An official Sri Lankan delegation will leave for Brussels on May 20 to negotiate the issue over the GSP+ trade benefits for the island, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said in parliament today

A Sri Lankan LTTE financier in Canada is expected to plead guilty next week in a Canadian court and will then be sentenced, the Canadian media reported. The Sri Lankan is the first man charged under Canada's anti-terrorism financing law.

The UNP Working Committee which met late this evening has decided to hold an internal election in order to select new leaders by July, UNP Spokesman Gayantha Karunathilake told reporters outside Sirikotha a short while ago

The owner of the house in which LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabakaran was living in just before his death, has surfaced at an IDP camp in Vavuniya and is claiming ownership for the house and property, military officials said.

The State of Emergency was extended by a month in Parliament a short while ago with 132 voting for and 14 voting against. The TNA and 2 UNP members voted against it while UNP MP Abdul Cader voted in favour of the extension

The UNP and the DNA walked away from the parliament proceedings today after DNA Leader General Sarath Fonseka was not allowed to attend today’s parliamentary sessions due to the court martial hearing.

A ferry service between Thalaimannar in northern Sri Lanka and Rameshwaran in Tamil Nadu will be launched soon, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha said today after opening an Indian visa office in Jaffna.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate issued an order to the Army Commander today to produce General Sarath Fonseka in court on May 12 over a statement he had allegedly made to a Sunday newspaper regarding the final days of the war

Four new Ministers took oaths this morning. They include Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka, Livestock Minister Arumugam Thondaman, Technology and Research Minister Tissa Witharana

Deputy Minister of Media Mervyn Silva has resigned from his post today just as Keheliya Rambukwella took oaths as the new Media Minister before President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Daily Mirror senior journalist Sandun A. Jayasekera was assaulted by security officers providing security at the Maharagama cancer hospital while President Mahinda Rajapaksa was attending an event at the hospital this morning

Sarath Fonseka was not allowed to attend Parliament today and was instead forced to attend the Court Martial hearing resulting in the opposition and a government MP urging the Speaker to ensure that the rights of MPs are protected.

The Trincomalee police have begun an investigation into claims by two underage girls that they were abused over a period of three years by a Buddhist monk who was in charge of the hostel the two girls were residing at.

United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickramasingha is expected to make a decision on the national list slot of Democratic National Front (DNF) Leader Mano Ganesan on Monday after a meeting was held to discuss the issue

MP Sajith Premadasa says he will consider accepting any position within the UNP only if he is elected through an internal party election. Premadasa also dismissed reports that he has been offered a deputy leader’s position by the UNP Leader&

The Director General of the Bribery Commission complained to the Colombo Chief Magistrate that the Principal of Ananda College, Colombo had committed corruption while admitting students to grade one in the year 2005.

General Sarath Fonseka was not present today at the second court martial hearing at the Navy Headquaters in Colombo as he was in parliament since this morning. The military said he was however represented by his lawyers

The United States has welcomed the decision by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to pardon convicted journalist J. S. Tissainayagam.  The US Embassy in Colombo said that it is fitting that the announcement came on World Press Freedom Day.

Police baton charged a group of university students who were protesting in front of the University Grants Commission in Ward Place a short while ago. Our reporter at the scene said that atleast four students sustained injuries

The government has relaxed provisions of some Emergency Regulations with effect from today including those involving holding meetings and gatherings, curfew, printing literature and providing householder’s names to the police.

Prime Minister D.M Jayaratna warned this morning that a new military wing of the LTTE was forming to seek a separate state and that Tiger proxies were making preparations to convene their ‘Transnational government' in Switzerland

An unidentified man who was seen taking pictures inside the chambers in Parliament was removed by the authorities a short while ago after the opposition complained to the Speaker saying he is a member of the Presidential Securi

Member of Parliament General Sarath Fonseka lodged a complaint with Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa this morning saying his parliament privileges have been violated as he has been asked to attend the second Court Martial hearing this afternoon &

Al- Qaida terrorists may have slipped into India using Sri Lankan fishing boats, The Economic Times in India reported. However the Indian Navy brushed aside the report saying it was impossible for them to reach Indian shores in foreign fishing ves

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to reprimand all eight UPFA members elected from the Kandy District following a recommendation by the disciplinary committee appointed to look into incidents that took place during the General election.

A civil defence force officer shot and injured a police officer and another civil defence force officer at a police post off Medirigiriya late this evening. The motive for the shooting was unknown

Three Cabinet Ministers and three Deputy Ministers from the hill country are to take oaths before President Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday prior to the first cabinet meeting of the new UPFA government, reliable sources said.

A ‘five-step strategy’ proposal to revamp the United National Party (UNP) and strengthen the party's second level leadership was handed over to UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe by UNP MP for the Kurunegala District Dayasiri Jay

The second court martial hearing into the alleged illegal arms deal conducted by General Sarath Fonseka will resume tomorrow as scheduled despite the General expected to attend parliament sessions on the same day

The Government says they will ask their embassies to work closely with the respective countries in dealing with LTTE front organizations that organize transnational polls by the so called provisional LTTE government.