jan 14 (TN) Colonel Sornam, Trincomalee district military commander of the LTTE Thursday told the SLM) that the Government of Sri Lanka is restricting the flow of foreign aid under the tsunami relief operations to the LTTE controlled areas. more..

jan 14 (CP) There is nothing to indicate that the dusty expanse of soil behind this fishing community's main mosque is a mass grave. Engineers with Canada's disaster response team visited the site Thursday, where 450 victims of the Boxing Day tsunamis were buried. more..

jan 14 (CP) For Cpl. Gretel Quinonez, it was a life-changing day. She was among several teams of Canadian military doctors, nurses and technicians who opened four clinics Wednesday offering basic treatment to survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami that devastated this coastal region in southeastern Sri Lanka. more..

jan 14 (AP) The USS Duluth was bound for eastern Sri Lankan shores on Thursday to carry out tsunami relief work that will bring it close to areas controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels. The amphibious assault ship, with 400 Marines and 400 Navy personnel aboard, set sail two days after it anchored off the southern coast, more..

Jan 14 (Yahoo) Master Cpl. Lance Hooper laughs as he talks with a young boy in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka. Canadian combat engineers were looking at tasks where their equipment could be used. more..

Jan 14 (UNI) The Sri Lankan government today said that the tsunami disaster has created a "remarkable opportunity" to find a lasting solution to the conflict with the LTTE. About 35,000 people died in the December 26 tsunami in the island nation. more..

Jan 14 (NDTV) In Sri Lanka, which is the country most ravaged by the tsunami after Indonesia, the tragedy has a political dimension. The LTTE areas were also devastated by the storm, creating speculation that top leaders of the Tamil Tigers may have been killed. more..

Jan 14 (BBC) Fisheries in many countries affected by last month's Asian tsunami have been devastated, according to a United Nations assessment. It says some countries have lost about three-quarters of their fishing boats. In many affected countries fishing is a major source of food for local people and an important export commodity. more..

Jan 14 (IANS) The Indian Air Force (IAF) has earned kudos from Sri Lanka for its operations in the wake of the tsunami disaster, having flown over 300 sorties to airlift relief materials and to rescue hundreds of stranded people. more..

Jan 14 (QC) The NY Buddhist Vihara Temple in Queens Village shipped more emergency supplies to Sri Lanka for tsunami-affected families last Friday with unexpected help from the Taiwanese government. more..

Jan 14 (AT) Amazing stories of how some places remained untouched and how some people miraculously escaped from the huge tsunami tidal waves that killed over one hundred and fifty thousand people in Asia continue to emerge. This is one such story from Eastern Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 14 (TN) The head of the Government's Secretariat for Coordinating Peace Process (SCOPP) Mr. Jayanda Dhanapala said Thursday that the arrangements are in place to be in regular touch with the LTTE for the purpose of coordinating disaster relief operation and to more..

Jan 14 (BBC) Muslims who fled to the coast of Kathankudy are returning to their former villages says Shanthi Selvadurai reporting from Baticaloa. Many Muslims had to fled the villages as fighting broke out. Even after the truce between the LTTE and the Government they could not return to their villages. more..

Jan 14 (BBC) The call by the government affiliated trade union leader Lesley Devendra to prevent the unions from taking industrial action for the coming year, received a mixed response from the other trade unions. Devendra’s Sri Lanka Freedom Workers Union, was calling for a freeze in industrial action for one year, until the tsunami relief had been completed. more..

Jan 14 (ANI) Sri Lanka today urged global donors urgently to provide more than 100,000 tents for around 73,000 families made homeless by the tsunami disaster. According to The News, most of the displaced people are staying in camps set up in thousands of schools across the island more..

Jan 14 (BBC) Holidays to parts of Sri Lanka affected by the tsunami will be cancelled until 28 February, major firms have said. The move was announced as part of tour operators' revised booking plans for areas hit by the giant waves. Meanwhile, the companies said they would re-commence holidays to parts of Phuket in Thailand during February. more..

Jan 14 (CSM) No one knows who lighted the fire. Less than 48 hours after the tsunami hit northern Sri Lanka, a school sheltering hundreds of displaced people burned to the ground. No lives were lost, but the incident marked a turning point in an unprecedented Army effort to distribute disaster relief in an area long sympathetic to Tamil Tigers separatists. more..

Jan 14 (CSM) In the early morning hours at a rural Buddhist temple, a medical team from the revolutionary JVP party is treating villagers injured in the tsunami. The chief doctor, Pasanna Cooray, has been working 19-hour days up and down the Sri Lankan coast. Here he has just given a very public blood pressure check to the temple's chief monk. more..

Jan 14 (RI) Shortly before the tsunami hit, a heroic monument was unveiled at a street intersection here in the northern stronghold of the Tamil Tigers, a group that's waged a long-term struggle for their own homeland. more..

Jan 14 (FT) THE Sri Lankan community in Fiji has raised more than $8000 to help those affected by the tsunami and earthquake disaster last month. Community president Jaimi Samarawera said Sri Lankans living in Fiji felt they needed to help their families at home. more..

Jan 14 (Yahoo) Four year old Sri Lankan tsunami survivor A. Liyanage, shows his red crayon stained hands during a drawing class in the Kovilla Godilla Temple on the outskirts of Galle. more..

Jan 14 (AT) Anyone who is familiar and follows political antics of Sri Lanka’s LTTE takes policy pronouncements of Prabhakaran, Anton Balasingham and Tamilselvan as authentic political planks. more..

Jan 14 (AT) Realistic although gruesome video footage of dying Tsunami victims that accompanied a song sung by ten of Sri Lanka’s most popular artistes (including Nanda Malini and W. D. Amaradeva) in aid of Tsunami awareness efforts, has been taken off the air. The song plays on, sans those parts of the video. more..

Jan 14 (AT) Two days after this online news daily pointed out that Britain’s attitude towards Tsunami aid has been lackadaisical, Stephen Evans the British High Commissioner announced in Colombo that Britain will pay 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s loan commitment as a gesture of support. more..

Jan 14 (AT) All places of religious worship Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic and Islam affected by Tsunami devastation have to be reconstructed in a fitting manner with the help of responsible sections and organizations local and international. more..

Jan 14 (AT) The tsunami wrecked many industries including the fishery industry, but one industry that it helped at least temporarily, was the liquor industry. In Colombo and other key towns liquor sales were at a premium in the days immediately after the Tsunami, as the policemen were all on duty in tsunami hit areas. more..

Jan 14 (AT) “When a previous government wanted to level the Galle fort to the ground - - demolish it - - and make the fort a part of the town, it was Geoffrey Bawa the grand old man of Sri Lanka’ architectural world, who stepped in to say that the fort will offer protection against the sea. He was right.” more..

Jan 14 (GU) Balancing on the edge of the wooden catamaran, Anura Aparekkag stares long and hard at the blue waters lapping at the sides of his boat. "No fish today. No fish yesterday. They are too scared to come back here," he says. more..

Jan 14 (IO) The midday sun is beating down on Kapuganage Pedase as he shifts the remains of his house into a pile of rubble by the road. For all of the former labourer's 55 years, he has lived on this plot. A stone's throw from the makeshift tent where his family now live, the surf washes lazily on to the beach. more..

Jan 14 (ANN) One of the few things that have survived the killer waves that barrelled over the Indian Ocean the other day, destroying as they did everyone and everything on their way, is the enmity between the government and the Opposition in this country. more..

Jan 14 (TS) Apart from dealing with physical injuries, relief workers helping tsunami victims here have had to address the mental state of those hit by the disaster. “Almost every tsunami survivor is having psychological problems, as they have lost family members, friends and properties. more..

Jan 14 (TO) THE boy in the Mickey Mouse T-shirt crouched over the drawing paper on the floor of the temple, pen in hand, his face scrunched up in concentration. With a flourish he drew the curve of a wave, arcing high across the white expanse. Below he sketched a few black shapes lying on the ground. more..

Jan 14 (CBS) "We went down miles and miles and miles of road. There was destruction everywhere. And every time we turned off, literally, there was another story." And The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, who just returned from touring the tsunami zone, says what unfolded before his eyes in Sri Lanka was often remarkable. more..

Jan 14 (PB) Mashoor Salie is a fisherman who was at sea during the tsunami and felt nothing. When he returned, everything had changed and he had lost two children. He now lives at at a refugee camp at Thassim College in Galle, more..

Jan 14 (PBP) The U.S. Marines are destroying a school here this week and the townspeople, including many local Muslims, think it's terrific. At least for the moment. On Dec. 26, the very tail of the Indian Ocean tsunami curled around the southern tip of this country, like the point of a whip, and lashed this ancient and scenic seaport. more..

Jan 14 (SAMN) Nearly two million people in Sri Lanka and other countries could fall into poverty as a result of the tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people around the Indian Ocean, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Thursday. more..

Jan 14 (SAMN) Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who had a miraculous escape from the tsunami while undergoing ayurvedic treatment in a tourist hotel in Habaraduwa, has consented to construct a hospital in Galle. This proposed hospital will replace the existing one in Mahamodera. more..

Jan 14 (SAMN) Government said Thursday it was finalizing a scheme to give a cash donation for 2-3 weeks and waive off taxes and utility bills for all tsunami affected families in the country on top of urgent housing arrangements as part of an overall relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction drive largely with donor funding. more..

Jan 14 (SAMN) The Mahanayake Theras of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters urged a delegation of UNP political leaders to shed all political divides and work in amity towards rebuilding the tsunami-stricken nation. more..

Jan 14 (PBP) Lunchtime at a refugee camp, plates of rice, fish curry and dahl await refugees. Each plate goes to one family, who in Muslim fashion eat together from one plate. more..

Jan 14 (KRT) Heels driving into the sand, backs bent against the growing tug of sea catch against surf, the fishermen heaved on the net. A few joined in a soft sing-song chant. Others just grunted. Sri Lankans recognize the work of such fishermen is difficult. more..

Jan 14 (CBC) Tsunami orphans have become prime targets for forced labour and the sex slave industry, but they're also sought in Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers as child soldiers, say international aid agencies. more..

Jan 14 (TN) Amidst growing concern over charges that the tsunami aid operation is not being properly handled, opposition UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe met President Chandrika Kumarathunga to discuss his party's plan for the re-building of Srilanka, an officials said. more..

Jan 14 (TN) The grandmother of two children alleged by UNICEF to have been recruited and released by the LTTE rejected the accusation Friday, saying the youngsters were about to be taken into care by a orphanage as their mother was abroad and their father had abandoned the family and she (grandmother) was unable to look after them after being displaced by the Asian tsunami. more..

Jan 14 (TN) Deputy head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mr. Kamel Morjane, will be visiting Sri Lanka next week from Tuesday to review UNHCR's work on the ground behalf of people displaced by the tsunami and the conflict. more..

Jan 14 (PRIU) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday (Jan 13) chaired the meeting of the National High Level Committee for Disaster Relief. The assembly examined in detail the adequacy of relief supplies and the current status reconstruction in the tsunami-hit areas. more..

Jan 14 (PRIU) European Union Heads of Missions (EU HoM's) recall the overwhelming European support and sympathy for Sri Lanka to overcome the tragedy following the Tsunami disaster. more..

Jan 14 (PRIU) Thai Pongal would not be the same this year in our region in the wake of the greatest natural disaster in living memory. We have all realized we were never as safe as we thought we were. Nature has proved to be a great leveler; I know we can come out this quagmire if we work as a united people. more..

Jan 14 (G&M) A high-ranking Sri Lankan official warned yesterday that Ottawa has grown too cozy with supporters of Tamil militants and could cause “discontentment and disgruntlement” as Canada tries to get help to people in the northern part of the island country. more..

Jan 14 (LAT) At the Colombo National Hospital in the capital, the bodies of foreigners are brought to a lab where they're numbered and photographed. Clothes, jewelry, tattoos, body piercing and teeth are carefully scrutinized. Blood and DNA samples are taken. more..