Dec 31 (AP) Grieving families of children who perished from tsunamis in Sri Lanka are taking away orphans from the disaster without approval, a move denounced Friday by the government and an aid organization. more..

Dec 31 (AP) Happy New Year? Not this year, not in this region. Authorities around Asia, which was battered by an earthquake and tsunami last weekend that killed more than 120,000 people, scaled back or canceled celebrations Friday to mark the new year. more..

Dec 31 (AFP) The World Bank said it was allocating 100 million dollars to Sri Lanka out of an immediate budget of 250 million dollars for nations devastated by the tsunamis. The bank said it was initially making up the 100 million dollars available by re-allocating funds from existing programs more..

Dec 31 (BBC) White flags of mourning have been hoisted and the national flag taken to half-mast as Sri Lanka holds a day of commemoration for its tsunami dead. Inter-faith services were being held and a simultaneous bell-ringing organised as the nation comes to terms with its loss of around 28,000 people. more..

Dec 31 (Reuters) Torrential rain hampered efforts by relief workers to deliver much-needed aid on Friday to hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans made homeless by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Many coastal roads that survived Sunday's devastating disaster were cut off by the downpour, more..

Dec 31 (Reuters) A devastating tsunami that ravaged Sri Lanka's coastal resorts will hurt Sri Lanka's growth prospects in 2005, the Central Bank said on Friday, even as drought and high oil prices slowed third-quarter expansion. more..

Dec 31 (CBC) The first Canadian military plane with supplies for tsunami survivors has landed in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. Aid agencies continue to appeal for help for the stricken area and Canadians continue to give. more..

Dec 31 (Yahoo) A girl waits for food at a refugee camp in Batticaloa region of Sri Lanka, which was devasted by killer tsunami tidal waves. more..

Dec 31 (BBC) Holidaymakers planning trips to tsunami-affected countries have had to grapple with the guilt of going through with their journeys amidst so much destruction and misery. more..

Dec 31 (ITV) Two UK forensic teams have arrived in Sri Lanka and Thailand to help with the task of identifying the bodies of the British dead. Three Britons are confirmed dead in Sri Lanka and 28 in Thailand in the wake of the Boxing Day tsunami disaster. more..

Dec 31 (TN) Heavy machinery including bulldozers are required to clear long stretches of Vadamaradchy East coastal road before vehicular traffic can use the road, said Sea Tiger Commander Mangales who is coordinating the Sea Tigers rescue operations in Vadamaradchy east. more..

Dec 31 (TN) A District Task Force (DTF) was established in the Trincomalee district Friday to co-ordinate all relief supplies to victims of Sunday's Tsunami and take steps for the rehabilitation of the coastal areas destroyed in the calamity with the Government Agent Mr.Gamini Rodrigo as its chairman. more..

Dec 31 (TN) A tanker from the Indian Navy fleet, INS Aditya, arrived in Colombo harbour Friday evening with relief supplies, medical teams and other provisions. This is the fifth Indian naval war ship to arrive in Sri Lanka aftermath of the Sunday's tsunami disaster on immediate rescue and relief operation. more..

Dec 31 (BL) Another very busy and eventful day today. I've now switched gears a bit and started focusing on helping build the IT infrastructure needed to help manage this disaster. The one thing that has become clear today is that we have a tremendous information management problem in our hands. more..

Dec 31 (GS) The imagery below was taken by the DigitalGlobe Quickbird satellite. It shows a portion of the Southwest coast of Sri Lanka, and was taken on Sunday Dec. 26, at 10:20am local time, slightly less than four hours after the 6:28 a.m. earthquake and shortly after the moment of tsunami impact. more..

Dec 31 (Reuters) From Tamil Tiger rebels to Buddhist monks in saffron robes, Sri Lanka stopped to mourn on Friday as rescue workers struggled to clear bloated corpses of victims of the Indian Ocean island's worst natural disaster. more..

Dec 31 (Reuters) Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson faced growing criticism on Friday over his cabinet's slow reaction to the scope of the Asian tsunami, which may have killed over 1,000 Swedes. more..

Dec 31 (Xinhua) The United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka's opposition party, has decided to construct 5,000 new houses for those who lost their homes in the wake of the tsunami, the UNP official said Friday. more..

Dec 31 (Yahoo) Catholic Sri Lankan women pray during a memorial service held for the victims of the tsunami on the eve of the New Year in St. Mary's Church in downtown Galle, in southern Sri Lanka, Friday, Dec. 31, 2004. more..

Dec 31 (ANI) The Indian Navy today despatched two ships carrying relief material to the worst Tsunami-affected Sri Lanka. The ships, INS Jammuna and INS Sarvekshak, sailed from Cochin Port carrying 15 tonnes of relief materials including water, blankets and provisions. more..