Jan 25 (SAMN) Government Agent of Batticaloa and representatives of the GAs of Ampara and Trincomalee are reported to have gone to Kilinochchi for a meeting arranged by the LTTE to discuss tsunami relief operations. more..

Jan 25 (SAMN) The Mahanayaka of the Malwatte Chapter Most Ven. Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera said the government and the opposition should jointly take decisions when rehabilitating tsunami affected areas. more..

Jan 25 (SAMN) A massive 'shramadana' campaign, under the patronage of Prof. G.L. Peiris, MP and UNP Organizer for Moratuwa, was undertaken by the Prof. G.L. Peiris Foundation, with the assistance of the Moratuwa Municipality, on January 2, 3 and 4, to clear the post tsunami debris and help bring about normalcy to life in the coastal areas of Moratuwa. more..

Jan 25 (Reuters) For generations, souvenir-seller M. Samsudeel's family have owed their livelihood to the imposing 17th century Dutch fort in Sri Lanka's southern town of Galle. Now he owes it his life. more..

Jan 25 (Gulf) A government proposal to restrict reconstruction in the tsunami-hit areas has run into controversy. The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed serious concerns about the resettlement plan as thousands of tsunami victims living along the coastal belt will have to move away from their houses. more..

Jan 25 (UPI) They are of all shapes, sizes and colors. The tsunami hit areas of the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka look like a world conference amid rubble. Every cluster of camping tents has a flag showing the name of the non-governmental organization or the country that it has come from. more..

Jan 25 (SFG) In front of a roadside tent he made from wooden poles and a sheet of plastic, P.S. Thiaugansalen swung a heavy hoe into the soil, to dig a pit to bury his garbage. An attendant at nearby Komari hospital, he was just eight months from retirement when the Dec. 26 tsunami destroyed his home and flattened the medical clinic. more..

Jan 25 (GI) A Sri Lankan tsunami survivor feeds her child sitting on a railway track in the Colombo suburb of Moratuwa 25 January 2005. more..

Jan 25 (SFG) When the tsunami took out the bridge from Pottuvil to this beach community at one end of Arugam Bay, it stranded more than 10,000 people living down a coastline known for some of the best surfing in the world. more..

Jan 25 (Misna) The statue of an ancient princess who was sacrificed to the ocean to calm a tidal wave has become an object of veneration by Sri Lanka’s tsunami-stricken population. The local newspaper ‘The Island’ carries a photograph taken in ‘Kelani Raja Maha’ temple, depicting pilgrims in prayer before a glass case displaying the image of Princess Vihara Maha Devi, the daughter of King Kavanissa. more..

Jan 25 (AFP) Sri Lanka said it was awaiting a further response from Tamil Tiger rebels on possible joint tsunami relief operations after peacebroker Norway tried to clinch an arrangement. The LTTE had agreed to consider President Chandrika Kumaratunga's proposal for joint action, the government said in a statement on Tuesday. more..

Jan 25 (HT) To ensure the equitable distribution and utilisation of millions of dollars of tsunami relief, the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are exploring the possibility of setting up a multi-ethnic, national and regional decision making body. more..

Jan 25 (CNN) Till Mayer is a journalist working for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Galle, Sri Lanka. He is writing about his experiences as part of the relief effort for CNN.com. more..

Jan 25 (CNN) The Bush administration plans to nearly double its tsunami aid relief contribution to about $650 million for the nations hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami, congressional sources have told CNN. The sources did not say when the increase would be announced formally. more..

Jan 26 (IANS) Ceylinco Consolidated, the leading corporate group in Sri Lanka, has tied up with Shriram Properties Ltd to develop commercial and housing properties in Bangalore and Chennai. more..

Jan 26 (TN) Komari is a village settled mostly by families that came to work at a British Royal Air Force runway on Sri Lanka’s remote southeastern coast during World War II. It is a narrow but densely populated promontory sandwiched between a lagoon and the sea. more..

Jan 26 (TN) Political Head of the LTTE in Amparai, Mr. Kuyilinpan, told TamilNet Tuesday that the Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) soldiers have stepped up their harassment against the LTTE workers who are assisting the Tsunami victims in Thirukkovil and Kalmuni areas. more..

Jan 26 (AP) Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will return to Test cricket in March for the series against New Zealand after an extended layoff with a shoulder injury, the cricket board said Tuesday. more..

Jan 26 (TP) People from the village of Telwatta in South Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 26 (BBC) Restarting the schools after the tsunami had become a major problem in many of the affected areas. Matara Government Agent Gamini Jayasekera told Elmo Fernando. “We are discussing the matter with some Nayake Theros of local temples where we are planning to house the people. more..

Jan 26 (BBC) A dispute between the police special task force (STF) and the LTTE, had been defused by the intervention of the SLMM. The row errupted after the STF had informed the local police about the LTTE taking 21 young children away from the tsunami refugee camp at RKN college premises in Akkraipattu. more..

Jan 26 (BBC) Health minister Nimal Siripala De Silva on Tuesday suspended the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) said. GMOA general secretary Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya told BBC Sandeshaya that the Medical Council failed to carry out its responsibilities. more..

Jan 26 (AP) While the world's heart and money go out to tsunami victims who lost their homes, another group of refugees looks on in despair. Muthuthampy Joganathan has been in temporary shelters for 15 years since he was evicted by the Sri Lankan army from his house near the northern coast, an area engulfed in war. more..

Jan 26 (Reuters) Just as the Canadian public has responded with unprecedented generosity to the Tsunami disaster so has Canada’s health-care industry. Pharmaceutical and health-care companies have donated the largest medical aid package ever to Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC), a Canadian medical aid agency. more..

Jan 26 (TN) As the northeast province is getting ready to observe a day of mourning Wednesday to mark the end of one month after Tsunami disaster that killed about thirty thousand people, special religious observance was held Tuesday evening in Jaffna St Mary's Cathedral led by Jaffna Bishop Rt.Rev. Thomas Soundaranayagam, sources in Jaffna said. more..

Jan 26 (NW) A rabies vaccination and medical care program for dogs was recently launched in Sri Lanka by IFAW's Emergency Relief team, led by Dr. Ian Robinson, in conjunction with local veterinarians in response to the Tsunami disaster. more..

Jan 26 (WF) Representatives from the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway met January 25 in Brussels, Belgium, for the third donor co-chairs’ meeting of the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 26 (AL) These images features Thirukkovil and Thambattai from the district of Ampara which is the most affected district in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 26 (Xinhua) A Chinese company on Tuesday donated machinery and equipment worth 200,000 US dollars to Sri Lanka for the tsunami-hit country to repair its railway tracks. The machinery and equipment donated by China National MachineryImport and Export Corporation (CMC) more..

Jan 26 (GI) The government of Sri Lanka has praised the work of the Cuban medical brigade in Galle, in the South province, one of the regions most affected by the tsunamis that devastated the small Indian Ocean island, and highlighted that the local population are happy with the attention they are receiving from the island’s doctors. more..

Jan 26 (TV) In the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, Sri Lanka has responded swiftly to bounce back onto its feet and move forward. On the coastline, about fifty hotels in affected areas are temporarily closed for reconstruction and repair. However, many hotels have already commenced operations and others are confident of opening by March this year. more..

Jan 26 (AT) Cleavage between the Government of Sri Lanka and the rebel outfit – LTTE continuously widens as suspicions looms large notwithstanding the 12/26 tsunami destruction, where more than 30,000 Sri Lankans – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims perished. more..

Jan 26 (AT) Member of Parliament Milinda Moragoda will be highlighting Sri Lanka’s tsunami tragedy as well the nation’s response at the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders Annual Meeting in Davos on 27th January 2005 evening at Hotel Post, Davoserstube. more..

Jan 26 (AT) Peace Secretariats of the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are exploring ways and means achieving means of working together at a technical level in a post tsunami humanitarian relief and rehabilitation works. more..

Jan 26 (TN) In a joint press statement issued by the co-chairs after the Brussels meeting Tuesday, the Sri Lanka Donors "welcomed the ongoing effective response by the GoSL and the LTTE in distributing humanitarian aid" and urged the donors to "ensure [that] the implementation of Tsunami assistance is sensitive to and strengthens the Peace Process." more..

Jan 26 (Stuff) Thanks a million - that was the message from the Sri Lankan contingent of the World XI cricket side as they touched down in Hamilton ahead of the deciding game against New Zealand today. "I think it's been a brilliant effort to see people from around the world come together at this time. more..

Jan 26 (AF) Senior Airman Russell Asbel inspects the rotor blade on his HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter after an Operation Unified Assistance mission here. more..

Jan 26 (SAMN) A controversy has arisen over an unauthorised visit by a senior police officer to an LTTE controlled area in Batticaoloa and his detention by the Tigers for about two hours. The officer in the centre of the dispute is Deputy Inspector General J. Thangavelu Director of the Legal branch at Police Headquarters. more..

Jan 26 (SAMN) In a dramatic bid to end the strike action by doctors, the Health Ministry Tuesday requested the country's main medical governing body the SLMC to suspend its work pertaining to the dispute over the registration of Registered and Assistant Medical Officers and appointed a committee of eminent persons to look into the dispute. more..

Jan 26 (SAMN) The government said Tuesday it was awaiting a further response from the LTTE on possible joint tsunami relief operations after peacebroker Norway tried to clinch an arrangement. The LTTE had agreed to consider President Chandrika Kumaratunga's proposal for joint action, the government said in a statement. more..

Jan 26 (SAMN) There is growing concern over what the National Patriotic Front (NPF) termed as a concerted effort to egg on the LTTE and its stooge organisations. “This poses a huge threat to Sri Lankan state,” NPC’s Ven. Elle Gunawansa told The Island Tuesday, more..

Jan 26 (TP) Prompt action and preventive measures helped contain the spread of infectious diseases in tsunami-hit areas, the Centre for National Operations (CNO) said. According to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Health, there have been only 135 cases of diarrhoea and 579 cases of viral fever in the affected areas which are below the baseline for epidemics, the centre said. more..

Jan 26 (TP) A special programme to monitor the flow of foreign aid for tsunami-related projects is to be launched by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL). The paper quoted J C Weliamuna, Executive Director of TISL as saying that a high level meeting with all government and NGOs dealing in tsunami funds would be held in Colombo on Friday to discuss accountability and transparency issues. more..

Jan 26 (Bloomberg) Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. and John Keells Holdings Ltd., two of Sri Lanka's biggest companies, expect to benefit from a government plan to build new towns on the island to replace homes destroyed by the Dec. 26 tsunami. more..

Jan 26 (BBC) Work never stops to make life better for the children at the Tender Sprout home at its temporary base in Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka. It was set up by a group of brave women who were appalled by what Sri Lanka's 20-year civil war was doing to children. more..

Jan 26 (GI) Utshala Sudershini (C) and her twin sister Utshala Priyadarshini (L) study while sitting in a tent with their grandmother (2R) and mother (R)at Rajjipura Refugee Camp in Galle, more..

Jan 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka was called to observe a minute's silence on Wednesday as a sign of respect for the nearly 31,000 people who perished in the tsunami disaster a full month ago. State and private radio, and television stations called on the entire country to fall silent at 9:36 am (0336 GMT), the time the tsunami struck more..

Jan 26 (SPX) Kinniya Hospital on the east coast of Sri Lanka was destroyed by the Dec. 26 tsunami, and its 40 patients and hospital staff are missing. It was just one of many buildings poorly prepared for actual disaster. more..

Jan 26 (ANN) It is a month since the tsunami disaster, which will go down in history as the worst ever natural calamity to have pummelled the country. It has hardly spared anyone. Almost every Sri Lankan has lost a family member, a relative, a friend or someone known to him or her. more..

Jan 26 (TN) Several hundreds of Tamil and Muslim families from coastal villages of Vellore, Veerancholai, Irrakakandy, Iranaikerni, Kumburupiddy, Salli Munai, Kuchchaveli along the north of Trincomalee district, displaced by the tsunami disaster and now sheltered in welfare centres complain of inadequate relief supplies reaching them. more..