Jan 1 (AFP) Sri Lanka's squabbling leaders displayed rare unity Friday at an emotional candle-light vigil for the victims of the tsunami which has killed close to 30 000 people on the island while heavy rains slowed relief operations. more..

Jan 1 (SO) "Considering supporting Sarvodaya, the largest development charity in Sri Lanka, which has a 45 year track record in reaching out and helping the poorest of the poor. Sarvodaya has mounted a well organised, countrywide relief effort using their countrywide network of offices and volunteers who work in all parts of the country, well above ethnic and other divisions." more..

Jan 1 (AFP) The United States is to increase its aid for victims of Asia's tsunami devastation to 350 million dollars, President George W. Bush announced, calling it an "epic disaster." The US leader said the tenfold increase in the previous US donation was made because of the worsening crisis around the Indian Ocean, more..

Jan 1 (AFP) The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said he and a congregation of monks and nuns would pray for the thousands of people killed by tsunamis in Buddhist Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 1 (BBC) The LTTE Leadership in Batticalo praised the army and police for its role played in providing relief to civilians in rebel held areas. At a meeting convened by the divisional secreatrait, the LTTE leadership and the Army personnel discussed how relief effort could be co-ordinated. more..

Jan 1 (AP) This town is no stranger to carnage, always bouncing back from the damages suffered during its periodic turns on the front lines of Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war. A government assault drove out ethnic Tamil rebels in 1990. more..

Jan 1 (AP) The United States upped its tsunami relief aid tenfold Friday as the world's ships and planes converged on devastated shores. Bottlenecks of supplies built up, fears of epidemics grew, and in an echo of 9/11's aftermath, people at a Thai resort scoured a bulletin board of 4,000 photos in search of the dead and missing. more..

Jan 1 (AP) After the cataclysmic waves that washed so much away, the houses of worship still stand, their walls now stacked with rations, their floors lined with sleeping mats, their roofs sheltering survivors left almost speechless by the tragedy. more..

Jan 1 (AFP) Pope John Paul II was set to enter 2005 with midnight mass prayers for the victims of the Asian flood disasters, the Vatican announced. The 84-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church was to celebrate mass in his private chapel more..

Jan 1 (BBC) Clearing operations begun in the tsunami stricken Matara where a number of dead bodies have been found buried under huge amount of rubble. A correspondent for Rupavahini, Jaya Wickremasurendra said among the 35 bodies found 6 were foreigners. more..

Jan 1 (ANN) The writer, an engineer by profession, drawing examples from other countries struck by disasters previously, points out how the on-going relief effort could be made more efficient effective and sustainable. He calls for a foster scheme to minimise congestion in hastily set up welfare centres, more..

Jan 1 (LT) Rev. Father Arch bishop Oswald Gomis said that it is the duty of all the people to save the country from the separatist threat. The Arch bishop expressed this view conducting a service at the Adhistana Pooja (Oath for determined effort) held in Colombo to invoke blessings on the victims of the Tidal Flooding. more..

Jan 1 (SAMN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga Friday appealed to the Nation to resolve their differences and join hands and rise together from the ashes. In making the appeal, in her address to the nation at the Adhistana pooja at the Henry Pedris Stadium held with the participation of religious dignitaries and political leaders more..

Jan 1 (SAMN) The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the South Asia Gateway Terminals Ltd., (SAGT) Friday reaffirmed that the Colombo port, South Asia's hub, was fully operational and safe. SLPA manages the Jaya Container Terminal while SAGT manages the Queen Elizabeth Quay terminal. more..

Jan 1 (SAMN) Despite a claim by a Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) official that the electricity supply will be restored in the tsunami devastated areas 'within four to five days', senior engineers told the Daily Mirror that the CEB was faced with many practical problems and restoring the power supply would take more time than initially estimated. more..

Jan 1 (IL) In order to provide effective relief activities on a national basis to the victims of the devastating tsunami, a group of Muslim organizations has united together and formed the Coordinating Centre for Relief and Rehabilitation (CCRR). more..

Jan 1 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday played down any threat posed by landmines washed up by the tsunami in the embattled region and urged international aid agencies not to let it put them off. more..

Jan 1 (AFP) Medical staff risked their lives to deliver a baby girl as tsunamis swallowed their hospital in Sri Lanka and left at least 28,400 people killed throughout the island. The last baby born at the Mahamodara hospital in southern Sri Lanka was brought into the world amid a hasty evacuation on Sunday as waves flooded the 350-bed maternity facility, one doctor said. more..

Jan 1 (KR) When relief vehicles arrive, disaster-stricken residents of this hamlet at the edge of the sea scramble to the roadside and clamor for attention. But being too needy has its drawbacks. Mobbed relief workers often get frightened and drive away, trying to avoid a melee. more..

Jan 1 (AP) Nimal Premasiri first closed the window to avoid being splashed by the unusually high waters, but the next waves that struck the Queen of the Sea train were as big as elephants, recalled a survivor of a tsunami onslaught that claimed more than 800 lives in a single blow. more..

Jan 1 (NBC) A Coloradan who was on the beach in Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit, spoke to 9NEWS by phone Friday morning about her experience and the current situation in that country. Kendra Johnson is spending two years in Cambodia teaching English. more..

Jan 1 (Yahoo) Former President Bill Clinton shakes hands with relief effort volunteers during a visit to the New York Buddhist Vihara Friday, Dec. 31, 2004 in New York. The Vihara has been collecting donations for victims of the tsunami. more..

Jan 1: This website has been set up to provide information on the deadly tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka. We have listed phone numbers and websites that can be used to track down missing people. We encourage the global community to donate money, medicine and other goods to help the affected people in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 1 (ANN) As the New Year dawns, the mood of the Sri Lankan people should be one of hope and determination to overcome the immediate disasters of the past and make Sri Lanka the happy and resplendent island that it has been. more..

Jan 1 (AFP) Indian and American navies will cooperate in the Indian Ocean for the first time when they join forces to coordinate relief for the victims of tidal waves, a report said. more..

Jan 1 (AFP) More than 1.1 billion dollars have been pledged to an unprecedented aid effort after last week's Asian tsunamis, the United Nations said, while devastated countries race to get food and water to millions facing starvation as the death toll topped 125,000. more..

Jan 1 (AFP) A world grieving for the more than 125,000 dead in Asia's tsunami catastrophe marked a somber passage to the New Year with the traditionally exuberant celebrations everywhere eclipsed by mourning, and remembrance candles often replacing fireworks. more..

Jan 1 (TN) Muslims who live in densely populated villages along the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka suffered heavy casualties in Sunday�s Tsunami, with at least ten thousand killed. Rescue and relief efforts in Muslim towns and villages on the southeastern coast are hampered by lack of coordination and heavy rains. more..

Jan 1 (TN) President Kumaratunga Friday met Colombo based diplomats and members of the International Agencies to brief them on the crises faced by Sri Lanka in the aftermath of Sunday's disaster. Commenting on the long term needs of the country she has said that the country "would welcome the assistance of all friendly nations", more..

Jan 1 (TN) A group of Tsunami victims in Vadamaradchchi north division in Jaffna district Friday held a protest in front of the Point Pedro Divisional Secretariat for supplying dry ration which is reported to be unfit for human consumption. Earlier residents of nearby villages supplied these victims with cooked meals, more..

Jan 1 (TN) The relief supply to Tsunami victims in the government controlled Muttur division where majority are Muslims and LTTE held Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division where majority are Tamils in the down south of Trincomalee district has come to a grinding halt since Friday evening more..

Jan 1 (TN) Tsunami victims in several villages in the Vakarai divisional secretariat division in the Batticaloa district, now being cut off with their mainland as the Panichchankery Bridge collapsed in Sunday's calamity, suffer without adequate food supply and other essential items such more..

Jan 1 (Xinhua) Fifteen people holding Hong Kong passports on late Friday were confirmed missing in the aftermath of Sunday's huge tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. more..

Jan 1 (BBC) Fourteen-year-old Renuka gazes out to sea, her eyes scanning the foaming surf before settling on a rock jutting out from the water. "There, somewhere there," she murmurs, pointing to the spot where her father's boat went down. more..

Jan 1 (BBC) Arjuna Seneviratna, a 40-year-old IT consultant from Sri Lanka, lives in the capital Colombo but was staying in Beruwela on the south-western coast when the tsunami wave struck. He witnessed the tsunami, and told the news and current affairs programme The World about the harrowing experience. more..

Jan 1 (TN) "Sunday's Tsunami has killed lot of our children and mothers. Our national leader Mr.Pirapaharan has issued a clear instruction to us that we should not lose our children anymore in the future. He fears that our children are facing danger of being succumbed to epidemic after Tsunami devastation,"said Mr.Thooyavan, more..

Jan 1 (TN) Prof. Kapila Dahanayake of the Department of Geology, Peradeniya University, told the media Thursday that Rs. 30 million worth of earthquake-monitoring equipment provided by the Japanese Jeyha Institute to the Geology Department has remained dysfunctional for the last 3 months. more..

Jan 1 (TN) Relief supply to hundreds of thousands of Tsunami victims in the districts of Amparai and Batticaloa has been hampered due to flood caused by torrential rain since Friday. Several hundreds of victims have been evacuated from camps now under flood to safer areas more..

Jan 1 (TN) Mr.M.E.H.Mohamed Ali, veteran Muslim politician and a former parliamentarian of the Trincomalee district passed away Friday night at his residence in the east port town peacefully at the age of 77. His funeral was held Saturday morning around 11 a.m. in the Muslim cemetery more..

Jan 1 (TN) The Thamileelam Health Services Department Saturday advised the people of the North East province not to eat seafood until further notice as the sea is highly polluted after Tsunami, which hit the coastal areas of the island from northeast and south. more..

Jan 1 (SLA) Humanity cares no bounds, ethnicities, religions, castes or creeds. So were the experiences, most of us, Sri Lankans appear to be undergoing these days in the aftermath of the most horrendous tsunami catastrophe that devastated a large chunk of our coastal areas on Sunday (26). more..

Jan 1 (SLA) Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda, Commander of the Army in his customary New Year Day 2005 message calls upon all Army personnel to rise to the occasion and continue to dedicate their today for country�s re-building in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster that claimed thousands of lives, including his own men. more..

Jan 1 (SLA) Contrary to LTTE-orchestrated disinformation propaganda on relief supplies to north & east, saying that Sri Lankan authorities intentionally discriminate against tsunami affected Tamil civilians in the north east of Sri Lanka in its supply of relief items, more..

Jan 1 (PIS) The mighty seas literally boxed the daylights out of littoral areas of several Asian countries on Boxing Day. The day after Christmas turned out to be a nightmare for millions of people in Asia, with some nine countries affected by the tsunamis that claimed over 120,000 lives within minutes. more..

Jan 1 (DN) Each and every person of the country as political parties and as the civil society should fulfil the responsibility vested upon them in the process of reconstructing the country to rise from the ashes of destruction, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday. more..

Jan 1 (Yahoo) Sri Lankan Buddhists pray during a memorial service held for the victims of the tsunami instead of the traditional New Year ceremonies at this local Buddhist temple in Galle, southern Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005. more..

Jan 1 (LT) JVP MP's Ramalingam Chandrasekar, Jayantha Wijesekara and S.K.Subasinghe could be seen in action in relief operations for the tsunami affected people in uncleared areas. They were thus seen at work in areas like Werugal Aru, Sampur, Kiliwetti and Kattaparichchan. more..

Jan 1 (AT) So what�s happened to the �Beach Wadiya,� the favourite watering hole of diplomats, royalty and the celebrities of Asia and Europe? On December the 26th, one of the world�s favourite watering holes became, well --- just that, a lot of water, and a big hole. more..

Jan 1 (AT) In the wake of overwhelming global response to Sri Lanka�s appeal for emergency aid the LTTE has finally agreed to support the government�s relief effort. Trincomalee Government Agent Gamini Rodrigo said today that LTTE members too were now in the committees formed under the GA�s direction to assist tsunami victims in the East. more..

Jan 1 (AT) Perhaps, LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, if he is still kicking around, may not know that the United States has already deployed its intelligence satellites over the Asian region, which includes Sri Lanka, more..