with old floors, high ceilings and a spendid lawn.shirani’s table was beautifully laid with Venetian Crystal, shading from pink to...

I heard of robberies among all kinds of people which is certainly an alarming trend. Not only are gangs ringing doorbells and forcing their way in to homes with guns and robbing everything, which has happened in a few cases in different areas of...

Bettina and Roy Chitty invited a group of good friends to lunch at Cheers Pub before leaving to celebrate their anniversary in Thailand. It is usually the same group, Jay and Therese,marie Alles and Cyril ,Ranjan and Sherine,isramali amd Methsiri,sri...

Iattended the Bana and interment of ashes of the late Mano Wijeratne. Present were Ministers Fowzie, Dayaratne and Dinesh Gunawardana with his son,yadamini and many others from both sides of the political divide. Mano was popular and kindhearted;...

Jacob Hunt is a teenager: brilliant at maths, wicked sense of humour, extraordinarily organised, hopeless at reading social cues. And Jacob has Asperger's. He is locked in his own world - aware of the world outside, and wanting to make a connection....

Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics is the essential Ina Garten cookbook, focusing on the techniques behind her elegant food and easy entertaining style, and offering nearly a hundred brand-new recipes that will become trusted favourites. (Rs. 2,640/=)...

Eight Centuries of Deceit Hide a Deadly Secret…deep in the heart of London, the Monsalvat Bank is small, secretive and fabulously wealthy. When Ellie Stanton, an impoverished graduate student, is unexpectedly invited to join the firm, the privileged...

(Rs 3150/=) Available at Vijitha Yapa Bookshop When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together...

Following the death of his father, the owner of East Yarmouth Animal Sanctuary, Kit Lavery returns to Britain from Australia to sort out his father's affairs. His visit is intended to be brief, but on arrival at the down-at-heel animal sanctuary, Kit...

Jane says that if I am to be the heroine of this story, something will throw a hero in my way.... Meet Jenny Cooper: shy, pretty cousin of clever, sparky Jane Austen (who has lots of handsome brothers and a vivid imagination). When Jenny goes to live...

On a warm summer night, in a working-class Boston neighborhood, four family members are brutally murdered. The father and possible suspect clings to life in the ICU. Murdersuicide? Or something even worse? Veteran police detective D. D. Warren is...

Q: What is your favourite book? Why? My favourite book from my collection is ‘The Absolutist' because that's the book I'm most proud of. Every time I start writing a book I have some sort of goal for it and I think I was able to achieve that with...

LONDON (REUTERS) - Queen Elizabeth is throwing a star-studded party for him at Buckingham Palace and in Buenos Aires, leading cultural figures will gather in an old orphanage to read from his works. Charles Dickens may have died in 1870, but legions of...

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Director Zalman King, best known for erotic film “9 1/2 Weeks” and television series “Red Shoe Diaries,” died on Friday in Santa Monica, California after a long battle with cancer. He was 69. “Zalman was an extraordinary man and...

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - The son of “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius said on Thursday his father called him shortly before taking his life, and that he was unhappy and in failing health but kept most of his feelings inside. Don Cornelius, 75, shot...

LONDON (REUTERS) - Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb said on Friday he had made a “spectacular” recovery from a serious illness, which was widely reported to be cancer. The 62 year old, most famous as a founding member of the disco-era hit machine the Bee...

The event will be held on the 14th of February 2012 from 7pm onwards. For more details, you could call 0777 757 559, 0777 337 577, 0777 714 716 or 0779 996 261.

HAVE A GOOD DAY Full name- Ashanthi de Alwis Hometown - Colombo, Sri Lanka Status- Single Birthday- 21st February Idols- Mariah Carey Passions- Music and writing songs / poetry!! Favorite Colour Black (without a doubt) Favourite CartoonPhineas and...