A British news team that had been detained by Sri Lankan authorities -- after producing a report about the alleged abuse of Tamils -- has left the country. The Channel 4 news team, which was detained on Saturday, is heading back to its base in Bangkok, ITN senior news management said Sunday. ITN produces Channel 4's news programs. The team's news report, aired Tuesday on Channel 4, chronicled the abuse of Tamils in internment camps in the city of Vavuniya ...

Sri Lankan authorities on Saturday detained a British news team that produced a report about allegations of abuse and ill-treatment of Tamil refugees. Three journalists from Channel 4 were seized and handed over to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department for interrogation, police spokesman Ranjih Gunasekera told reporters. The report, aired Tuesday on Channel 4, chronicled the alleged abuse of Tamils in internment camps in the city of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka, where fighting has raged between government and rebels. ...

Thousands of civilians remain trapped and at risk in a small area of the conflict zone along the northeastern Sri Lankan coast, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday. The civilians include women, children, and elderly, and many are wounded and sick, the ICRC said in a statement. "The parties must do more to protect them and must allow more food and medicine into the area," said Monica Zanarelli, the ICRC's deputy head of operations for south Asia. ...

The Sri Lankan army overran two Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the country's north on Tuesday, the military reported on its Web site. The rebels "suffered double blows, losing two heavily fortified defense positions as ... troops made predawn incursions at identified terror strong points located south of Valayanmadam today," the Ministry of Defense said. The claims of military victories came a day after Sri Lanka ordered an end to combat operations against the rebels by curtailing "the use of ...