Colombo, May 18 (DPA) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to visit Sri Lanka Friday to assess the humanitarian situation after an estimated 250,000 civilians fled the Tamil rebel controlled areas in the north of the country, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Monday.

Ban is due to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and is expected to tour refugee camps, following the declaration of victory Monday by the Sri Lankan military over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

London, May 18 (DPA) Britain’s Conservatives Monday called for an immediate general election to end the “paralysis” of the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Conservative leader David Cameron said a nationwide poll should be held “as soon as possible after the European elections” June 4.

London, May 18 (IANS) Singer-actress Beyonce Knowles enjoyed private driving sessions with Formula One world champion driver Lewis Hamilton at Monaco’s Grand Prix track following her arrival at the Cannes Film Festival.

Knowles’ husband, rapper Jay-Z had also joined them and the couple were more than happy to drive on the racy tracks.

London, May 18 (IANS) Supermodel Kate Moss is showing an increasing interest in Buddhism and has started meditating to maintain her calm.

“She is really into Buddhism and has a bought a bronze Buddha statue for her living room and has started meditating,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying.

London, May 18 (IANS) Controversial socialite Paris Hilton, infamous for the internet leak of her sex tape, says she wanted to be like Princess Diana, but these scandalous incidents in her life have prevented her from fulfilling her dream.

The heiress of the Hilton group of hotels, has made the claim in a new documentary on her life “Paris, Not France”, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and was shown at the ongoing 62nd Cannes Film Festival this weekend, reported thesun.co.uk.

Colombo, May 18 (ANI): Sri Lanka on Monday formally announced the end of war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after chief V Prabhakaran was shot dead while trying to flee in an ambulance from the war zone in northern Sri Lanka.

The three-decade long fight by the LTTE for a separate homeland for Tamils came to end after the death of Tamil Tigers chief.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told President Mahinda Rajpakse on Monday in a nationally televised ceremony that Sri Lanka’s war against Tamil Tiger rebels has “ended successfully.”
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“We have successfully ended the war,” he told the President, who is his brother and commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Sri Lankan military commanders also lined up and shook hands with him before starting closed-door talks.

The meeting came as state television and defence officials announced that Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and the entire rebel leadership had been killed on Monday by government troops.

London, May 18 (IANS) Music legend Sir Elton John was honoured for his contribution to musical theatre at the Annual Drama League Awards in New York.

The singer received a special tribute during the ceremony for his work on hit stage shows including “Aida”, “The Lion King” and “Billy Elliot”, which has been a major success since it opened on Broadway last year, reported contactmusic.com

Tel Aviv, May 18 (DPA) Israel is beginning construction of the first completely new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank in more than a decade, Peace Now said Monday.

Contractors toured the site of the new Maskiyot settlement Sunday morning, after the regional settler council issued a tender for the construction of 20 new homes on it, said the Israeli settlements watchdog.