Jan 19 (Reuters) Raking through the shattered remains of this once bustling fishing and trading hub on Sri Lanka's southeast coast, survivors of last month's tsunami are desperate to start over. more..

Jan 19 (AN) In Sri Lanka, women survivors of the Tsunami are especially vulnerable as they seek to survive in refugee camps. This is what representatives of the National Peace Council (NPC) discovered on visiting affected area. more..

Jan 19 (IT) The aeromobile hospital of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations, opened in Sri Lanka, is already receiving patients, an official of the Press Service of the Ministry for Emergency Situation told Itar-Tass here on Wednesday. more..

Jan 19 (Reuters) The IMF hopes to be able to approve tsunami-stricken Sri Lanka's request for emergency financial assistance of up to $160 million, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Wednesday. more..

Jan 19 (AP) Officials from two Sri Lankan government agencies met Wednesday to clarify a discrepancy of more than 7,000 in their tsunami death toll figures, but they failed to agree on the tally. more..

Jan 19 (Yahoo) Sri Lankan workers arrive on a tractor to clean up debris from a tsunami-ravaged hamlet in the town of Kalmunai on Sri Lanka's east coast, January 19, 2005. more..

Jan 19 (AT) Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna has launched a massive Sharamadana campaign (Voluntary service) from 18th January onwards to clear the debris and to restore roads, tanks, bridges and public buildings in the cleared areas of Trincomalee, Batticalao and Amparai districts in the Eastern Province. more..

Jan 19 (TN) Former Captain of Sri Lanka naval ship "Sagarawardene," Captain Ajith Boyagoda, brought relief supplies on behalf of the President of Ceylinco Corporation Dr.Lalith Kotalawela to Kilinochchi Wednesday, sources in Kilinochchi said. more..

Jan 19 (KT) Villager Mary Murdoch, of Marsh Road, was watching the news in panic on December 26. Her brother, Graham Horton, lives in Sri Lankan village Unawatuna for six months of every year: she knew the tragedy had struck his winter home. more..

Jan 19 (LDP) HALF the money raised by the ECHO's fundraising concert will go direct to Liverpool's tsunami twin in Sri Lanka. We are aiming to raise £50,000 to help the humanitarian effort in the Indian Ocean and half will go direct to Galle. more..

Jan 19 (UNHCR) When UNHCR Coordinator Neill Wright arrived in tsunami-stricken Sri Lanka on January 1, he told his staff, "Distribute everything we have in our warehouses. I don't even want to see dust on the shelves." more..

Jan 19 (AP) Tamil mourners burned tires and pelted stones Wednesday, injuring two soldiers, after a military vehicle knocked down and killed a man in northern Sri Lanka, police said. Viravan Nadesen, 50, an ethnic Tamil was riding on his bicycle in the town of Kodikamum on Monday when the military container vehicle accidentally knocked him off his bike and killed him, more..

Jan 20 (AD) Three weeks after the Dec. 26 tsunami, local churches in Sri Lanka are making sure that aid reaches neglected remote fishing communities in the east of the country. Across Sri Lanka hundreds of volunteers from various denominations are continuing a relief effort co-ordinated by Tearfund partner LEADS (Lanka Evangelical Alliance Development Services), more..

Jan 20 (WD) Here in deep South Texas and across the United States it is almost impossible to get a true feeling of how devastating the Asian Tsunami was to the thousands upon thousands of people who were impacted by that nightmare of nature. more..

Jan 20 (TN) Mr.T.Mathanarajah of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), a constituent of the UPFA government walked out of the Jaffna District Task Force (DTF) meeting Wednesday evening protesting the participation of LTTE, district secretariat sources said. more..

Jan 20 (GI) Srilankan child cries as he is helped by Russian doctor at the hospital in the town of Tangalle, 250 km south of Colombo, 19 January 2005. more..

Jan 20 (PL) The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet has decided to institute the regime of no duty no draw back, approved Free Trade Agreement with Sri Lanka and allowed import of additional fifty thousand tones of raw sugar. more..

Jan 20 (KSL) Despite the huge relief effort, getting the help to those who need it is still a problem. Dr. Kim Mulvihill witnessed the challenges in Sri Lanka, and she's here now to tell us what she saw. Much of the effort in Sri Lanka is focused on the southern part of the country. more..

Jan 20 (NN) STATE Member for Bega Andrew Constance has thrown his support behind local fishermen wanting to help re-establish fishing grounds and rebuild local fishing infrastructure in countries affected by the tsunami. more..

Jan 20 (AF) Three weeks after the most devastating tsunamis on record slammed into this island south of India and killed an estimated 38,000 people, Airmen continue to help people here. More than a million were left homeless. Children without parents, or grandparents. more..

Jan 20 (CSM) A high-level peace- negotiating team from Norway arrives in Sri Lanka Thursday for a four-day visit to assess tsunami damage - and to try to break a deadlock between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels in the north. more..

Jan 20 (AT) Sri Lankan leaders are expected to severely reprimand Norway for what they described as ‘blatant interference’ in affairs of a sovereign nation. more..

Jan 20 (AT) A. S. P Liyanage the Sri Lankan businessman has done it again. The man who took out a one page advertisement in all mainstream Sri Lankan dailies before the election of George W. Bush as U. S president for a 2dn term, has now taken another full page ad – this time with Bush and his wife both striking poses in a large photograph. more..

Jan 20 (CP) More vigilance is needed to ensure that millions in cash donated for tsunami victims reaches the right targets, the Canadian aid director here says. “Corruption has been one of the governance challenges,” says Jonathon Wheatcroft, head of aid in Colombo for the Canadian International Development Agency. more..

Jan 20 (TP) Despite LTTE objections, hundreds of tsunami -affected civilians in the northern town of Point Pedro came to a nearby hospital to seek treatment from four US doctors and other medical personnel who were part of the marine contingent deployed in Sri Lanka, a military official was quoted in newspapers as saying. more..

Jan 20 (TP) Popular Sri Lankan film actor Ranjan Ramanayake was produced before a suburban magistrate and granted bail following allegations that he tried to molest a woman at his home in an incident that was reported in local newspapers. more..

Jan 20 (TP) The stock of bulletproof jackets seized last Friday at the Colombo International Airport and thought to be imported for illegal purposes, was actually bound to another country, the Public Security Ministry said. more..

Jan 20 (TP) Police have been ordered to prevent all new construction and reconstruction of existing buildings, including hotels and state buildings within 100 metres of the shore, Urban Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardane told the Daily Mirror. more..

Jan 20 (NBC) U.S. Marines shovel dirt as their team clears debris from the Galle school Jan. 13 in the destroyed town of Galle, more..

Jan 20 (TS) ON THE DAMP concrete floor of the Katigoda refugee camp in the Sri Lankan town of Galle, a small group of children is silently and intently playing with crayons. Escaping the heat of midday, they draw the same startling images over and over again - huge, colourful tidal waves crashing over tiny matchstick people. more..

Jan 20 (SAMN) With the first anniversary of UPFA approaching Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said that they would be forced to take drastic action in the future if the SLFP continues to breach the agreement between the two parties. more..

Jan 20 (SAMN) Several hundred Muslims held a demonstration in the Hambantota town Wednesday against a proposed harbour that is to be built in place of their residences and said they were prepared to fast unto death to keep their land. more..

Jan 20 (SAMN) The Cenre for National Operations (CNO) has finalised an intermediate Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) resettlement plan for temporarily housing the displaced persons in family-sized tents according to the prescribed formula of international experts. more..

Jan 20 (SAMN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga Wednesday said there would be no elections for the next five years, as the recovery plan from the tsunami disaster would take precedence over everything else. more..

Jan 20 (TN) Rev.Fr.M.X. Karunaratnam, head of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), was recently appointed as chairman to lead an effort to provide psychological support for those in the NorthEast affected by the tsunami. more..

Jan 20 (SLA) A fifteen-year old school girl earlier abducted, trained and conscripted to the LTTE but got subsequently released after UNICEF intervention, has been once again taken away by an LTTE cadre on 19 January 2005 while she was returning home after a meeting in KITTANGAI, KALMUNAI. more..

Jan 20 (SLA) Police assisted by Special Task Force troops on a tip-off searched a house of a civilian in the general area of AKKARAIPATTU on 19 January 2005 and recovered a haul of arms and ammunition. more..

Jan 20 (SLA) A group of LTTE cadres in protest against a road accident caused by an Army vehicle had turned violent, assaulted soldiers and went on burning tyres at the KODIKAMAM junction on 19 January 2005 around 11.20 a.m. more..

Jan 20 (LT) Bodies of foreigners who died in tsunami waves are being exhumed for DNA tests. A large number of foreigners who had come to Sri Lanka as tourists died when tsunami waves thrashed the coastal areas in the Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western parts in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 20 (SLBC) The Sarvodaya Movement got into the act promptly when the tsunami struck to provide relief and assistance to the stricken victims. "Our members were on the scene on December 26th itself hours after the disaster struck. more..

Jan 20 (LT) At a time when the country is faced with a catastrophe Parliamentarians of TNA act in a very irresponsible manner says TULF leader V. Ananda Sangaree. When they should have joined the Government’s effort to reconstruct the country, by refusing to do so, they have thrown away their responsibility towards the Tamil people says Mr. Ananda Sangaree. more..

Jan 20 (PRIU) Six new judges were sworn in before President Chandrika Kumaratunga today to high offices in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. Judge of the Court of Appeal Nimal Gamini Amaratunga and President of the Court of Appeal Justice Saleem Marsoof were sworn as Judges of the Supreme Court. more..

Jan 20 (PRIU) Italian Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini and Italian Minister of Equal Opportunity Madam Stefania Prestigiacom called on President Kumaratunga at President's House today. more..

Jan 20 (Yahoo) S.Gopinath, 12, a Sri Lankan boy survivor of tsunami, signs a register before receiving relief supplies in the town of Kalmunai on Sri Lanka's east coast January 20, 2005. more..

Jan 20 (PRIU) In the immediate aftermath of the Dec 26th disaster there was a surge of donations from well-wishers from here and overseas to the President’s Fund. The President’s Office then set up a separate Fund for Disaster Relief at the People’s Bank to receive these donations. more..

Jan 20 (Reuters) Sri Lanka cricketers Avishka Gunawardene and Kaushal Lokuarachchi have been cleared of misconduct during the ICC Champions Trophy last year, officials said on Thursday. more..

Jan 20 (LBO) The Ministry of Health is says it will introduce new regulations on food labelling, for packaged food items, by end of January. "We have already sent the regulations to the government printer. They should be gazetted and enforced by end of this month," more..

Jan 20 (LBO) Sri Lanka is asking the US for duty free market access for the next three years, immediately, instead of waiting for the free trade agreement (FTA) to get off the ground. "We have asked for duty free access into the US as soon as possible under special mechanisms that are available," more..

Jan 20 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s southern rail service will be back on track by March, with the Department estimating the repair bill to restore the tract to touch Rs. 1.6 billion. Some 40 kilometers of track and five bridges will be repaired. Currently service is restricted to Kalutara, with the Department hoping to add other destinations as they are repaired. more..

Jan 20 (LBO) The Sri Lankan construction industry wants the billion-dollar tsunami-reconstruction contracts packaged small, to give local contractors a piece of the pie. "The contracts should be sliced or packaged to suit the local construction industry," says Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya, more..