Jan 29 (Xinhua) A Sri Lankan official said Saturday that the government has issued death certificates to over 5,000 people who had succumbed to the killer tsunami last month. Registrar General LK Ratnasiri said that the certificates wouldbe important for the next of kin of the deceased to lay claims to their properties, belongings and insurance claims etc. more..

Jan 29 (LT) JVP rendered a great service for our people. Sinhalese, monks and JVP MP's toiled for us. We are very happy about that. Tsunami taught us that racial, religious and cast divisions will do no good to the mankind, so said the TNA parliamentarian V Thangeshwari in an interview with the weekly newspaper "Lanka". more..

Jan 29 (LT) Defence Secretary, Asoka Jayawardhana and top government officers are still tight lipped about two light air craft being brought to the country for Tigers allegedly in the form of tsunami relief aid. more..

Jan 29 (LT) A Non Governmental Organisation involved in the disposal of land mines in uncleared areas has provided 15 cabs to the Tigers' Organisation. All the 15 cabs are said to have been taken to the Tiger camp at Mullayawali in Mullative on the pretext of deploying them in rehabilitation work in the North. more..

Jan 29 (LT) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress says that "the Relief Services Force of the JVP has done a far greater scope of work than their political party for the people victimized by the tsunami in the Eastern province." more..

Jan 29 (SFG) Four weeks after a tsunami ravaged large parts of South Asia's coastal regions, people are discovering that the reconstruction process may change their communities even more profoundly than the ocean did. more..

Jan 29 (AP) Delegates at a conference in Thailand decided Saturday to create several regional tsunami-warning centers around southern Asia that would protect the area from killer waves, a U.N. official said. more..

Jan 29 (AFP) The United States is ending its tsunami military relief efforts in Sri Lanka and Maldives and moving its support into civilian-driven reconstruction programmes, US officials said here. more..

Jan 29 (TOM) Public Broadcasting Services will be taking out a bank loan to be able to pass on to the Foreign Affairs Ministry the money collected during L-Istrina in aid of the victims of the tsunami that devasted parts of Asia. This was announced yesterday by Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo. more..

Jan 29 (KT) Sri Lankan convicts serving prison terms for various offences committed in the UAE can soon hope to cool their heels in cells back home in their country. The provision which relates to the transfer of sentenced prisoners is also linked to an extradition treaty more..

Jan 29 (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 Sri Lanka's northern coast, an area then engulfed in civil war. more..

Jan 29 (BBC) A place where one of the most devastating atrocities was committed during the history of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, had become a symbol of peace and coexistence after the tsunami. Vidyananda Maha Pirivena, the very place where 31 bodies of Buddhist monks killed by the LTTE in 1987 in Aranthalawa, is today the home for around one thousand tsunami victims. more..

Jan 29 (DN) The Government has launched a special program to survey the coastal belt and demarcate the 100 metre zone along the Western and Southern coastal belt and 200 metres along the Northern and Eastern coast by fixing permanent land markings, the Minister of Public Security, Law and Order said yesterday. more..

Jan 29 (ANN) Panic in a number of areas across the country and traffic congestion was reported Friday after false rumours about a tsunami wave disrupted normal life among some coastal communities. These incidents were reported from the coastal areas of Colombo, Panadura, the Southern Province, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, more..

Jan 29 (GI) A Sri Lankan man carries his belongings from a refugee camp to a shelter built by The Ministry of Urban Development in Kalutara North, some 48kms south of Colombo, more..

Jan 29 (HT) Sri Lankans in the eastern coastal district of Batticaloa have begun worshiping two Thai Buddhist shrines washed ashore by the tsunami of December 26. The small but ornate shrines were washed ashore at Vaharai, an area controlled by the Tamil rebel group, LTTE, and at Mankerni, an area controlled by Sri Lankan government troops. more..

Jan 29 (AP) The U.S. military said Saturday it will complete the withdrawal of troops engaged in post-tsunami relief in Sri Lanka by Feb. 15. At the peak of the tsunami relief and rescue, 1,600 U.S. troops were involved in relief operations in the island nation, more..

Jan 29 (UNI) The US government is impressed by the post-tsunami rescue and relief operation in Sri Lanka undertaken by India and its military, a top US embassy official said today. "We are impressed by India's relief operation, especially by the Indian military here. more..

Jan 29 (WPH) Links between charities and the LTTE, designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department, have raised concerns in Western governments that the Sri Lankan rebel group is using aid meant for victims of the tsunami to buy weapons and replenish its depleted ranks with child soldiers. more..

Jan 29 (AP) Delegates at a conference in Thailand decided Saturday to create several regional tsunami warning centers around southern Asia that would protect the area from killer waves, a U.N. official said. more..

Jan 29 (TN) The Centre for Health Care (CHC), an NGO based in Kilinochchi, said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has come forward with donations of medical supplies to CHC relief efforts towards the Tsunami affected victims on Saturday. more..

Jan 29 (TN) Trincomalee Children Fund (TCF) funded by a group of Trincomalee Tamils domiciled in Canada Friday distributed a consignment of cooking utensils, mats and other relief items to hundreds of tsunami victims in the LTTE held Eeachilampathu division, down south of the Trincomalee district. more..

Jan 29 (TN) "Mr. S.B.Dissanayake is entitled to his salary as a parliamentarian and according to the section 89 of the constitution. The sentence of the courts does not deprive him of the seat in Parliament. The judgement is undemocratic and illegal," said Prof G L Peiris, UNP parliamentarian more..

Jan 29 (Yahoo) K. Selama, 39, a Tamil war refuge, prepares food at a temporary shelter in a refuge camp in Jaffna, 188 miles north of Colombo, Sri Lanka, more..

Jan 30 (WG) A LEYTON man will lead a team helping to rebuild houses and lives in an area of Sri Lanka badly affected by the tsunami. Sri Lankan-born Francis Perera is currently raising funds in conjunction with the Dandelion Trust for a trip to the country's Western Province to help devastated fishing communities in Ratmalana, Mount Lavinia and Moratuwa. more..

Jan 30 (TN) General Anurudha Ratwatte, former deputy defence minister in the then People Alliance (PA) government and one of the accused in Udathalawinne massacre case on February 3 in the Trial at Bar. more..

Jan 30 (AT) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader and an ally of the main opposition - United National Party - Rauff Hakeem expressed confidence in the post-Tsunami recovery efforts in the worst-hit Eastern areas more..

Jan 30 (AT) Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp which was liberated of by the Soviet Red Army 60 years ago, symbolises man’s capacity for evil. Evil not caused by demonic possession or insanity but the result of all too human prejudices taken to their illogical extremes. more..

Jan 30 (AT) Last night (Friday, 28) the Melbourne-based office of the Serendib – a nation-wide community newspaper for Sri Lankans in Australia -- was vandalized and three laptops, three PCs, CD’s on which the backup information was stored were removed. This vandalizing was aimed at crippling the production of this monthly. more..

Jan 30 (BBC) Relief operations in Sri Lanka are not functioning smoothly owing to the inaction of some government officials, a government minister has warned. Acting social services minister S M Chandrasena told BBC Sandeshaya that these inactive official will be delt with sevearly. more..

Jan 30 (AFP) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has expressed shock over the loss of lives and damage to property in several states in India, including Tamil Nadu, in the Tsunami strike. more..

Jan 30 (Gulf) LTTE will not win hearts if it recruits child soldiers from tsunami affected areas. Natural disasters, even when they serve to unite the international community and strike a chord in humanity, also, sadly, underline the harsh reality of life in lands held hostage by ethnic rivalry. Sri Lanka is a case in point. more..

Jan 30 (Bernama) Former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, one of Asia's most successful leaders, is expected to deliver his keynote address at the CIMA Sri Lanka Global Summit 2005 in May. Also billed to speak at the summit is former Pakistani test cricket captain Imran Khan. more..

Jan 30 (TP) President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga toured the tsunami-stricken Beruwela area in the south on Thursday night and visited three camps for the displaced and inquired into their welfare, the Daily News said. more..

Jan 30 (GI) Children are silhouetted against the sky as they play on a slide in the grounds of a shelter built by The Ministry of Urban Development in Kalutara North, some 48kms south of Colombo, 29 January 2005. more..

Jan 30 (SAMN) The US yesterday said their military was willing to return to Sri Lanka for future reconstruction activity, should the need arise, but ruled out any work in LTTE-controlled areas. "Our focus is going to be relief and reconstruction and we work in government controlled areas," more..

Jan 30 (SAMN) The Department of Census and Statistics will be conducting a census in districts affected by the Tsunami to collate information on loss of lives and property and its impact on the industrial sector. more..

Jan 30 (SAMN) JVP trade unions have charged that two key government institutions have rejected their offers to help post-tsunami rehabilitation work amidst indication that the rift between the JVP and the SLFP -- main coalition partners in the UPFA government -- is deepening. more..

Jan 30 (SAMN) The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is being accused of embarking on a large scale membership drive in the areas affected by the tsunami tragedy. The JVP, which distributed relief aid in the days following last month's tsunami, has reportedly started to visit the houses of victims, pressurising them to join the party. more..

Jan 30 (SAMN) President Kumaratunga’s government is in a crisis with the JVP vowing to quit the alliance unless the major partner honoured their electoral pact. The JVP had warned the SLFP that it wouldn’t hesitate to quit as the Marxist party was no longer in a mood to put up with what a party spokesperson termed as unilateral and short-sighted decisions and unprecedented breach of the agreements. more..

Jan 30 (SO) Several instances of corruption and dishonesty among school authorities have been brought to the notice of the President's Office in the recent past. President on Friday directed the Ministry of Education which is under her purview, to immediately interdict the Principal of the Maliyadeva Girls' School in Kurunegala. more..

Jan 30 (KLTV) The east Texas disaster relief team is back home after a two week mission to tsunami ravaged Sri Lanka. "It really amazed at the destruction on the eastern side of the island to see it first hand and visit with the people of what they'd been through really opened your eyes to what they experienced" more..

Jan 30 (Reuters) Lara used to earn his living assisting a diving master and offering company to lonely woman tourists on one of Sri Lanka's popular beaches dotted with small hotels and shacks selling spicy lobsters. more..

Jan 30 (Yahoo) Tsunami survivors wait for aid from the Red Cross in the village of Duwamodara on the west coast of Sri Lanka January 29, 2005. more..

Jan 30 (ANN) Hotel Developers (Lanka) Limited , owners of the Colombo Hilton, expects tourism and related business such as airline crews billeted in hotels to slow down in the first quarter of the current year had said that it was too early to speculate how fast this business segment will recover. more..

Jan 30 (SLA) A fisherman engaged in fishing in the general sea area of IRRANATHIVU on 29 January 2005 around 0845 a.m. succumbed to his injuries on the spot in an explosion when he attempted to handle an explosive charge for fishing in the mid sea. more..

Jan 30 (SLA) Naval troops continue to observe scores of Indian trawlers engaged in poaching inside Sri Lankan waters in the general sea area of TALAIMANNAR. A flotilla of 20 Indian fishing trawlers poaching in the general sea area of VANKALAIPADU were sighted by Naval troops on 29 January 2005 around 10.00 p.m.

Jan 30 (LT) Interpol assistance is sought by the CID to track down an Australian passport holder suspected as the importer of the helicopters to Sri Lanka via Bandaranayke International Airport concealed in tsunami aid. more..

Jan 30 (AP) Pope John Paul II has sent an envoy to Indonesia and Sri Lanka to help coordinate tsunami relief efforts by Catholic agencies, the Vatican said on Saturday. The pope also urged followers of different religions to work together to assist populations devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunamis. more..

Jan 30 (AFP) Tsunami victims stranded in a remote part of eastern Sri Lanka had one urgent request when a team of Tamil Tiger rebels reached them last week after travelling days through the jungle -- send a barber. more..