Hospitals in Vavuniya and Anuradhapura are being used to provide medical attention to the war wounded.

Meanwhile the military claim that an additional 4000 troops have been sent to Jaffna to help strengthen some nearly 30,000 men already based in the war stricken peninsula.

A daily nearly 24 hour curfew which has been in effect in Jaffna since fighting intensifed between the LTTE and troops, has now been reduced to less than 15 hours. The curfew is now imposed from 4.30 p.m. to 7 a.m. each day.

Deputy Defence Minister, Anuruddha Ratwatte told a radio station on Saturday that the President has sanctioned some Rs. 24 billion for the purchase of new weapons. Published: Sun Jun 4 23:34:52 EDT 2000

On Sunday (June 4) masked men helped the SLA to 'spot' Tiger suspects in a village north of Batticaloa town, where tensions have increased since the LTTE launched sporadic attacks on armed force bases in and around the eastern township. Eight youth were arrested.

Last week the Army in Colombo was assisted by 'spotters' when a search operation was conducted in 'Sea Street' Pettah, the heart of the city's business centre for the trading of gold. Some 30 Tamil youth including girls, were rounded up in this instance. Published: Sun Jun 4 23:34:52 EDT 2000

She agreed that the present press censorship is not conducive towards holding a democratic election and that strict laws now in place to muzzle the media, will soon be lifted.

On Friday, the President lifted a country wide ban on meetings and processions. Published: Sun Jun 4 23:34:52 EDT 2000

With the deadline for such discussion extended to June 15, the two parties will deal with matters pertaining to land and the issue of changes to constitutional councils.

President Kumaratunge will chair the government delegation while Ranil Wickremesinghe will lead the UNP side. Published: Sun Jun 4 23:34:52 EDT 2000

``I have reservations about Norway because there is evidence that Oslo sympathises with the LTTE. Anton Balansingham (LTTE theoretician) was helped in seeking treatment. The Norwegian official who is involved in the peace talks has openly got involved in the LTTE activities,'' said Mahindra Rajapaskse in an interview with the Sunday Times. More... Published: Sun Jun 4 19:06:55 EDT 2000

Tamil Nadu chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi, whose regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party is a member of the federal coalition led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said the Czech-model offered the means to a ``completely peaceful resolution without shedding a drop of blood,'' The Hindu newspaper reported on Sunday. More... Published: Sun Jun 4 08:44:57 EDT 2000

A government statement said 14 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas had been killed on Saturday in three separate skirmishes in the northern Jaffna peninsula. More... Published: Sun Jun 4 08:41:06 EDT 2000

"This explains the calm on part of the terrorists. They may be trying to regroup, but it looks like we have given them a good beating,'' Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Palitha Fernando told reporters.

Fernando estimated that soldiers have killed 200 to 250 rebels in the past two weeks. About 150 rebels were killed May 22 when they launched a major attack on the soldiers, he said. The army killed the rest in other attacks, including ambushes on 10 rebel positions, he said. More... Published: Sun Jun 4 08:34:23 EDT 2000

More.. Published: Sun Jun 4 01:59:35 EDT 2000

More.. Published: Sat Jun 3 12:30:11 EDT 2000

Chennai, June 3: Bharatiya Janata Party Tamil Nadu unit President S P Kirupanithi today said that certain constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu, were putting the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government in a dilemma by speaking in support of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and hailing its leaders.In a statement here, Kirupanithi said Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Tamil Maanila Congress president G K Moopanar and the Congress (I) leadership at the national level had supported Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's Sri Lanka policy. More... Published: Sat Jun 3 11:42:56 EDT 2000

A Sri Lankan Government source said the Tamil Tigers were engaged in numerous illegal fund-raising activities. "The Tigers have a worldwide network and smuggle arms, humans and drugs from the Golden Triangle and the Indochina region to the West," he said.

He suspected the separatists were linked to corrupt military officers in the region and he appealed to the West to pressure Thailand into doing more to clamp down on their activities. More... Published: Sat Jun 3 11:33:40 EDT 2000

That trouble is blamed on the Tamil Tigers who have staked "Trinco" as the a key town in their sovereign state Eelam. It lies in the centre of the coastal strip along the eastern seaboard which the rebels say is also theirs. More... Published: Sat Jun 3 11:02:05 EDT 2000

The announcement was made today over Tigers clandestine radio, the Voice of Tigers (VOT) in Wanni. The radio said the offensive would focus on liberating Jaffna peninsula from the clutches of government troops, who are presently poised for a major push against the rebels.

"It would be another phase of ongoing operation "Unceasing Waves-3", the radio said, but it did not say where or when the new offensive would begin.

Separatist Tamil Tigers are fighting to create an independent homeland for minority Tamils. The 18 years of ongoing conflict has claimed the lives of over 75,000 people. Published: Sat Jun 3 07:36:42 EDT 2000

In the United States, Ratanasara began to ponder how Buddhists could join the mainstream of American society. Largely because of immigration, the nation has the largest variety of Buddhist traditions in the world, but Ratanasara saw differences of language and culture as major obstacles to unity within American Buddhism as well as to dialogue with other faiths. "How can we become Americanized, yet hold to the core of Buddhism? How can we develop an American Buddhism, which will be vital and appropriate to this society and still retain our individual, unique traditions?" Ratanasara asked in an interview several years ago.

In 1988, Ratanasara and his colleagues took a bold step by ordaining a Thai woman. The action revived a practice that had died out centuries ago in Ratanasara's Theravada Buddhist tradition, which is mainly practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. More... Published: Sat Jun 3 03:03:47 EDT 2000

"It is extremely offensive to have responsible people (in the press council) making statements like this, irrespective of sexual orientation. The question was: did the letter incite someone to commit rape? The ruling is a hate speech (against lesbians)," said Kumudini Samuel of Women and Media Collective. She said women's groups and human rights groups were "absolutely appalled" and Sri Lankan activists attending a United Nations parley on women's rights in New York had been informed of the council's statements.

"We hope they bring it up there at a caucus on violence against women," Samuel said. More... Published: Sat Jun 3 02:47:13 EDT 2000