TSUNAMI IMPACT: In Sri Lanka, Polls Take Priority Over Housing

Democracy does not come cheap and Sri Lankan victims of the Dec. 26 Asian tsunami are discovering that their already long wait for permanent housing could now be delayed for more than a year after November's presidential polls are completed.

RIGHTS: Sri Lankan Media Failed Tsunami Victims, Report

For a country that suffered more than 35,000 deaths and one billion US dollars in damages, local media coverage of the aftermath of the Dec. 26 tsunami has been woefully inadequate, a study, sponsored by Transparency International in Sri Lanka, has concluded.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Rehabilitation on Andamans Unsustainable, Activists

Rehabilitation work in India's remote Andaman islands, close to the epicenter of the undersea quake which triggered the devastating Dec.26, 2004 tsunami is both unsustainable and ecologically harmful, say experts.

SRI LANKA: Triangular Struggle Threatens Truce with Tigers

As a triangular struggle for control of the island country’s restive East, among the Tamil Tigers, a renegade faction led by 'Col. Karuna' and the Sri Lankan army worsens, observers fear that the fragile truce brokered by Norway in February 2000 is about to come unstuck.

TSUNAMI-IMPACT: Acehnese Women Rediscover Role in Society

Women once ruled the defunct Sultanate of Aceh whose history speaks of women admirals and matriliny. But after the principality merged into a larger Indonesia in 1949, women became marginalised and it took a devastating tsunami for them to rediscover their traditionally dominant role in Acehnese society.

TSUNAMI IMPACT- SRI LANKA: One Room But Still a Home

The rows of wooden houses, 12 kms from the coastal town of Galle seem out of place inside this state-owned rubber plantation and so do the people who once lived along the beach.

INDONESIA: Aceh Deal May Give Regional Parties a Chance

Devastating though it was, the Asian Tsunami brought the proverbial winds of change to Indonesia by focusing international attention on the festering conflict in Aceh province and creating conditions for a political settlement that may yet instruct other ethnic groups.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: ‘Aid Promoting Big Business’

Post-tsunami aid destined for Indonesia and Sri Lanka is not reaching those most in need but is promoting "big business" in the region instead, social and agricultural groups from the region are warning.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Aid at Unprecedented Levels, but Recovery Lags

The international community, which responded magnanimously with over 10.7 billion dollars in pledges for tsunami relief and reconstruction, has to sustain its momentum to tackle the more difficult longer-term recovery phase of the devastated Indian Ocean countries, a U.N. special envoy told delegates Thursday.

INDIA: Tsunami or Not, Dalits Suffer Discrimination

When giant waves swallowed thousands of people on the coastline of southern Tamil Nadu state in December 2004, death played a great leveller.

POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Internecine Wars Rob Glory From Tiger Suicide Squads

When Vasanthan Vallipuram rammed a truck laden with explosives into a building full of soldiers in northern Jaffna Peninsula, 18 years ago, internecine killings within the Tamil Tiger militant group would have been the last thing on the mind of this member of its elite ‘Black Tiger’ suicide squad.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Aceh’s Kids Get Space to Hope

Riisa moves effortlessly, weaving her hands in harmony with six other girls. Their embroidered dresses and red headscarves glitter under the midday Acehnese sun.

SRI LANKA: Political Tsunami Threatens Rebuilding

Almost six months to the day since devastating waves savaged most of its coastline, Sri Lanka braced for a political tsunami following the signing of an agreement between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers to distribute aid.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: The Long Russian Winter May Help

The long and cold Russian winter can be of some help to tsunami victims as Russians head south to Asia in droves to revive themselves and the economies of their destinations.

SRI LANKA: President Stakes Job on Rebuilding With Rebels

At midnight tonight, beleaguered Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga faces her most important deadline since first elected 11 years ago. The People's Liberation Front, a partner in her government, has threatened to walk out unless she withdraws a proposed deal with the separatist Tamil Tigers to handle tsunami reconstruction efforts.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Women, Children Suffer Most in Overcrowded Camps

Women and children continue to be victims of violence and sexual abuse nearly six months after the massive tsunami devastation in the Indian Ocean region, according to an international team of researchers.

TSUNAMI IMPACT-SRI LANKA: Pledges and More Pledges, But Where Are the Houses?

In his 68 years, V T Piyasena has never lived through anything like the last five months. He lost a daughter and his son-in-law in the Dec. 26 tsunami, and was left with a partially damaged house.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Cash, Coordination Woes Threaten to Snarl Reconstruction

The halting flow of cash from international donors and lack of coordination among non-governmental organisations (NGOs) could slow down reconstruction efforts of countries devastated by last December's Indian Ocean tsunami, said senior U.N. officials and relief agencies.

TSUNAMI IMPACT-ASIA: Rebuilding Still a Gargantuan Task

To convey the reconstruction challenge that faces tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka, Rachel Perera, a director on the government's post-tsunami rebuilding task force, talks about houses.

TSUNAMI IMPACT-SRI LANKA: Tragedy Rekindles Memories of Dead President

In times of tragedy, nations will look for solace in the most unexpected of places, even among the dead. Almost five months after tidal waves from the Dec. 26 tsunami killed more than 31,000 Sri Lankans and left another 200,000 destitute, this seems to ring true in the island-nation.

ENVIRONMENT: Tsunami Nations Agree to Set Up Early Warning System

Donor nations have agreed to set up a 5.5-million-dollar tsunami early warning system for 27 Indian Ocean countries. The system will start operating within the next six months.