Jan 18 (II) India stepped up emergency supplies to Sri Lanka affected by the devastating tidal wave with more donations of rations, medicines along with relief support by medical and military personnel and offered help in its reconstruction efforts. more..

Jan 18 (G&M) Political leaders backed by Tamil Tiger rebels lobbied Prime Minister Paul Martin to grant charitable status to a controversial relief group yesterday, and a rebel spokesman denied that Tamil charity donations would go to buy weapons. more..

Jan 18 (NP) Canada has not added the Tamil Tigers to its list of banned terrorist organizations because of a request from Norway, which is trying to broker a peace deal in Sri Lanka's two-decades-old civil war, the National Post has learned. more..

Jan 18 (G&M) Naren Narendran laughs the bitterest laugh imaginable when he is asked how the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization learned how to help displaced people. "We were adequately trained," the 49-year-old director of the TRO's disaster-management unit says in a deadpan manner. more..

Jan 18 (G&M) A visibly emotional Paul Martin yesterday picked his way through the rubble of a Sri Lankan town devastated by last month's tsunamis, pledging that Canada will stay as long as required to repair the region. more..

Jan 18 (SDN) Last month's tsunami inundated Sri Lanka's water supplies and agricultural land with salt water. Despite concerns raised by UNICEF officials, Sri Lankan authorities say the island's food security is not threatened. more..

Jan 18 (GI) Young tsunami survivors at a refugee camp make drawings about their experiences Jan 17, in Galle, southern Sri Lanka. The event was sponsored by the New Life Rehabilation center and the Salvation Army. more..

Jan 18 (ND) It has become second nature for Moshe Vaknin to treat the shrapnel wounds of suicide-bombing victims. But in this place of devastation, the 19-year veteran Israeli paramedic finds little use for the trauma medicine he can so expertly administer back home. more..

Jan 18 (ND) The divisions that sparked the civil war embroiling Sri Lanka can be traced through the pleas of competing fund-raising groups thousands of miles away on U.S. shores. more..

Jan 18 (ND) Pfc. Ryan Janssen, 20, grew up with the hot sun's thrust on his back and the ocean's hum nearby. But it's hard for the native Floridian to imagine how else his life might parallel those of the villagers in this small town, ravaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami, where his assignment is to clear rubble from a damaged school. more..

Jan 18 (IHT) COLOMBO Sri Lanka's central bank will probably be able to lower its key interest rate as overseas aid to help the nation rebuild after the Dec. 26 tsunami helps the currency and slows inflation, the bank's governor, Sunil Mendis, said. more..

Jan 18 (AP) Police have arrested two men accused of snatching a gold chain off the body of a woman washed ashore after last month's tsunami, police said Tuesday. "They are in custody and were being questioned," said D.W. Prathapasinghe, police chief of the southern Galle district more..

Jan 18 (Reuters) Stocks closed flat for the third day in a row on Tuesday as investors awaited news on the country's plans to rebuild coastal areas devastated by last month's tsunami, brokers said. The key Colombo all-share index rose a provisional 0.15 percent, or 2.30 points to 1,576.34. more..

Jan 18 (CNA) President Chandrika Kumaratunga is to formally launch an "action plan" to rebuild Sri Lanka's tsunami-battered shorelines, her office said, as cement and brick factories go into overdrive. more..

Jan 18 (AFP) Double counting and multiple agencies tallying casualties could have inflated Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll, the president's office says, adding the actual number is still around 31,000. more..

Jan 18 (LT) The report on rebuilding the tsunami devastated country was submitted today by Mr. Mano Tittawala, chief of Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation. The meeting chaired by the President Chandrika Kumaratunga was attended by the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, more..

Jan 18 (wsws) From the earliest hours of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, the medical staff in the hospitals of Sri Lanka’s eastern Ampara district—doctors, nurses, paramedics, health workers and cleaners—engaged in remarkable efforts to provide urgent treatment to the victims in the country’s worst hit region. more..

Jan 18 (Yahoo) A Sri Lankan woman cooks breakfast at a refugee camp in Galle, southern Sri Lanka on January 118, 2005. Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll shot up 7,000 more..

Jan 18 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's cricket board have cut short their domestic cricket season because of the tsunami disaster. The board announced that all tournaments would be abandoned after a request made by clubs affected by the tsunami. more..

Jan 18 (Reuters) Sri Lanka will spend about $3.5 billion on rebuilding its tsunami-stricken coastline, and is counting on donors to pick up much of the bill for new towns and transport links, a government official said on Tuesday. more..

Jan 18 (VOA) The Sri Lankan government has launched a new campaign to lure tourists back to the country after last month's tsunami killed tens of thousands and left dozens of hotels damaged or destroyed. Many people are confident it will not be long before the tourism sector has recovered completely. more..

Jan 18 (LN) Sea Tiger leader Soosai who is considered as the main character in the reconstruction operations in the Tiger controlled areas has made a written request for reconsruction assistance from Rishad Badurdeen the Minister of Wanni Rehabilitation. more..

Jan 18 (BBC) An international conference on natural disasters has opened with calls on the world to heed the lessons of last month's Indian Ocean tsunami. The meeting held in Kobe in Japan, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the earthquake that ravaged the city. more..

Jan 18 (ANN) Sri Lanka would resist any bid to link the tsunami emergency and rehabilitation aid with the peace process. "They shouldn’t be linked," an authoritative official said, describing them as two mutually exclusive processes. more..

Jan 18 (PIS) Usually the strengthening of the government of a democratically governed country would be viewed positively, especially in a situation of crisis. However, there are two factors in Sri Lanka that complicate the situation. more..

Jan 18 (HT) The LTTE supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, whose absence from the public eye had fuelled rumours of his death, surfaced at a disaster management experts' conference in Kilinochchi on Monday to appeal to the Tamils not to be dependent on foreign aid to get over the crisis triggered by the tsunami onslaught. more..

Jan 18 (BBC) Complaints have been made to the Poonthottam police station regarding six missing youths, police in Vavuniya said. The complaints which was made by the relatives of the missing, has been forwarded to the SLMM and also to the International Red Cross the Vavuniya Police Inspector Abeysinghe Bandara said. more..

Jan 18 (KRT) "Farther up! Farther up!" orders crew boss Weragoda Lionel. The 40-odd sweating government laborers amble a few yards down the cockeyed railroad track to wedge their iron bars and coconut boards under the rails. more..

Jan 18 (HT) To enable them to stand on their feet again, the tsunami-hit Tamil fishermen of North Sri Lanka are demanding the immediate lifting of all security-related restrictions put on them by the government. more..

Jan 18 (SBT) It is Thursday afternoon at a Buddhist temple in Egodauyana, a small town just south of the capital city of Colombo on Sri Lanka's west coast. For more than two weeks, the temple has been the makeshift home for 150 families whose houses were washed away in the Dec. 26 tsunami. more..

Jan 18 (GI) Tsunami families move into tents where near by their destroyed homes January 16, 2005 off the coast of Galle in southern Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 18 (Reuters) Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has called for greater support for the island's fishermen after visiting the south coast with team mates to hand out aid to tsunami victims. more..

Jan 18 (LBO) The government has finally approved coastal building regulations, under the Urban Development Authority(UDA), for tsunami-damaged parts of the country. Under latest guidelines no new construction is allowed up to 100m in the western coast and 200m in the east coast. more..

Jan 18 (LBO) The JVP wants all tsunami-affected businesses released from their current and previous tax obligations. The government’s main coalition partner, the JVP is calling for blanket tax concessions for tsunami-affected businesses - when the government says no tax breaks. more..

Jan 18 (NYT) Sri Lanka This small eastern seaside town is the scene of a mad scramble. Along the main street, Sri Lankan government commandos guarding the refugee camps are basking in good will generated by their offer of their rations to the homeless and their tsunami rescue effort, which saved dozens of lives. more..

Jan 18 (SN) JHU (Jathika Hela Urumaya) held the Colombo district convention on 15th January, 2005 at Jayasekararamaya, Colombo 10. Three Parliamentary members of the JHU namely Ven.Kotapola Amarakiththi Thero, chairman of the JHU, Ven.Athuraliye Rathana thero, Parliamentary Leader of JHU and Ven.Udawaththe Nanda Thero, more..

Jan 18 (IL) JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said that if not for the JVP volunteer relief force that came into action soon after the tsunami disaster providing relief measures in affected areas with the security forces, the government would have come under more criticism and condemnation. more..

Jan 19 (UPI) Nishanthan is barely two years old. He cannot walk because of a deformity in his waist. The child sits on the uneven sand under one of the thousands of makeshift shelters provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. more..

Jan 19 (PTI) Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have made an offer of assistance through peace broker Norway in the government's efforts to provide relief to survivors of the devastating tidal wave that lashed the Indian Ocean, but said they were yet to receive a response. more..

Jan 19 (TN) Twenty - member US medical team commenced its services at Point Pedro government base hospital in Jaffna district Monday. Dr. Ton Davis, Head of the US medical team addressing a press briefing Tuesday said his team would be in Jaffna for two weeks, sources said. more..

Jan 19 (TN) Mr.R.Sampanthan, Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Mr.Mavai Senathirajah and Mr N. N.Raviraj, Jaffna District TNA paid homage to the departed veteran Tamil activist late Mr.S.Pathmanathan, also known as Eelathunathan, who died last Wednesday in Colombo after a brief illness more..

Jan 19 (TN) Questioning the timing of the introduction of Emergency Regulations (ER)in several districts and the motives for unilaterally enforcing ER without coming to an agreement with the Liberation Tigers, the popular daily Uthayan in Tuesday’s editorial said that the Government of Sri Lanka is further worsening the mistrust between the parties and jeopardizing the peace process by its actions. more..

Jan 19 (TN) Tents sheltering hundreds of thousands of Tsunami victims in the east of Sri Lanka are inundated with rainwater following heavy down pour since Monday night. Women, children and elders sheltered in these tents are undergoing untold hardships in preparing meals and sleep during nights, NGO sources said more..

Jan 19 (CBC) Canada's disaster relief team has been welcomed with open arms in Sri Lanka, where it's already provided medical treatment to more than 1,000 tsunami victims, its commander says. more..

Jan 19 (Yahoo) A Sri Lankan fisherman and two boys carry their catch after they went fishing into the sea in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005. more..

Jan 19 (ACT) Mary Sriyoyogaveni isn't ready to go home yet. Sheltered in the Holy Trinity Methodist Church in Kaddaively, she is still healing from the lacerations dealt her body by the December 26 tsunami when it ripped through the coastal fishing villages that line the sea where this northern part of Sri Lanka protrudes into the Bay of Bengal. more..

Jan 19 (Reuters) Squatting by the roadside in the cool shade of a tree, W.M. Dayawate looks longingly at the crumbled facade of her house on Sri Lanka's tsunami-battered southern shore. Tantalisingly close, her home is too badly damaged to salvage. more..

Jan 19 (AP) Shivanthi Sathanandan loaded a cargo van with supplies paid for with Minnesotans' donations, then drove nine hours through the mountains to deliver them to the island's hard-hit east coast. more..

Jan 19 (BBC) Pick up trucks, tractors, electric generators and other equipment have been sent to North on the request of Tamil Tigers, authorities said on Tuesday. President Kumaratunga directed the Ministry of Rehabilitation to dispatch these requirements without delay, the statement issued by the presidential secretariat said. more..

Jan 19 (BBC) Sri Lanka received nearly nine ships, 10 helicopters and eight air crafts to use in the relief operations after tsunami, officials said. "So far we have received a very good response from Foreign Military Forces", Sri Lankan Military Spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake told BBC Sandeshaya. more..