Five armed men held a Sunday Leader newspaper associate editor, Mandana Ismail Aveywickrema, at knife point as they searched her home today.

Speaking during a visit to the North-East, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, highlighted that there had been no complaints of the army interfering in election work ahead of the provincial council elections in the North-East.

Opposing the screening of the film ‘Madras Café’ for allegedly portraying the LTTE in bad light, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India warned that activists would take to the streets if the film was screened.

British Tamils voiced discontent over the potential screening of the Bollywood film Madras Café, in British cinema’s today.

Staging a two hour demonstration outside the British film screening company, Cineworld’s, head office , protesters called for Cineworld to refrain from screening the film in the United Kingdom.

President Rajapakse has accused “people” of using the freedom of expression given to them to slander him. Speaking at an election rally, Rajapakse said that he could not understand how some could call him a dictator, as they were free to express those views in the country at the same time.

The United States have refused to include two Sri Lankan army generals in a military event that that is scheduled to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, reported Sri Lankan news sources.

Rating agency Fitch has said that Sri Lanka is showing strength in economic growth, however Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remains modest compared with rated peers, leading to rising external indebtedness.

A Buddhist monk accused the Sinhala Buddhist extremist organisation Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) of assaulting him for preaching ethnic harmony among communities.

The US embassy in Sri Lanka has provided Sri Lanka’s Department of Archaeology with a $40,120 grant for the “conservation of archaeological materials”.