Jan 12 (AT) about a fund raising campaign launched by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Sri Lankan terrorist group. The Tamil terrorist group, which is engaged in a bitter struggle against the Sri Lankan Army for the creation of a separate state, is banned in several countries. more..

Jan 12 (Yahoo) A young Sri Lankan boy climbs up a tree where a boat landed after it was swept inland in Mullaitivu, in the rebel LTTE controlled northern part of Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 12 (CI) A year ago Muttiah Muralitharan threatened never to tour Australia again. John Howard, the prime minister, had publicly decided Muralitharan was a chucker, whenever he bowled there were no-ball yells from the stands, and it was the only country where he had been called for throwing. more..

Jan 12 (NYT) Next door to four houses flattened by the tsunami, three rooms of Poorima Jayaratne's home still stood intact. The 30-year-old had a ready explanation for that anomaly, and her entire family's survival: She was a Buddhist, and her neighbors were not. more..

Jan 12 (SAMN) With world governments so far pledging a staggering US$ 8,000 million (about SL Rs. 800,000 million) besides private donations for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, the United Nations Tuesday called in an independent firm of auditors to help ensure that aid money found its way to those in need. more..

Jan 12 (BBC) On Sunday, 09 January, 2005, Sir David Frost interviewed President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaratunga. Please note "BBC Breakfast with Frost" must be credited if any part of this transcript is used. more..

Jan 12 (SAMN) Over 600 children in the Southern Province are destitute. They have lost one or both parents or dependents to the tsunami tidal wave according to a report based on a survey carried out in Welfare Centres of the South. more..

Jan 12 (CSM) The Leeli sisters were opening their beachfront shop when the first wave hit. They ran looking for their kids. Grandmother was unintentionally left behind. She wasn't seen again. That basic narrative about elderly family members lost or harmed is often repeated in Sri Lanka's hardest-hit tsunami areas - though it gets less notice than those detailing the plight of children. more..

Jan 12 (Yahoo) Cleaning up : A Sri Lankan resident gathers debris outside his destroyed house in Mullaitivu, devastated by the 26 December quake-triggered tidal waves. more..

Jan 12 (AP) The U.N. humanitarian chief who complained after the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami that Western nations were often "stingy" said Tuesday that this year "has started better than any other ... in terms of human generosity." more..

Jan 12 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka is grateful to China for its generous help in the aftermath of the fatal tsunami, the country's Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama said Tuesday. "We are very happy with China's donations and contributions. Sri Lanka will fully recover with the help from the international community," he said told Xinhua. more..

Jan 12 (KCTV) Chandra Weerasinghe says many Americans don't know where her home country of Sri Lanka is located. "Someone told me it's a city in India or something," she said.Sri Lanka is an island nation near the southern tip of India, and on Dec. 26 it was in the path of tsunamis. more..

Jan 12 (TN) The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) in an urgent press statement issued on Wednesday morning said that the intimidation of relief workers by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) has been escalating in several welfare centres in Batticaloa and Amparai. more..

Jan 12 (TN) Amidst widespread allegations of mishandling of tsunami aid operation, the United Nations have Tuesday called in a top US audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to monitor and ensure the pledged international post-tsunami relief support reaches the right people. more..

Jan 12 (TN) Mr. Raja Katukampola, News Director of the Government owned Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) has been removed from the duty, media sources said. Katukampola's duties are replaced by Mr.Somapala Perara, the sources added. more..

Jan 12 (SLA) Six suspected LTTE youngsters armed with fire arms and hand grenades have abducted and threatened three civilians in the general area of PUDUR, MAILANA on 09 January 2005 around 9.00 a.m. with death unless they pay Rs. 300,000/=. (US $ 3157) to those armed men. more..

Jan 12 (SLA) A girl who was affected by tsunami disaster and subsequently housed inside a Social Welfare Center at the St. XAVIER College, TRINCOMALEE has been taken away by an LTTE member on 10 January 2005 around 2.00 p.m. more..

Jan 12 (SLA) Police with the assistance of the troops intervened and took back the key of a food store at RAMAKRISHNAN MISSION SCHOOL at KALMUNAI on 11 January 2005 after members of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) forcibly grabbed the key from the Grama Sevaka (state official) and went on distributing relief supplies on their own. more..

Jan 12 (SLA) Troops once again on 11 January 2005 around 12.20 p.m. have observed about 15 LTTE cadres were engaged in constructing bunkers at the Forward Defence Line (FDL) at NAGARKOVIL. This was the second instance of this nature witnessed by troops on duty in the area after the tsunami disaster. more..

Jan 12 (LBO) Sri Lanka will publish new building guidelines to start rebuilding tsunami-damaged houses along the coast, in a few days time, says the Urban Development Authority (UDA). more..

Jan 12 (LBO) A visiting team of US lawmakers say aid needs to vary in form and be spread over time to support long term relief efforts in tsunami affected nations. A twelve member United States Congressional delegation, lead by Representative James Leach, concluded a two day visit to affected areas in the south Wednesday. more..

Jan 12 (LBO) A group of volunteers are being banded together to form the country�s first Sea Rescue Institution, to search and save life in local maritime disasters. Thought up well before the tsunami wrecked Sri Lanka�s coastline, the team can carry out emergency rescue of people in floods or when ships catch fire or even run aground. more..

Jan 12 (LBO) At the time when all hell broke loose, getting or giving information became a nightmare. Coordinating help became another catastrophe. So instead of stuffing bags with relief supplies kindly donated by Sri Lankan and the world and sending it to all the work places, a group of IT professionals put their core competencies to work. more..

Jan 12 (PIS) Germany yesterday stepped into help tsunami-devastated Sri Lanka in a fantastic way pledging 500 million euros (about US$ 668 million) and to push for debt relief and free access for Sri Lankan goods to European markets. more..

Jan 12 (Yahoo) An aerial view of a bridge damaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami in the eastern town of Pottuvil, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005. Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll increased to 30,882 people Tuesday more..

Jan 12 (LT) Intelligence units of the Security Forces reveal that Prabhakaran lives in an undisclosed place with high security. As various groups of people have entered tiger controlled areas and Tamil people who live in these areas no longer act according to the instructions given by the tiger organization with the destruction from tsunami, Prabhakaran has decided to live under maximum security say these sources. more..

Jan 12 (LT) The government has decided to present the programme drawn up them for rebuilding the country following the tsunami disaster to an All Party Conference. Accordingly an All Party Conference comprising all party leaders is due to be held at the president's House next Monday. more..

Jan 12 (LT) The operation bureau of the United People's Freedom Alliance has decided to stage a mammoth Shramadana Campaign in Ampara town on 20th and 21st of this month with the participation of its leaders and members. They came to this decision at a special discussion held in Colombo today. more..

Jan 12 (LT) A large fleet of vehicles belonging to NGOs active in the Eastern Province are being used by TRO, the NGO of the tiger organization say sources in the East. The vehicles have been made available to tigers willingly by these NGOs say these sources. more..

Jan 12 (DN) "The government did not prevent the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from visiting tsumani affected areas in the North. Annan wished to visit Matara and Trincomalee districts. "He was afforded facilities to visit the areas he wished," said Governor North-East Province, Tyronne Fernando. more..

Jan 12 (ND) Keerthi Munasinghe, a robust lover of seafood, said he scarcely could have imagined a day when he would sit down to cocktails of powerful coconut arrack without nibbling a side dish of spicy deviled fish. "Always, I would eat fish with my drink," he said. more..

Jan 12 (ANI) A Sri Lankan pensioner, Upali Gunasekera, has revealed that he was saved from the killer tsunami waves by a crocodile. Gunasekera said that the crocodile was one, which regularly visited the garden of his house in Matara, Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 12 (AP) Sri Lankan authorities are investigating an alleged attempt to sell two children orphaned by last month's tsunami, a police officer said Wednesday. A 60-year-old man tried to sell the children, ages 12 and 13, in Balapitiya, near the hard-hit southern city of Galle, said police officer W.D.T. Wijesena. more..

Jan 12 (CBC) Tsunami cleanup efforts along Sri Lanka's northeastern coast are being complicated by landmines that the powerful waves unearthed and scattered around the countryside. The Trincomalee naval base was one of the many sites that had scores of plastic mines laid around its perimeter to guard against attacks from Tamil separatists. more..

Jan 12 (CBC) A tsunami victim holds a queue number as she waits in line for medical attention in a camp at the eastern coastal village of Pddiruppu, South of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, Friday, Jan. 7, 2005. more..

Jan 12 (AFP) Two weeks after tsunamis destroyed three-quarters of Sri Lanka's coastline and sent foreigners fleeing, authorities on the devastated island are working on a "bounce back" plan to bring globe trotters flocking once again to its palm-fringed beaches. more..

Jan 12 (CBS/AP) As the massive effort goes forward to help tsunami survivors, bury bodies, and restore order, authorities are on guard against problems which could worsen: the welfare of orphans and in some places, tension with rebel groups. more..

Jan 12 (BBC) Keshini Navaratnam is a presenter on BBC World television and has extensive experience of covering international news and current affairs for the BBC. She was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Here she gives her thoughts on how the tsunami affected her homeland and how Sri Lanka can go forward. more..

Jan 12 (BBC) It still smells bad and it is possible dead animals or even dead humans remain in the rubble after the tsunami of 26 December. It is going to take months to clear the land along the coast line. "When we returned from the sea we saw the total devastation here and we couldn't believe it," more..

Jan 12 (wsws) About 200 US troops have now landed in Sri Lanka to take part in relief operations following the December 26 tsunami that devastated large areas of the island. Joining an advance party already in the southern city of Galle, some 100 soldiers came ashore on Monday at nearby Koggala from the USS Duluth, more..

Jan 12 (G&M) Prime Minister Paul Martin faces a political squeeze as Canada's Tamil community applies heavy pressure for him to visit the north of Sri Lanka, which is controlled by the Tamil Tigers, bringing his planned visit to tsunami-affected areas into the middle of thorny international controversy. more..

Jan 12 (IPS) These are surreal times for Sri Lanka�s political leaders. Never before have they been sought after, sympathised with and offered promises of assistance from an impressive list of international figures as has happened since the tsunamis ravaged the coast of this island nation. more..

Jan 12 (Yahoo) Sri Lankan survivors of the tsunami rest in a tent donated by foreign aid organisations in the southwestern coastal town of Kogalla. Two weeks after tsunamis destroyed three-quarters of Sri Lanka's coastline more..

Jan 12 (G&M) Resisting heavy pressure from Canada's Tamil community, Prime Minister Paul Martin last night avoided a confrontation with Sri Lanka's government by ruling out a visit to the country's northern region, controlled by the Tamil Tigers. more..

Jan 12 (G&M) The newly arrived Canadian disaster-relief team made its first forays into communities along the tsunami-stricken east coast of Sri Lanka yesterday, meeting officials and mobs of desperate refugees as they worked to weave their capabilities into the patchwork of aid agencies already at work in the region. more..

Jan 12 (BBC) On that fateful Sunday morning, J Najib looked up at the darkening sky and decided not to go diving in the deep sea off the beach of Kirinda in southern Sri Lanka. Najib, who dives up to 120 ft (36.576 metres) into the ocean to hunt for his country's famous sea shells for a living, more..

Jan 12 (Reuters) Sri Lanka hopes to secure at least a two-year moratorium on debt repayment when the Paris Club of creditors meet on Wednesday to consider relief for tsunami stricken nations, a senior finance ministry official said. more..

Jan 12 (AR) The reporter's lament when sent at a moment's notice to cover a big, breaking story usually is, "if only I'd had time to prepare." The real feeling of compassion, of course, goes to those whose lives either ended or forever were turned upside down by the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami. If only they'd had time to prepare. more..

Jan 12 (ANN) Some of the basic human rights have been ignored due to the magnitude of the recent disaster caused by the Tsunami wave, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission Radhika Coomaraswamy said. "The most important of such rights is the identification of dead bodies. Many bodies were buried without identification. more..

Jan 12 (ANN) All they needed was to talk, or say hello, or to simply say "my family is dead," observed Hungarian doctors who treated patients in the south following the tsunami disaster. For these people, December 26 was the day after naththal, it was a Sunday morning and it was also Uduwap Poya, the beginning of the Sripada season. more..