Weather Forecast

..

Today » Wednesday

Chance of Rain

Max: 31^oC

Min:  23^oC

Humidity:

78 %

Wind Speed:

6 km/h

Wind Direction:

SSW

Pressure:

1007 hpa

Dew point:

24^oC

Heat Index:

32^oC

Sunrise:

06:15 HR LKT

Sunset:

18:48 HR LKT

.

Tomorrow » Thursday

Overcast

Max: 30^oC

Min:  24^oC

.

1960:

Dudley Senanayake's minority government dissolved
 

1986:

An accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant led to widespread nuclear contamination
 

1964:

The Republic of Tanzania was formed with the merger of two countries

1962:

Britain's first satellite, Ariel, was launched
 

1947:

The FA Cup Final was televised for the full match for the first time

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: ABC 7 News

A female suicide bomber disguised to look pregnant blew herself up in front of a car carrying Sri Lanka's top general, killing eight people in a brazen attack on the heavily fortified grounds of the country's army headquarters. The general's driver and escort were killed while the target, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, was seriously injured, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. He said Fonseka was among more than two dozen people wounded in the attack, including a number of civilians. It was not clear if any other top Sri Lankan military officials were hurt or if the eight included the bomber. Police suspected Tamil rebels were behind the bombings. Tamil Tiger insurgents have often used women to carry out suicide attacks in their long fight for a separate homeland.    [more..]

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: CNBC

Russian state-owned arms trader Rosoboronexport hopes to maintain its annual arms exports of about billion a year, mainly to Asia, despite stiffer competition, the agency's deputy head said on Tuesday. China and India will remain Russia's main markets but there are also prospects in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, deputy director-general Nikolai Dimidiuk said at an Asian defence show just outside the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. "These countries are increasing their capability to fight terrorism," he told Reuters. "We see interest in reconnaissance systems, air defence systems and high-precision weapons. But the competition is growing."   [more..]

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: Haveeru 

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels hacked to death a mother feeding her baby after gunning down six farmers in a killing spree designed to provoke a backlash, the defence ministry said Monday. Members of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) snatched the infant and chopped the woman to pieces at Seeruwila in one of the most gruesome killings in recent times, defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said. "They engaged the local police in a fire fight after hacking the woman to death," Samarasinghe said. "This is a killing clearly aimed at provoking a communal backlash. They want to create a refugee situation. "They could have shot her dead, but they did it in the most horrible manner -- she was cut to pieces," Samarsinghe said.   [more..]

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: The Peninsula

Another six people were shot dead in fresh violence in Sri Lanka yesterday, with ethnic tensions strained after suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed six Sinhalese farmers, as fears of a new civil war mounted. Sri Lankan troops shot dead two men who were trying to set up a Claymore mine Monday intended for security forces in the island’s east, a defence official said. The men were killed at Vandaramullai in the district of Batticaloa as army soldiers conducted an operation to clear the main road of mines planted by Tiger rebels, the official said. The two men had lobbed a grenade at security forces when they were challenged, the official said, adding that a soldier had been wounded. A night time curfew in the area was lifted at dawn yesterday, a local police official in Trincomalee said.  [more..]

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: Peace Journalism

Norwegian facilitators in Sri Lanka were continuing their efforts to break the current deadlock in the government-Tamil Tiger rebel negotiating process, Sri Lankan officials close to the peace process said on Monday. The peace talks between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) and government scheduled to take place in Geneva on April 24- 25 came a cropper as the two sides bickered over the facilitation of the rebels' east based cadres traveling to the north to consult the Tiger leadership. Sri Lankan officials said Jon Hanssen-Bauer, the Norwegian special envoy, has remained in Colombo with a view to breaking the deadlock in order to see the two sides going to Geneva at the earliest given opportunity.  [more..]

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: The Telegraph, Culcutta

The Small, easy to conceal and lethal in their effect, suspected Tamil Tiger rebel claymore mines are taxing Sri Lanka’s military. In both a series of attacks in December and January that preceded a first round of peace talks and a newer spike of violence this month that has stretched a 2002 truce to its limits, suspected Tiger ambushes have killed dozens of troops and police. “It is very difficult,” said a lieutenant, sweat running down his face in the morning heat as he led a patrol of naval infantry through the northeastern town of Trincomalee, scene of recent attacks and ethnic riots. “The LTTE move through the people. It could be anyone here. Things can happen in just one minute.”   [more..]

Date: 26/04/2006                Source: Fox 23 News

Sri Lanka's military on Monday accused ethnic Tamil minority rebels of killing six Sinhalese rice farmers working in their fields to provoke ethnic rioting. Government troops, meanwhile, shot and killed two ethnic Tamil rebels after coming under attack in eastern Batticaloa, the Defense Ministry said. Separately, the rebels killed two policemen in the latest attack in northern Vavuniya, a police spokesman said. Rebels subsequently attacked an army patrol, killing a soldier and injuring another in the northern town of Jaffna, said an officer at the army media unit, speaking on condition of anonymity because of departmental policy.   [more..]