Jan 5 (PA) Some banged their heads against the hospital wall. Some, wide-eyed, just stared vacantly, while others mumbled “the sea is coming,” reliving the horrors of the massive tsunami that took with it their families and homes. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) Sri Lanka’s cartographers were yesterday scrambling to get their bearings amid reports the island’s coastline may have changed after the tsunami that devastated nearly three quarters of its coast. more..

Jan 5 (TP) Health authorities say 12 government hospitals were destroyed in last week’s tsunami disaster. These include the Mahamodara Hospital in Galle, hospitals in Nindavur, Karaitivu, Sainthamarudu, Maradamune, Pothuvil and Oluvil in the Ampara district and the Kinniya and Kuchchaweli hospitals in the Trincomalee district. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) Around the central square is an office for clothes distribution, a clinic, a kitchen and a health information centre. Just a few days ago this was a school, deep in Tamil Tiger-held territory in northern Sri Lanka. Now it is home to some 6,000 people made homeless by the devastating December 26 tsunami. more..

Jan 5 (OPB) With the president and former presidents calling on individuals to contribute generously to the victims of the tsunami disaster in south Asia, relief agencies are breaking fundraising records. And stories of individual Northwesterners going above and beyond are emerging. more..

Jan 5 (CT) Australians had been very generous, but the aid promised so far was "like a drop in the ocean", Sri Lankan High Commissioner Janaka Perera said yesterday. In calling for more help, Major- General Perera said the High Commission had begun a relief fund, with proceeds going to build shelters for some of the 1.2million people left homeless. more..

Jan 5 (Hindu) International support is pouring in to the tsunami-battered Sri Lanka, but as in other affected areas across the region, co-ordinating the relief efforts remains a daunting task. "India's contribution of $22 million has by far been the largest so far in cash," more..

Jan 5 (ANN) It is an accepted fact that our geologists were unable to predict the occurrence of the catastrophic earthquake and the influx of destructive tsunamis. This is not a weakness of our scientists. more..

Jan 5 (ANN) The 26th of December 2004 started off as an idyllic day here in Sri Lanka. My husband Hela and I set off at 6.45 am for Tissamaharama to visit his mother. We always take the scenic coastal road, as we love the island’s beaches. more..

Jan 5 (LT) The railway Authority cancellation bill and a bill on civil cases were passed in the Parliament today without ay division. When the Parliament met yesterday two minutes silence was observed in memory of those who died in tsunami tidal waves of December 26th. And the Members expressed their sorrow. more..

Jan 5 (Yahoo) Two young Muslim girls watch as an excavator clears a path on a street destroyed by the tsunami in the town of Kalumnai on Sri Lanka's east coast January 4, 2005. more..

Jan 5 (SAMN) The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) Tuesday said that at least 80 air cargo medication stocks sent as tsunami disaster relief were stuck at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) due to the lack of pharmacists to categorise the drugs. more..

Jan 5 (SAMN) A Japanese government agency Tuesday accused the Peradeniya University's Geology Department of not making use of expensive equipment given by Japan to monitor earthquakes and tsunami waves and thus possibly saving thousands of lives in the catastrophe of December 26. more..

Jan 5 (SAMN) Members of Parliament Tuesday observed two minutes silence in memory of thousands of people who died and were affected in the tsunami tidal waves. Parliament paid this supreme respect when the House held first sittings for the new year and also the first sittings since the devastation caused by the tsunami. more..

Jan 5 (TN) Denying rumours that the LTTE had burnt refuges or that aid had been stolen or incorrectly distributed, the head of the Liberation Tigers political wing, Mr S.P. Thamilchelvan, called on all media organisations to visit the affected areas and verify the fact for themselves before publishing unverified stories. more..

Jan 5 (Reuters) Housewife Viyarseeli Nadarajahlingam's whole life revolved around her six children and helping her husband mend his fishing nets on an idyllic white sand beach at Sri Lanka's northern tip. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) The Indian Ocean tsunami which battered Sri Lanka has opened up a window of opportunity for a renewal of dialogue between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels but has also exposed the tensions that exist between the two sides. more..

Jan 5 (Reuters) Tourism officials in Thailand and Sri Lanka are hoping to draw vacationers back to beaches sledge-hammered by last week's tsunamis. In sharp contrast to the gloom hanging over the death and destruction in Indonesia's Aceh province, the officials and hotel operators were drying out their welcome mats. more..

Jan 5 (Yahoo) A Sri Lankan woman waits for relief aid in a distribution center in Wathuregama. The world's major industrialised countries and the Paris Club of creditor nations moved closer to freezing the debt of countries ravaged by last week's Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) A global push to reach survivors of Asia's tsunami faltered after a plane accident in Indonesia and heavy rain in Sri Lanka with the United Nations (news - web sites) warning the death toll from the disaster could rise by tens of thousands. more..

Jan 5 (NBC) As the ships, aircraft and crews of the Australian, New Zealand, Indonesian and Indian navies rushed to the aid of a region scoured by a tsunami, joining a large American flotilla and various British, Thai, Japanese and Malaysian units, the Chinese fleet remained in port. more..

Jan 5 (Xinhua) Fourteen pairs of Chinese healing hands Tuesday were seen in a bid to soothe people's pain and sorrow in Hikkaduwa, a small town some 90 km off Colombo, the capital of tsunami-stricken Sri Lanka. Wang Bingqiang, head of the 14-member Chinese medical squad, told Xinhua,"we are here to relieve the Sri Lankan people." more..

Jan 5 (TN) Speaking to TamilNet after visiting Batticaloa and Ampara Districts, Tamil National Alliance, Jaffna District MP Mr.Selvarajah Gajendran said: "LTTE has the capability to build bridges and lay roads. I request the international community to provide them with equipment and materials through NGOs so that recovery can be swift." more..

Jan 5 (TN) In a sudden move, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces are manning the refugee camps in Amparai, Batticaloa and Trincomalee since Tuesday. The Special Task Force (STF) in Thirukovil, Amparai have hijacked two tractors of TRO relief supplies and distributed them after removing the TRO labels. more..

Jan 5 (TN) Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, former Prime Minister and the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) paid a visit to Jaffna and witnessed the destruction caused to several coastal villages in the last year Tsunami. more..

Jan 5 (TN) United Nation's Secretary General Koffi Annan will visit 'some of the hardest hit areas' in Sri Lanka when he visits the country on Friday, UN sources said Wednesday. Foreign ministry sources said Koffi Annan will visit Ampara, Galle, Hambantatota and Mullaitivu, areas worst hit by the tsunami waves on December 26. more..

Jan 5 (TN) The LTTE issued an urgent appeal to the National and International Media to scrupulously verify ground information before reporting, and to avoid bias and inaccuracy in filing stories on post-Tsunami disaster situation in the North-East and the humanitarian delivery to the displaced, on Tuesday. more..

Jan 5 (SLA) His Excellency Most Revd. Mario Zenario, Vatican Apostolic Nuncio, and a Norwegian delegation headed by Norwegian Ambassador His Excellency Hans Brattskar, arrived in Jaffna yesterday (04 January 2005) on an official visit to see the loss and damage more..

Jan 5 (SLA) Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda and Mrs. Sonia Kottegoda visited the patients undergoing treatments at the Military Hospital, Colombo on Tuesday (04 January 2004) morning. more..

Jan 5 (FT) When Sri Lanka’s president Chandrika Kumaratunga shook hands with two Tamil Tiger guerrillas last week, many saw her gesture as a symbol of peacemaking following the tsunami that has killed more than 30,000 across the island. more..

Jan 5 (FT) Sri Lanka's economy has shown remarkable resilience in the past three years, enduring frequent floods, droughts and two decades of civil war, to average a growth rate of 4 per cent. This strength may be further evident following the tsunamis that claimed more than 30,000 lives there, more..

Jan 5 (Kyodo) Sri Lanka called on Japan on Wednesday to provide not only emergency aid but also reconstruction assistance for the country which was devastated by tsunamis triggered by the Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said. more..

Jan 5 (Yahoo) Sri Lankan tsunami survivors carry their babies while trying to receive food from donators in the coastal village of Hangama, southern Sri Lanka January 5, 2005. more..

Jan 5 (SLE) The Office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) announced today that he will visit the tsunami-ravaged countries of Sri Lanka and India this week. He is expected to meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga and will visit Galle during his visit to Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 5 (G&M) On the western shore of the Indian Ocean, where Canada's emergency response team is set to arrive with planeloads of aid this weekend, a 20-year-old man crouched over a stack of pink notebooks on the beach yesterday and shuddered with grief. more..

Jan 5 (AP) Some banged their heads against the hospital wall. Some, wide-eyed, just stared vacantly. Others mumbled "the sea is coming," reliving the horrors of the massive tsunami that took their families and homes. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) The damage to Sri Lanka from last week's tsunami tragedy is a provisional 1.3 billion dollars, the Central Bank said, as it offered cheap concessional credit to help survivors rebuild their lives. It said it will make five billion rupees (50 million dollars) available to those who lost property at a concessionary rate of 6.0 percent interest, more..

Jan 5 (Reuters) The four men pressed dirty rags to their mouths as they toppled a decomposed corpse off a mat onto a smoldering bonfire. Flames licked around the woman's body. One man retched at the stench. The other three got straight back to clearing debris. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) Sri Lanka's devastated fishermen sent a shipment of fish to the president as they pleaded with people to resume eating seafood in the wake of the Asian tsunami disaster. more..

Jan 5 (Yahoo) Sri Lanka's devastated fishermen sent a shipment of fish to the president as they pleaded with people to resume eating seafood in the wake of the Asian tsunami disaster. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) Sri Lanka said it had managed to bring the tsunami disaster under control as its foreign military-backed relief operations picked up and the central bank offered cheap credit to survivors to help foot a 1.3 billion dollar damage bill. more..

Jan 5 (AFP) Sri Lankan cricketers have launched a fund to aid survivors of the devastating tsunami that battered the island which they hope will be supported by cricket fans around the world. more..

Jan 5 (Reuters) From a few hundred feet up, with the breakers curling lazily on mile after mile of yellow sand beneath blue skies, it is easy to see why this teardrop-shaped island was once called Serendip. more..

Jan 5 (Xinhua) The Red Cross Society of China donated 100,000 US dollars to Sri Lanka on Wednesday in contribution to the relief efforts of the South Asian country severely hit by the tsunami on Dec. 26. more..

Jan 5 (BBC) Children in Sri Lanka whose schools have been destroyed by the tsunami are to be helped by "school in a box" kits being sent by Unicef. The United Nation's children's agency is delivering the first batch of 100 kits which will help teachers to set up temporary outdoor classrooms. more..

Jan 5 (BBC) A small fleet ventured out from a south Sri Lankan port on Wednesday - the first step in rebuilding the country's vital but devastated fishing industry. Seven boats left Mirissa and returned with a symbolic catch, some to be sent to President Chandrika Kumaratunga. more..

Jan 5 (Kyodo) Japan is considering sending technical experts to help reconstruct fishing ports in Sri Lanka that were devastated by tsunamis triggered by the Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia, agriculture ministry officials said Wednesday. more..

Jan 5 (AP) A look at major government pledges for victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami, which include grants and loans. The world figure is more than US$3 billion (€2.2 billion), with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank also pledging more than US$500 million (€370 million) more..

Jan 5 (PIS) Amidst widespread reports that aid distribution to millions of tsunami catastrophe victims was largely uncoordinated, if not chaotic, while some stocks were being robbed, the armed forces yesterday took control of the whole distribution network. more..

Jan 5 (DN) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday stressed that all politicians should act like statesmen at the critical hour as the country is facing the worst ever catastrophe. "I firmly believe that we should not behave like politicians. more..