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The decision on the increase of bread prices will be taken this evening (April 28) the All-island Bakery Owners Association stated. The working committee will meet this evening to take a decision on the bread prices while the Bakery Owners Association President N.K. Jayawardena stated that a 450g loaf of bread should ideally be increased by Rs.3 to Rs.5. Flour prices were increased by Rs.8.50 earlier this week which has forced the Bakery Owners to increase the prices of bread as well as other food items, he further stated.

A 16 year old youth was killed after being shot early today (April 23) in the Uragasmanhandiya area, police spokesman SP Ajith Rohana stated. Chathuranga Kumarasiri a resident of the Dikkalle, Watta-yatagala area was shot and killed while his body is being kept at the Uragasmanhandiya hospital. No suspects have been identified, police stated while further investigations are being conducted.

Parliamentarians Nishantha Mutuhettigama, Lakshman Wasantha Perera, Sarath Weerasekara and Sanath Jayasuriya have written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa requesting ministerial positions. Mutuhettigama said that they, as candidates who gained the highest votes from their respective districts in the general election, had decided to make the request from the President. The Galle District MP said he personally handed over the request letter to President Rajapaksa yesterday (21). Mutuhettigama said it has been two years since they entered Parliament and that they worked for two years without any posts. Ministers and Deputy Ministers are working while we watch and wait, he said “we have waited enough, is the message we gave the president and the government.” Mutuhettigama said he believe they would receive a positive response to their request by May. At least if Deputy Minister posts are given, we believe we can work for the public’s benefit, he said speaking to the press in

Mr. Manjot Singh Mann, Mr. Dennis Lui and Mr.Anand Prakash Hutch Telecom Lanka announces the launching yesterday of its 3G services.  Initially covering the Western province, Hutch plans island wide 3G coverage with a total of 1000 BTS by July this year. The addition of the 3G towers together with Hutch’s existing 2G towers means that Hutch’s coverage will be as good as the best of the other operators.  Hutch’s rollout of 3G services follows its entry into the post-paid market a few months ago. “With only around 10 percent of the Sri Lankan population having access to the Internet we see great opportunity for the growth of our 3G network” says Anand Prakash, COO of Hutchison Telecom Lanka.  Although there has been a strong growth in both fixed line and mobile telephony in Sri Lanka, the development of the Internet still remains slow, accessibility remains limited and available services generally very basic.

A Sri Lankan woman has been arrested on suspicion of casting a spell on a 13-year-old girl during a Saudi family's shopping trip, a police spokesman said on Wednesday, and may face death in a country where convicted sorcerers are beheaded. The spokesman, Mesfir al-Juayed, confirmed to Reuters by phone that details of the woman's arrest published in local media were correct. The daily Okaz reported that a Saudi man had complained his daughter had "suddenly started acting in an abnormal way, and that happened after she came close to the Sri Lankan woman" in a large shopping mall in the port city of Jeddah. "He reported her to the security forces, asking for her arrest and the specialized units dealt with the situation swiftly… and succeeded in arresting her," Okaz reported on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, is an absolute monarchy that has no written criminal code and where court rulings are based on judges' interpretation of Islamic Sharia

Director of the Accident Ward in the National Hospital, Dr. Prasad Ariyawansa stated that 228 persons were admitted to the hospital as of 7am today (April 13) following accidents which occurred within a 24 hour period during this festive season. Speaking to Media, Dr. Ariyawansa said that 100 patients were warded at the hospital for treatment while 27 others were transferred from other hospitals. He further said that 60 persons were hospitalized due to road accidents, 49 due to domestic accidents, 11 due to assaults and malicious attacks and 5 due to sporting accidents. He said that during this 24 hour period no accidents regarding fireworks had been reported while adding that the amount of accidents reported during this time was generally lower than usual days.

Last week it was revealed that Megaupload had retained the services of Andrew Schapiro, the lawyer who led YouTube to a summary judgment in its copyright trial against Viacom. But now the US government has filed papers objecting to Schapiro’s law firm working on Megaupload’s defense, citing conflicts of interest involving Google, YouTube, Disney, Fox and other movie, TV show and software companies. Following the raids on Megaupload in January, tens of millions of dollars in assets and funds belonging to the company were seized. Initially a law firm called Sidley Austin LLP had been negotiating on Megaupload’s behalf for the return of such assets and funds held in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Canada. Funds were indeed released from Hong Kong in February (to pay Mega employees) and from New Zealand in March (to pay for Kim Dotcom’s living expenses). At the end of last month, Sidley Austin LLP and Rothken law firm filed a motion in the US to have more funds released to cover Mega’

The tsunami warning issued for Sri Lanka was lifted by the Meteorological Department a short while ago. The Met Dept said that Sri Lanka was safe and there was no need to panic as there was no longer a tsunami threat.The tsunami warning issued for Sri Lanka was lifted by the Meteorological Department a short while ago. The Met Dept said that Sri Lanka was safe and there was no need to panic as there was no longer a tsunami threat.

A tsunami warning has been issued in the Indian Ocean after a powerful earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province, prompting evacuations from coastal regions and alarm in areas struck by a devastating wave in 2004. Wednesday's quake was measured at a preliminary 8.7-magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, which revised down an earlier 8.9 estimate. A tsunami measuring 17cm had been generated and was headed for the Aceh province, Victor Sardina, a geophysicist at the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said. He said the total vertical measurement of the wave, according to monitoring gauges, was 35cm, making the height 17cm. He did not provide a time estimate for landfall. "It doesn't look like a major tsunami," Sardina said. "But we are still monitoring as tsunamis come in waves." Phillip Charlesworth, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in the Indonesian ca

 Indonesia issued a tsunami warning Wednesday after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province. People on Twitter said tremors were felt in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia's west coast shook for at least a minute. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami watch was in effect for Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Maldives and other Indian Ocean islands, Malaysia, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Iran, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore. A tsunami watch means there is the potential for a tsunami, not that one is imminent. The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful quake was centered 20 miles (33 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor around 308 miles (495 kilometers) from Aceh's provincial capital. Said, an official at Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency who goes by only one name, said a tsunami warning has b