TSUNAMI IMPACT: A Month Later It Seems People Do Not Really Matter

There is enough money, material and manpower pouring in from around the world for emergency relief work to be in full swing across South and South-east Asia, a month after the killer Indian Ocean tsunami struck. Nonetheless, something vital still seems to be missing.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: World Heritage Sites Not Spared From Killer Waves

As the world rushes to the aid of millions of survivors struggling to regain their devastated lives in the tsunami-struck countries in the Indian Ocean, a group of international archeologists is planning a joint study to restore cultural treasures that have been destroyed in the huge disaster.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Goodbye World, We Can Do It Alone – Indonesia’s Kalla

The world has come together to aid survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami, and by large it has been welcomed in the tsunami-hit countries in South and South-east Asia. Yet in Indonesia's Aceh province, the welcome is proving awkward and signs are emerging that there is paranoia about the presence of foreigners on Indonesian soil.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Caribbean to Expand Early Warning System

Before Dec. 26 last year, not many people in the Caribbean knew the meaning of the word "tsunami".

HEALTH: Bird Flu Worry in Tsunami-Hit Asia

While South and South-east Asia struggles with the mounting death toll after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, a more dangerous killer - bird flu - has started to rear its ugly head in some parts of the region.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Transparency Debate Puts Down Under Charities on Notice

The success of aid groups in raising over 157 million U.S. dollars from individual Australians and business for humanitarian relief in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami has fuelled a debate over the accountability and effectiveness of charities.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: European Parents Warned Against Adoption

Parents across Europe are being warned against adopting children orphaned by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: U.N. Vows to Track Massive Aid Spending

With billions of dollars pouring into emergency relief funds and post-tsunami reconstruction projects, the United Nations has pledged not only to police itself but also to ensure that aid money is not diverted to the pockets of corrupt officials or individuals, whether in governments or non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

TSUNAMI IMPACT: There’s More to Disaster Mitigation Than a Warning System – NGOs

Non-governmental organisations are worried that important aspects of global disaster reduction would be overlooked at an international conference as countries and agencies jostle to take the lead in a high-profile tsunami early warning system.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: China Defends ‘Nominal’ Role in Global Relief Effort

While China's media and academics are defending the country's conspicuously small aid donations to the tsunami-battered countries, they also denounced major donors as engaging in ''political chess play'' - as these countries doled out huge sums of money in emergency aid packages.

DEVELOPMENT: Don’t Let Tsunami Wash Out Millennium Goals – U.N.

Although small, Singapore's response to aid fellow South-east Asian neighbour Indonesia in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami is being hailed by a regional development expert as a pivotal step in the global race to rid the world of poverty.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Conference Reminds World of Lessons to be Learnt

While the occurrence of natural events is largely beyond human control, the consequences are not. And this was the message brought forth at the opening of an international conference on natural disasters with a global reminder to heed the lessons of last month's tsunami that killed over 160,000 in South and South-east Asia.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Reef Relief in Aftermath of Killer Waves

As rescue teams frantically search for people who survived the killer waves that lashed the coastlines of South and South-east Asia the day after Christmas, marine biologists, divers and government officials in the region are trying to estimate the damage done to the Andaman Sea ecosystems.

POLITICS-U.S.: New Military Links to Indonesia Debated

Besides improving Washington's image in South and Southeast Asia, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is hoping to achieve something more concrete from its aid efforts in the aftermath of the Dec. 26 tsunami that killed over 175,000 people along the coasts of the Indian Ocean.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Aid Could be ‘Getting Too Much’

After the race to give more and more to tsunami victims comes a test of the opposite; who will be among the first to say that enough is enough.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Many Insist on Repaying Debt

The richer nations have made much of the freeze they have offered on debt repayments from tsunami-hit countries, but many of the affected countries do not seem to want this concession.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: The Sea Siren Beckons But Fishermen Only Hear Death

The fishing folk on the coast of Tamil Nadu in southern India are among the most hardened traditional sea-faring communities anywhere in the world, with centuries old respect and reverence for the oceans.

TSUNMAI IMPACT: Comforting Letters to Help Aceh Children

The best form of therapy for children, is sometimes words of comfort from other children. With that in mind, the Indonesian government will soon request all elementary students throughout the country and other nations to write letters to traumatised Acehnese children to help them cope with tragic memories of the Dec. 26 tsunami.

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Corruption Threatens Quality of Indian Mercy

India is a country notorious for middlemen who specialise in siphoning away development funds. And voluntary agencies are struggling to ensure that the deluge of monetary aid pouring in for the survivors of the Asian tsunami actually reach the ones most in need.

DEVELOPMENT: SIDS Would Like Some Implementation

A 110-nation UN conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) ended Friday with renewed commitment of support. Will it work this time?

TSUNAMI IMPACT: US Charities Feel Heat From "Terror War"

The tsunamis that pounded Indian Ocean coastlines the day after Christmas killed an estimated 30,000 Sri Lankans - nearly half in areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group that has been placed on a special list of "terrorist" groups by the U.S. government.