Jan 24 (SAMN) Seventy three schools will have to be relocated due to the government's declaration of a 100m buffer zone along the coastal belt, a top Education Ministry official said Sunday. The official told that 73 schools out of a total 176 damaged in the country would be relocated more..

Jan 24 (CSM) Alarmed at the near total absence of women's voices in the post-tsunami recovery and reconstruction now taking place in Sri Lanka, a group of women's associations has quickly formed there. Led by Visaka Dharmadasa, founder of the Association of War Affected Women, they have established the Tsunami Women's Fund and demanded a seat at the table at meetings on policy for rebuilding their country. more..

Jan 24 (TT) The areas north of Trincomalee are a bleak sight. Nilaveli was a tourist hotspot, but the northern regions have seen much violence and are scarred. It is beautiful land though, with mile after mile of green shores and emerald sea. This land is also testament to the will and determination of the people. more..

Jan 24 (AT) The Tamil rebel outfit’s allegation against Sri Lankan Government using aid money for the purchase of arms have put the LTTE in a quandary. Now the Sri Lankan government wants to know details about the aid cash collected in the name of Tamil Rehabilitation Organization TRO in the foreign countries. more..

Jan 24 (NYT) A dozen Americans walked into a relief camp here, showering bereft parents and traumatized children with gifts, attention and affection. They also quietly offered camp residents something else: Jesus. more..

Jan 24 (LT) News bulletins and certain programmes telecast by Rupavahini are parochial and follow a policy of not telecasting credible news of the opposition or for that matter even the sttements relesed by the JVP, a main partner in the Government says Mr. Tilvin Silva, more..

Jan 24 (GI) Displaced Sri Lankan children draw paintings at an Austrian run relief camp in Galle, some 120kms south of Colombo, 23 January 2005. more..

Jan 24 (LT) The UNP has begun a campaign to apprise the diplomatic circles of the statement the President made in an opening ceremony to build houses for those affected by tsunami waves held in Hambantota. The President had said that there won’t be elections for another five years. more..

Jan 24 (TN) “We came here when we heard that people in the camps needed some medical assistance. We started setting up a medical facility here today. Our team can see about three hundred patients a day depending on the availability of Tamil interpreters”, Captain Scott Malcom of the Canadian army told TamilNet Sunday, more..

Jan 24 (TN) JVP has expressed its strong opposition to the government's bid to include the Liberation Tigers in the post-tsunami relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation process using the outpouring international aid resources. more..

Jan 24 (TN) Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) provided financial aid to fifty nine undergraduate students from Amparai district attending Peradeniya, Jaffna and Eastern Universities who were affected by the tsunami disasater in an event held at TRO officies in Thirukovil Monday 10 am, more..

Jan 24 (wsws) In the wake of the tsunami disaster, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)—the second largest party in Sri Lanka’s ruling UPFA —has issued a plan that would seriously undermine basic democratic rights and put the burden of rebuilding onto the backs of working people. more..

Jan 24 (SLA) Naval troops continue to observe scores of Indian trawlers engaged in poaching inside Sri Lankan waters in the general sea areas of TALAIMANNAR. A flotilla of 40 Indian trawlers poaching in the general sea area south of TALAIMANNAR were sighted by naval troops on 23 January 2005 around 10.45 a.m.

Jan 24 (Gulf) The Government has armed itself with controversial and far-reaching laws to deal with situation arising in the aftermath of tsunami. The laws go on to impose penalties of death and imprisonment for criminal offences and confer on the armed forces powers of search and arrest. more..

Jan 24 (LT) The Relief Services Force of the JVP commenced its relief work in the Districts of Batticaloa and Ampare yesterday. According to a spokesperson of the JVP 1100 members are engaged in relief work in Batticaloa District while 1500 are in Ampare District. more..

Jan 24 (TP) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was jeered in his own constituency of southern Hambantota after he argued with a group of villagers demonstrating against government moves to resettle tsunami victims away from their original homes close to the beach. more..

Jan 24 (TP) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is to open a branch office in rebel-held Mullaitivu town to facilitate rehabilitation assistance to tsunami victims. The Sunday Times said that plans for this branch office have been finalised but government officials remained unaware. more..

Jan 24 (Yahoo) A Tamil child displaced by Asia's tsunami takes a basket of foods provided by Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation in the village of Maruthenkerni in Tamil Tiger rebel-held Northern Kilinochchi district on January 23. more..

Jan 24 (TP) Lessons on natural disasters will feature in the revised school curricula, National Institute of Education (NIE) has decided after the tsunami disaster. The Sunday Observer said for the first time in the history, schoolchildren will soon be given the opportunity to read about natural disasters, floods, bushfires, earthquakes, drought, tsunami and earthslips. more..

Jan 24 (AFP) A World XI put their humiliating weekend drubbing behind them to beat New Zealand by three wickets here in the second one-day cricket match of a series to raise money for tsunami victims. New Zealand had the man of the match in century-maker Nathan Astle but more..

Jan 24 (UPI) Coral reefs surrounding Sri Lanka may not have suffered as much damage from the Indian Ocean tsunami as initially feared. Jerker Tamelander of the World Conservation Union, explained, "A lot of the mechanical damage seems to have been caused by boats washing over coral reefs and in turn pushing over large boulders, more..

Jan 24 (Reuters) A young Sri Lankan couple glances furtively around before settling among rocks hemming a beach. Every movement feigns innocence, and only the quivering of an open umbrella suggests they are not just taking in the sunset. more..

Jan 24 (AFP) The UN's refugee agency called on the Sri Lankan government to rethink plans to create a coastal buffer zone, arguing it would swell the ranks of the hundreds of thousands already displaced by last month's tsunami. more..

Jan 24 (AP) Sri Lanka will spend US$320 million (€245 million) to repair resorts damaged by last month's tsunami and promote its beleaguered tourist industry, hoping to attract 600,000 visitors this year, officials said Monday. more..

Jan 24 (AP) Austria's foreign minister arrived Monday in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka to hold talks on relief and to visit devastated areas, officials said. Ursula Plassnik met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and was to meet Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to discuss aid for the victims more..

Jan 24 (CNA) Sri Lanka's 18-million dollar fishing industry was badly hurt by the December 26 tsunami. Close to one million people working in the industry lost their livelihood and many fishermen their homes. In Southern Sri Lanka, it's one scene of destruction after another. more..

Jan 24 (DP) Bob Hillgrove soon will see his daughter's smile again. For a man who doesn't believe in miracles, it's hard for him to explain. His daughter was taken away one month ago, drowned by a tsunami that devastated Asia and plundered the beach where Kelly was staying. more..

Jan 24 (AFP) Tamil Tigers said they would observe a day of mourning to mark the one month anniversary of the tsunami tragedy that killed almost 31,000 Sri Lankans, many in the rebels' northeastern stronghold. more..

Jan 24 (AP) A top Norwegian envoy held surprise talks Monday with a Tamil Tiger rebel leader on setting up a new way to distribute tsunami aid that would give the guerrillas more oversight of aid headed for territory they control. more..

Jan 24 (AP) Laughter rings out as hundreds of children in uniform spill across the dirt schoolyard in southern Sri Lanka for the midday break. Yet, just a few miles up the road is a painful reminder of their desperate circumstances — their flattened homes. more..

Jan 24 (NC) Development charity VSO is launching an urgent campaign to recruit more than 200 volunteers to work in the region affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami. VSO chief executive Mark Goldring said there is a "pressing need" for applications. more..

Jan 24 (GI) Sri Lankan women light traditional oil lamps in Gangarama Temple in Colombo. Hundreds of Sri Lankans began the first full moon day of the New Year by visiting temples to pray for the nearly 39,000 people killed more..

Jan 24 (DN) In the case of any person found dead or missing following the Tsunami tidal waves on December 26, 2004, their close relatives could forward an affidavit giving all the particulars about relatives who had died or gone missing to the Registrar of the respective Magistrate Courts to obtain the death certificate. more..

Jan 24 (HT) The tsunami of December 26, 2004, was the greatest leveller in recent Sri Lankan history. It hit the Sinhalas, Tamils and Muslims, the rich and the poor, the Tamil North-East and the Sinhala South, in one mighty sweep. more..

Jan 24 (BBC) Sir Elton John has performed at a special concert in Paris to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami. The British singer played to a 2,700-strong audience on Sunday at the French capital's Bastille opera house. more..

Jan 24 (YDN) Yalies braved the howling winds Saturday night to commemorate the Sri Lankan tsunami disaster in an oasis of warmth, candlelight and peace in Battell Chapel. Indigo Blue, the center for Buddhist life at Yale, held an all-night vigil, lasting through Sunday morning, both to honor victims of the tsunami and to remember those who survived. more..

Jan 24 (AR) Professor Harindra Fernando and the other scientists who traveled to Sri Lanka to study the effects of the tsunami that ravaged the island nation got more than they bargained for. They gathered a wealth of data - their findings may prevent tragedies of similar scope - and they also heard compelling human stories they will never forget. more..

Jan 24 (G&M) In the past, great floods have been known to inspire new covenants. But one month after the tsunamis that many hoped would bring combatants together for the good of stricken regions of Asia, it remains unclear whether any accord can be achieved in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 24 (JS) The European Union has agreed to accelerate moves to lower trade tariffs on clothing imported from tsunami-hit Sri Lanka. A special committee of 25 EU governments on Friday said they would fast-track a European Commission proposal to reform its Generalised System of Preferences, or GSP, tariff system to 1 April, from1 July. more..

Jan 24 (IFW) There is some semblance of normality at Sri Lanka's Colombo Bandaranaike International airport after the tsunami, although significant cargo backlogs remain. Sri Lankan Airlines head of cargo Nalin Rodrigo told IFW: "Scheduled commercial flights have restarted in parallel with the charter relief flights. more..

Jan 24 (Yahoo) Idusan, 9, a tsunami survivor, looks at the camera at a shelter for displaced tsunami survivors in Thambiluvil on Sri Lanka's east coast, January 24 more..

Jan 24 (AFP) Peacebroker Norway ended a four-day mission to Sri Lanka after apparently wringing concessions from government and rebels on the need to cooperate in distributing foreign tsunami aid. The last of the four-person team, deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen, left Colombo Monday afternoon more..

Jan 24 (ET) A relief fund to provide aid to Sri Lankan villages devastated by the tsunami has already raised £200,000. And thousands of pounds have already been spent giving dozens of families back their livelihood. The Hikkaduwa Area Relief Fund, launched earlier this month, has been used to put fishing boats back to sea. more..

Jan 24 (AP) Maha Mahadevan had planned to visit an elephant park on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka but decided that the trek from his sister's home where he was staying was too long. At the last minute, he opted to go to a closer park on the western coast instead. more..

Jan 24 (Reuters) Sri Lankan seamstress Srishanthini Vetharniyam hates living in a camp for tsunami-displaced, and is desperate to be resettled in her village deep inside Tamil rebel territory and start life over. more..

Jan 24 (RIA) The Emergencies Ministry's aeromobile hospital in Sri Lanka which is providing assistance to those affected by the tsunami will work until February 4-5, Emergencies Ministry international activity department director Yuri Brazhnikov said at a RIA Novosti press conference. more..

Jan 24 (TN) Transport on the main coastal road between Kalmunai and Batticaloa resumed Monday, almost a month after the Tsunami ripped off sections of two causeways in Kallar, 28 kilometres south of the eastern town. The main gap in the Ondaatchi Madam-koddaikallar Causeway was spanned by a temporary bridge by the RDA. more..

Jan 24 (Yahoo) Young Sri Lankan tsunami survivors wear life jackets as they walk towards speed boats to cross a bay after the local bridge was washed away by the tsunami in Pottivul, more..

Jan 24 (SC) Save the Children has been working with a local partner development and education organisation. During his visit he will conduct a needs assessment study for the towns of Galle and Matara which were badly hit by the disaster. He said of the task ahead: “Nothing can prepare you for what you see over here. more..

Jan 24 (BBC) Nearly after a month since the Indian ocean tsunami, survivors are making every effort to get back on their feet. In Sri Lanka where nearly 40,000 are feared dead and a million made homeless, food, clothing and shelter alone cannot bring life back to normal. more..