Jan 9 (AP) Scrapes and punctures on the face of Fatima Rijani are healing two weeks after the tsunami nearly killed her, but the 11-year-old orphan could face a different anguish in the months and years ahead as relatives argue bitterly over who should raise her. more..

Jan 9 (SAMN) The World Bank yesterday strongly urged the Sri Lankan government to ensure equal treatment to all communities including those living in LTTE-controlled areas in disbursing relief and other benefits. more..

Jan 9 (SAMN) There are more than 800 camps for the tsunami-displaced right along the southern coast, but questions are being asked whether the necessary aid is getting to them on an equal basis. more..

Jan 9 (SAMN) The JVP believes the recent catastrophe brought on by an Indian Ocean tsunami would make the LTTE more flexible with Wimal Weerawansa saying the LTTE would take this opportunity to return to the negotiating process that they withdrew from in April 2003. more..

Jan 9 (SAMN) Sri Lanka faces the prospect of its insurance risk being re-rated by international insurers to cover earthquakes resulting in higher premiums. This came as the business community called for a moratorium on political activity, more..

Jan 9 (ANN) There is a desperate need for medical facilities in the remote areas in the Eastern Province, said Dr. Peter Vann, Head of Vascular Surgery, Auckland. New Zealand from a health camp at Ussana, a central village between Valachchenai and Vakarai Saturday. more..

Jan 9 (ANN) Two weeks after massive waves pummelled Sri Lanka's southern and eastern coastline, there is a growing sense of stability and normality as reconstruction efforts pick up, refugee camps wind down and officials ponder ways to resuscitate the local economy. more..

Jan 9 (ANN) Just as much as many things were right, most so the wellspring of domestic and global sympathy, goodwill and unstinted generosity demonstrated in the disaster response, others have admittedly gone wrong. There is no purpose in finger pointing and witch hunting in this context. more..

Jan 9 (ANN) Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has estimated a revenue loss of Rs. 25 million per month as a result of damage caused by the tsunami tidal waves that hit the Sri Lankan coast on December 26, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has been informed. more..

Jan 9 (TN) Three persons were killed and thirty eight persons were injured in a grenade attack on a tsunami funeral house in Vahaneri. The incident took place Saturday night around 9 PM when several people were gathered to attend a funeral of tsunami victims. more..

Jan 9 (TN) The visiting medical team from Australia has now formally taken over the medical services for 3 camps housing nearly 5000 individuals in the Alaiyampadivembu division in Akkaraipattu in the eastern Ampara district. more..

Jan 9 (TN) Center for Healthcare (CHC) a nationally registered and Kilinochchi based NGO in Sri Lanka has called for all visiting medical teams to coordinate their services to maximize their efficiency in regions of need. more..

Jan 9 (TN) Diplomatically ducking a question whether he regretted that he could not visit the LTTE-controlled areas, visiting Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, said in Colombo today he was "hoping to be able to come back and visit all parts of Sri Lanka, not just to visit but to celebrate peace." more..

Jan 9 (TN) The Sri Lankan government’s insensitive and ineffectual relief efforts in the Northeast in the wake of the Asian tsunami disaster has reinforced the need for an interim administration for the region as demanded by its residents, Tamil parliamentarians argued Sunday. more..

Jan 9 (Yahoo) Cows graze as crows fly over coffins that lie broken and displaced from the December 26 tsunami near the town of Akkraipattuh on Sri Lanka's east coast January 9, 2005. more..

Jan 9 (SLA) Two hand grenades lobbed by unknown persons at a funeral in the un-cleared area of VAKANERI in VALACHCHENAI on 08 January 2005 around 9.20 p.m. have killed three civilians causing injuries to another Thirty eight (38), states a complaint lodged at VALACHCHENAI Police by a civilian in the area. more..

Jan 9 (CNN) Sri Lanka's president says she had no second thoughts asking U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reconsider a planned trip to rebel-held territories in her country. But President Chandrika Bandaranaike insisted her government and the rebels are working well together in the aftermath of last month's tsunamis. more..

Jan 9 (VOA) U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling for the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to put aside their political differences as the country starts to rebuild following last month's devastating tsunami. more..

Jan 9 (AP) Hundreds of people protested in Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority north Sunday after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan agreed to a government request not to visit tsunami-stricken areas under rebel control. Annan said he hoped it would not strain relations between the United Nations and the rebel group. more..

Jan 9 (Reuters) Sri Lankan fisherman Sudda Aiyya stands on the starboard side of his old, damaged fishing trawler and gazes at a shoreline dotted with dozens of wrecked boats and remnants of a tsunami-ravaged fishing harbour. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Sri Lanka, one of the countries hit hardest by the Indian Ocean tsunamis, will need more food in "a few weeks", but nobody will starve on the island because of the tragedy, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) UN chief Kofi Annan said he wanted to return to Sri Lanka to "see all parts of the country" as he ended a two-day tour of tsunami-battered parts of the island, amid reports the government blocked him from visiting rebel-held northern areas. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Sri Lanka's tsunami-battered shores are in danger of being hit by a cyclone which is building off its east coast, the meteorological department warned. "It is not a cyclone at the moment but there is a possibility of a cyclone within the next 24 hours," more..

Jan 9 (BBC) A Tamil rebel leader in Sri Lanka has warned that the government's travel restrictions on UN head Kofi Annan may have negative consequences for peace. SP Thamilselvan, head of the Tamil Tigers' political wing, condemned the ban on the secretary general's planned tour of rebel-held tsunami-hit areas. more..

Jan 9 (YR) While many in York Region's Tamil community warned areas of Sri Lanka might not receive aid due to civil conflict between Tamils and the island's Sinhalese-led government, other residents dismissed these charges as propaganda. more..

Jan 9 (SH) For nearly two decades northern Sri Lanka was a battleground as the area’s Tamil Tiger guerrillas fought for an autonomous homeland. Now, three years into a fragile ceasefire, the guerrillas’ organisational skills have been turned to helping tsunami victims. more..

Jan 9 (SH) AS the fight continues to save thousands of survivors in the countries affected by the tsunami disaster a new plague is in danger of breaking out – a return to hostilities in the region’s hot spots. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Test cricket's leading bowler Shane Warne said he wants to visit Sri Lanka to help in the tsunami relief effort. Warne said he had spoken to World Vision Australia boss Tim Costello and Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan about trying to arrange a visit. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Initial WHO estimates say that Sri Lanka will need US$ 20 mn to meet immediate health needs over the next three months, in all districts affected by last month’s tsunami. more..

Jan 9 (SO) Top international figures including US Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who visited Sri Lanka this week to get an eye witness account of the massive damage caused by tsunami were highly impressed stating that of all countries hit by the sea tragedy, more..

Jan 9 (Reuters) Long-running armed rebellions in Indonesia and Sri Lanka have cast a shadow over massive relief efforts in two nations devastated by a deadly tsunami two weeks ago. Indonesia's military beefed up security in the Aceh region, the worst hit by the December 26 earthquake and tsunami, more..

Jan 9 (TP) Little Nifraz still could not remember how he survived the deadly waves of tsunami that first hit east of Sri Lanka and then spread all over the coast, killing more than 31,000 people. more..

Jan 9 (ST) Forty-six containers packed with various supplies are at Malta Freeport from where they will start their journey to tragedy-stricken Sri Lanka in the coming days. Filled to capacity with half a million litres of water, 200 tonnes of blankets and clothes, 100 tonnes of food and preserves, 40 tonnes of fruit juices, 10 tonnes of medicines. more..

Jan 9 (CP) Some members of the region's Tamil community worry that their Sri Lankan homeland isn't getting its share of international aid in the wake of the Dec. 26 tsunami. more..

Jan 9 (Reuters) The only problem Sri Lanka's intrepid garment makers faced after a giant tsunami hit two weeks ago was a slight rise in absenteeism at some of the hundreds of garment factories dotting the Indian Ocean island. more..

Jan 9 (Yahoo) Sri Lankan villagers burn debris in order to prevent the spread of disease in the coastal town of Dodanduwa. more..

Jan 9 (Bernama) The tsunami crisis has scuttled plans this month by Tamil rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to pull out from the three-year long ceasefire with the Sri Lanka government, a top Tamil affairs columnist said Sunday. more..

Jan 9 (NYT) This is how Lal Karunamuni knows the difference in the landscape around him: With his bare feet he prods where the beach road washed out; his groping hands confirm that his bed, cupboard, gas cooker and radio are gone; he smells the sludge in his bedroom and toilet; and he feels the heat of the fires burning debris. more..

Jan 9 (LAT) As the first contingent of several hundred U.S. Marines arrived to offer humanitarian aid, government officials acknowledged that the troops would be barred from entering some of this tsunami-ravaged nation's most devastated territories. more..

Jan 9 (LAT) In her 12 years as a medic for a rebel Tamil army, Meera saw the worst that war has to offer. Her hands and face, heavily scarred from burns and skin grafts, are testimony to that. But now she has seen what nature can do in minutes. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) They've not only fed, housed and cared for many who escaped the tsunami but have also helped recover bodies, tend the wounded and even rolled up their sleeves and cleared away the debris. more..

Jan 9 (CP) They're enough to make even the most seasoned soldier's skin crawl. Deadly vipers and cobras. Black widow spiders. Centipedes of unusual size and speed. Mosquitoes that spread malaria and dengue fever. more..

Jan 9 (AP) Geoffrey Dobbs, a Briton who owns several hotels in southern Sri Lanka, didn't wait for governments or charities to aid stricken victims of the devastating tsunami. Within days of the disaster, he had embarked on a private relief effort. more..

Jan 9 (AFP) The United States hopes to pile up some needed diplomatic capital in Asia with a mammoth military effort to aid tsunami victims while treading carefully to avoid the region's political minefields. more..

Jan 9 (HT) The Sri Lankan government on Sunday denied the charge that it had "prevented" the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from visiting the LTTE-controlled areas in the island and said that the UN itself had not made any request for a visit to those areas. more..

Jan 9 (Xinhua) Squeezing in the Yananandaramaya temple in the coastal town Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka, 125 homeless families lead a quiet and calm life, a reminder that the worst time of the tsunami disaster has faded away. more..

Jan 9 (Reuters) Amidst the grief and mourning after the Indian Ocean tsunami that flattened coastal Sri Lanka, it is hardly surprising that the nation is searching the rubble for miracles to lighten their spirits. more..

Jan 9 (HT) By stopping the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from going to the LTTE-controlled areas, the Sri Lankan government has got very bad publicity abroad, says the LTTE. "The international press and electronic media have given wide publicity to UN officials, more..

Jan 9 (AFP) Sri Lankan cricket greats Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya appealed for more global aid to help rebuild their shattered country from the tsunami disaster. The pair are here to play in an Asian XI against the Rest of the World XI in the tsunami charity one-dayer on Monday more..

Jan 9 (Yahoo) Sri Lankan woman prays during mass at St. Mary's Church in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005 on the two week anniversary of the deadly tsunami. more..