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Thai
cabinet 100-million-dollar fund to revive tourism BANGKOK:
Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a 100-million-dollar plan to revive the
kingdom's vital tourism industry in the wake of December's catastrophic Asian
tsunamis, senior officials said. The
budget is aimed at polishing Thailand's image as Southeast Asia's leading
tourist destination through a massive public relations campaign assuring
potential visitors that the country is safe. Thailand reeled in 10 million foreign tourists last year, generating some six percent of gross domestic product, with Phuket alone drawing 2.75 million tourists and two billion dollars.
21-02-2005 US
former presidents visit Sri Lanka COLOMBO: Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr have toured parts of southern Sri Lanka devastated by December's tsunami. It was the latest
stop in their fact-finding tour of areas hit by the disaster, which also took
them to the damaged Indonesian province of Aceh. Their trip began
in Thailand, where they urged the world not to forget the victims and the
reconstruction effort. The two men were asked by the White House to lead fund-raising efforts. Relief match for tsunami
and flood victims LAHORE: Pakistan eleven and
rest of Pakistan eleven playing one day relief match at Gaddafi Stadium here
for tsunami and Balochistan flood victims. Pakistan eleven comprises
of Tuafiqu Umer,Salman Butt, Younus Khan, Shoaib Malik, Asim Kamal,Shahid
Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Danesh Kaneria,Rao Iftkhar, Muhammad Sami and Yasir
Hamid. Rest of the Pakistan eleven
suqad comprises of Imran Farhat, Faisal Ather , Misbahul Haque, Bazyed Khan,
Faisal Iqbal , Yasir Arafat, Zulqarnain, Tahir Khan, Shahid Nazir, Aamir
Bashir, Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Irshad and
Muhammad Khalil. Younus Khan leads the Pakistan eleven whereas Misbahul Haque will be the captain of rest of Pakistan eleven.
31-01-2005 Indonesia's tsunami toll and missing rises to 232,945 JAKARTA: Indonesia's health ministry said on Monday the number of people dead and missing after last month's earthquake and tsunami had risen to 232,945. 27-01-2005 Strong quake recorded off Indonesia's Sumatra
Sri Lanka marks one month after
tsunami with silence COLOMBO: Sri Lanka observed a
minute's silence on Wednesday as a sign of respect for the nearly 31,000
people here who perished in the tsunami disaster a full month ago. State and private television
stations blacked out their screens at 9:36 am (0336 GMT) while radio stations
went off the air at the time the tsunamis struck the island's coastline on
December 26. Politicians and school children planted trees in memory of those who were killed while religious ceremonies were scheduled for later in the day. 25-01-2005 Indonesia
to publish list of tsunami donors BANDA
ACEH: Indonesia hopes to dispel concerns about official corruption in relief
operations by announcing each month the amount of money it receives in foreign
donations and where the funds are being spent, the government said on Tuesday. `We
will announce every month, on the 26th, the money we receive,'' said Welfare
Minister Alwi Shihab, who is in charge of the country's relief effort. ``We
will list down all contributions and where it is going to avoid any suspicion
of graft.'' Indonesia
was the worst affected of 11 Indian Ocean nations that were hit by the Dec. 26
tsunami. More than 110,000 people were killed in the country and tens of
thousands are still missing.
Presumed death toll in tsunamis
passes 280,000 JAKARTA: The number of people presumed dead in last month's Asian tsunamis rose to more than 280,000 Tuesday, with Indonesian authorities announcing a further increase in the number of dead and missing. 24-01-2005 Tamil Tigers declare day of
mourning for tsunami victims COLOMBO: Tamil Tigers said they
would observe a day of mourning on Wednesday to mark the one month anniversary
of the tsunami tragedy that killed almost 31,000 Sri Lankans, many in the
rebels' northeastern stronghold. "Liberation Tigers declare
January 26 as a national day of mourning to remember those who lost their
lives in the tsunami disaster in Tamil homelands and in other regions of South
Asia," the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in statement
posted on its website.
Japanese aid mission arrives in
Indonesia
BANDA ACEH: Japan's largest
military deployment since World War II arrived in Indonesia on Monday to help
tsunami victims.
Three Japanese navy ships carrying
950 Self-Defense Force personnel dropped anchor in Indonesian waters.
The new arrivals will join an
advance Japanese team who began work last week on a field hospital to help
survivors of the December 26 disaster that left almost 174,000 people dead in
Indonesia.
Tsunami aid may spur democratic
reform in Maldives MALE: The tourist paradise of
Maldives says it suffered the biggest economic loss from the Asian tsunami
tragedy and wants foreign help. "Western powers will give the money, but they are going to ask for something in return," an Asian diplomat here said. "It will be what they have been trying to push for a long time. That is democratic reform." 19-01-2005 Indonesia lures FDIs for
infrastructure build up in Aceh JAKARTA: Indonesia has
decided to offer some highly attractive terms to the foreign direct investors
(FDI) tempting them to undertake the huge work of building up of
infrastructures in the Tsunami devastated Aceh province. Indonesia has generously
offered some relief in taxes and amendments in the labour laws to foreign
investors. Aceh was the most affected
province of Indonesia by the tidal waves wreaking havocs in South Asian
countries on December 26 and, according to an official estimate, $150 billion
would be required for restoration of infrastructures over here. Indonesian President,
Susilo Bambang has appealed to the foreign investors to invest in building
roads, installing power plants and in projects providing potable waters. Foreign investments in
Indonesia stood at $10 billion in 2004, which was three times less as compared
to 1997.
40,000 still missing in tsunami:
Indonesia JAKARTA: Some 40,000 people are
still missing in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh, far more than first thought,
and the province will need three to five years to rebuild, President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday. Almost all of Indonesia's 115,229 deaths from the Dec 26
earthquake and the tsunami it spawned were in Aceh. Indonesia accounts for
almost two-thirds of total fatalities from the catastrophe that has resulted
in the biggest humanitarian relief effort since World War Two. "As of now, we know that there are over 100,000 dead and
40,000 missing," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in
his opening address to an annual conference of Indonesia's donors in Jakarta. "There are about 500,000 homeless people in the emergency camps and thousands of tsunami orphans," he said. Artists’ relief camp
for tsunami victim KARACHI: Karachi artists
have setup a relief camp for victims of the tsunami waves in Indian Ocean
countries. Prominent TV artists Aslam
Latar, Ayub Khoso, Shagufta Ijaz and others participate in the relief camp at
Sea-view beach. Artists are taking charges of autographs and photo sessions to donate in the tsunami relief fund.
Somali fishing community struggles
to survive after tsunami
HAAFUN: The impoverished fishing
community on this Somalian Indian Ocean peninsula is struggling to eke out a
living after last month's tsunami killed more than 300 people, mostly
fishermen, and reduced villages to rubble. Some fishermen who survived the
December 26 disaster said they would rather struggle to learn another trade to
earn a living rather than face the risk of possible future killer waves.
Local officials estimate the
tsunami did some 23 million dollars in damage when it wrecked homes and other
buildings, ruined what little infrastructure existed and capsized boats. Though the death and damage tolls
in Somalia are dwarfed by those in other badly hit Indian Ocean nations like
Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, residents of Haafun remain skittish.
Tsunami-hit countries may face
tougher battle KOBE: Japan's city of Kobe has
been rebuilt 10 years after a killer earthquake, showing how a community can
pick up the pieces after tragedy, but experts and residents say a tougher
battle awaits countries hit by last month's tsunami. Japan has used its economic might to reconstruct Kobe after
the worst earthquake in modern times in the developed world killed nearly
6,500 people. "Reconstruction in Kobe
largely owed the financial strength of the country," Norio Maki of the
Earthquake Disaster Mitigation research center said. "Tsunami-hit countries are
expected to clear a first phase of recovery easily thanks to support from the
world, but restoration of infrastructure doesn't mean revival of their daily
life," Maki said. Billions of dollars have been pledged to support the countries
ravaged by the December 26 tsunamis that killed more than 168,000 people, but
Maki warned that in the end the state of the disaster-hit countries' local
economies was most important. 18-01-2005 Tsunami wreaks havoc to Banda Aceh German ship brings tourists to
tsunami-hit Sri Lanka COLOMBO: A cruise ship carrying
626 German holidaymakers arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday, the first passenger
vessel to call here since the Asian tsunamis devastated much of the island's
coastline. The cruise with a crew of 334
called at Colombo port for an overnight visit. A port official said it was
going ahead with the visit even though several other cruise liners have
avoided the city. "The cruise ship had been to
the Maldives and will leave Colombo tomorrow and head to Myanmar," port
spokesman said. Both the Maldives and Myanmar were
also hit by the tsunamis.
UN
not renew travel ban in tsunami-hit Aceh BANDA
ACEH: A United Nations security consultant said on Tuesday there was no longer
a heightened state of alert for the group's staff in Indonesia's
tsunami-stricken Aceh province. ``We
have no heightened alert,'' said UN security consultant. He
said a 24-hour ban on UN staff driving between provincial capital Banda Aceh
and Medan, the largest city on Sumatra island, expired early on Tuesday
morning and was not extended. UN
staff made the decisions after talks with Indonesian police, he added.
New Zealand announces largest
international aid package for tsunami
WELLINGTON: New Zealand announced Tuesday its largest ever-international
aid package of 68 million New Zealand (47 million US) dollars for
tsunami-stricken Asian countries. Prime Minister Helen Clark said 52
million dollars would be spent this financial year and the United Nations
would immediately receive 20 million dollars. The package includes 10 million
dollars already allocated. Clark said the total package set a
new level for New Zealand aid. "This contribution reflects
both the magnitude of the disaster and its impact on a number of nations in
our region with which we have important bilateral relationships," she
said. Clark said she did not consider
New Zealand had been slow to react to the disaster three weeks ago that has
killed more than 168,000 people.
Annan urges spending to limit
deaths in disasters KOBE: UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan urged the world on Tuesday to learn from the killer Asian tsunami,
saying spending now could limit the loss of life and damage from inevitable natural
disasters. Investing smaller sums before
disasters could reduce the toll such catastrophes take in lives and in money,
Annan said at the start of a 5-day conference in the city of Kobe in western
Japan. More than 175,000 people were
killed and millions left homeless by the Dec. 26 tsunami and pledges of
emergency relief stand at more than $7 billion.
US steps up aid missions in
Indonesia BANDA
ACEH: US aid helicopters
stepped up missions on Tuesday to Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province,
expanding help to millions affected by the giant wave that killed 175,000
around the Indian Ocean. Sri Lankan officials said another
7,275 people were now known to have died in the Dec. 26 catastrophe, taking
the national total to 38,195. The jump was not due to the sudden discovery of
more bodies, but rather a backlog of figures from remote areas. 17-01-2005 Japan's military team arrives in
Aceh BANDA
ACEH: An advance party was
on Monday laying the ground work in Banda Aceh for the arrival of 1,000
Japanese troops to help Indonesian tsunami relief efforts in what will be
Japan's biggest military deployment since World War II. Self-Defense Forces spokesman
Hiroji Yamashita said on Monday three warships would ferry the troops in from
January 25, with much of the focus on providing medical aid and logistical
support to the international humanitarian operation. “It is the single biggest
deployment since World War II," Yamashita said. He said the advance group, which
arrived on Sunday, consisted of a 20-member medical team who would assess the
medical needs of survivors in Aceh, where almost 115,000 were killed in the
December 26 disaster. GALLE:
Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll shot up on Monday as officials said the more
they cleared up, the more bodies they found. The
island added another 7,275 victims to its list of the dead, taking the
national toll over 38,000 and the overall toll around Indian Ocean nations to
175,458. "We
are coming across dead bodies on a daily basis as we clear the rubble,"
said a senior public security ministry official. Hardest-hit Indonesia has steadily raised its total, but Sri Lanka's body count had stabilized around 30,000 until on Monday. ASEAN troops in tsunami-hit Aceh
KUALA LUMPUR: ASEAN troops
carrying out relief work in Indonesia's tsunami-battered Aceh province will be
allowed to remain indefinitely, Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak said
Monday. "The representative of
Indonesia's military chief General Sutarto told that there is no deadline as
such given to our soldiers with respect to our involvement in Aceh and that
they can continue to be there until further notice," Najib told a news
conference. "The 26 March deadline is only for their own planning purposes, but the important thing is that there is no such imposition as to a specific timetable for our withdrawal from Aceh," Najib said, adding this would also apply to troops from other ASEAN countries. UN agency to
set up tsunami aid base in Calang JAKARTA:
The World Food Program said it plans to set up a second base in the previously
inaccessible Indonesian town of Calang to provide easier access to the 800,000
people who need food in the area devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami. The United Nations agency has been running its aid operations from Meulaboh in Aceh province, the area most severely affected by the tsunami. The agency yesterday completed distributing 30 tons of rice, noodles and high-energy biscuits in Calang, a town between the provincial capital Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, two of the hardest-hit cities in Asia, said Michael Huggins, a spokesman for the agency in Jakarta. 16-01-2005 MKRF-UN Walkathon collects funds for tsunami victims BANGKOK:
Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson arrived in Thailand Sunday, where he
will join his counterparts from Finland and Norway to discuss post-tsunami
recovery and check on efforts to identify the missing, a foreign news agency
reported. Persson
arrived a few hours ahead of prime ministers Kjell Magne Bondevik of Norway
and Matti Vanhanen of Finland. The
three were due to meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and have an
audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej later Sunday. Thaksin
told reporters at an event marking Thailand's Teacher's Day that the visiting
Scandinavian leaders were coming out of concern for their nationals missing
since the tsunami. ‘We
don't plan to ask for any assistance from them. They're coming here to ask for
our assistance in sending their people back home. Many Swedish people are
missing’, he added. Fifty-two
Swedes died in the tsunami disaster across Asia, many of them in Thailand.
Sweden, with its nine million inhabitants, was the country outside of Asia to
suffer the largest per capita death toll. Another
893 Swedes remain missing or unaccounted for from the December 26 tsunamis in
the Indian Ocean. MKR and UNO rally round
for a walkathon today in Islamabad ISLAMABAD: Mir Khalilur
Rahman Foundation (MKR) and the United Nations Organization (UNO) have got
together to arrange a walkathon here for raising funds for the help and relief
of Tsunami victims. The walkathon commencing at 12 in the day will continue up to 3 pm in the afternoon here on Jinnah Avenue. Celebrities from different
segments of society and a large number of citizens will be participating in
this walkathon. No
March 26 deadline for foreign troops to pullout, says Indonesia JAKARTA:
Indonesia's defense minister said Sunday there is no three-month deadline for
foreign troops involved in the massive tsunami relief operation to be out of
the country and said Jakarta would like to improve military relations with Washington,
a foreign news agency reported.
`We
would like to emphasize that March 26 is not a deadline for involvement of
foreign military personnel in the relief effort,' Defense Minister Juwono
Sudarsono said after a meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul
Wolfowitz.
`It
is a benchmark for the Indonesian government to improve and accelerate its
relief efforts so that by March 26 the large part of the burden of the relief
effort will be carried by the Indonesian government and Indonesian
authorities,' he added. Canadian
PM arrives in Thailand to see tsunami damage PHUKET,
Thailand: Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin arrived on this tsunami-stricken
Thai tourist island early Sunday and met with local officials and Canadian
volunteers to discuss reconstruction efforts, a foreign news agency reported. Martin
met with Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula and with a group of about 20
Canadian volunteers who have worked in international rescue and forensics
operations since the tsunami. Martin
then headed to Kamala beach and to a nearby Buddhist temple that suffered
heavy damage when the killer waves smashed ashore, killing 5,300 people in
Thailand, roughly half of them believed to be foreign holidaymakers. Martin
was expected to stay about nine hours in Thailand, which was hosting three
foreign leaders Sunday, with the prime ministers of Finland, Norway and Sweden
expected to arrive in Bangkok later in the day. Canada says 34 of its citizens are still missing after the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami, while six have been killed or are presumed dead. Ottawa has offered 348.5 million US dollars in aid over five years to tsunami-battered countries.
15-01-2005 Tsunami Driveathon in Islamabad today LAHORE: A Driveathon
being organised by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation (MKRF) at Rawalpindi-Islamabad
today to collect funds for tsunami victims. The Driveathon will pass
various roads and avenues of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Several showbiz artistes and prominent persons will be accompanied with the
Driveathon. The Float will begin its journey from 10:00 in morning and travel several roads and localities in twin cities till 9:00 in night to collect cash donations and goods for the victims of tsunami waves. Driveathon for
Tsunami victims in Lahore LAHORE: A Driveathon
organised by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation (MKRF) collected funds for
tsunami-hit countries here. The Driveathon started
from Davis Road Lahore passing China Chowk, Shadman Market and main market
Gulbarg arrived at the Liberty Market. The Float was decorated with the
banners of MKRF urging the people to donate more and more for the noble cause.
The show created a festive scene on the city road. The public response was
very good and a large number of people gave cash donations besides giving
different goods like food items, medicines and cloths to the MKRF for the
tsunami victims. A good number of film,
stage and TV artistes participated in the MKRF. They remain engaged in
fundraising and collecting donations from noon to night and also participated
in a show at Liberty Market. The next Driveathon to help Tsunami victims by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation will be held in Islamabad. UN provides tents for Indonesian
tsunami refugees BANDA ACEH: The United Nations
said on Saturday it would provide emergency tents to house 100,000 tsunami
survivors in Indonesia's Aceh province for six months while their homes are
rebuilt. "Our initial assessment is
that we are bringing in shelter material for 100,000 refugees," said Mans
Nyberg, a spokesman for the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees in Banda Aceh,
the devastated provincial capital. Nyberg said the the UN would begin airlifting tents by helicopter from Banda Aceh and the main Sumatra island city of Medan to badly-affected areas on Aceh's west coast. US to spend $ 37 million on tsunami warning
system
WASHINGTON:
The United States will spend 37 million dollars to beef up its tsunami warning
system, President George W. Bush 's science advisor announced. The
system will cover nearly all US coastlines and allow officials to respond
within minutes, Bush science advisor John Marburger said in a statement. The
new system will become part of the existing Global Earth Observation System,
to cover the entire Pacific and Caribbean basins and provide a warning system
for half of the world's oceans. "This
plan will enable enhanced monitoring, detection, warning and communications
that will protect lives and property in the US and a significant part of the
world," Marburger said in statement. The Bush administration plans to
spend 37.5 million dollars over the next two years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will deploy 32 buoys, called Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami. UN warns Sri Lanka rebels over
tsunami children BANDA ACEH: The United Nations
said it had received reports Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers were recruiting children
displaced by Asia's tsunami and had told the rebels to leave under-age
survivors alone. Indonesia found almost 4,000 more
bodies, taking the global death toll from the disaster to more than 162,000
with searches completed in areas most damaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
said three children were reported to have been recruited in Sri Lanka's east,
where the Tamil Tiger rebels control large pockets of jungle. "Recruitment was an issue before the tsunami. It's an issue that continues
to be of concern," UNICEF's Sri Lankan representative Ted Chaiban told
foreign news agency in an interview. "We know of three cases of
reported under-age recruitment that took place in the east," said Chaiban. "We said to the rebels you
send out instructions that no child that has been displaced by the tsunami
should in any way be affected or harassed by any person." Two of the children had been
reunited with their family but a 15-year-old girl was still missing from a
camp for the homeless, said Chaiban. The rebels deny recruiting children, saying many youngsters lie about their age to join the group. 14-01-2005 Malaria threat
surfaces in tsunami zone BANDA ACEH:
Health officials plan to go door to door and tent to tent with
mosquito-killing spray guns beginning on Friday to head off a looming threat
of malaria that one expert says could kill 100,000 more people around the
tsunami disaster zone. While the threat of cholera and dysentery outbreaks is diminishing by the day because clean water is increasingly getting to tsunami survivors, the danger of malaria and dengue fever epidemics is increasing, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, a public health group that fights malaria epidemics. Over 25,000 leave tsunami
relief centers in Sri Lanka: UN COLOMBO: More than 25,000 Sri
Lankans displaced by last month's tsunami have left relief camps in the past
24 hours, the United Nations' refugee agency said on Friday, adding the
country needs tens of thousands of more tents. The Dec. 26 tsunami killed about 31,000 people in Sri Lanka and made another 800,000 homeless. Although many of the displaced have nothing left, hundreds of thousands have returned to their villages to rebuild, aid agencies say.
UN urges Indonesia to drop troop
deadline BANDA ACEH: The United Nations
urged Indonesia not to impose a deadline on foreign troops providing relief
assistance in tsunami-hit Aceh province. "I am sure the Indonesian
government will agree with me that the most important thing is to save lives
and not have deadlines," said Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary for
humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordination. Egeland was responding to
Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla's statement earlier this week that he
wanted all foreign military to leave Indonesia by the end of March or
"the sooner the better". Egeland said that while the March
deadline was unlikely to pose major problems because by then roads would be
cleared, he was concerned about foreign aid workers in Aceh.
Tsunami damage to fishing
industries worse than expected: UN
ROME: The devastating impact of
the Asian tsunami disaster on fishing and aquaculture in the Indian Ocean is
worse and more complex than expected, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) said on Friday. "The situation is extremely serious, particularly in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the countries where we have the best information coming through," said Jeremy Turner, head of the agency's Fishery Technology Service. 13-01-2005
Asian tsunami death toll rises over 163,000 Geo TV viewers urge all possible help to Tsunami victims
Annan calls for global tsunami
warning system
PORT LOUIS: UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan called on Thursday for "decisive measures" to address
climate change and said a global early warning system must be set up in the
wake of last month's Asian tsunami disaster. "It is no longer so hard to
imagine what might happen from the rising sea levels that the world's top
scientists are telling us will accompany global warming," Annan told
leaders at a UN conference on small islands here. The conference that opened on
Monday is looking at ways to help the world's most vulnerable states cope with
hazards and disasters such as the December 26 tsunami that devastated 12
countries, including the Maldives, a cluster of 1,192 low-lying islands
scattered across the Indian Ocean. Seychelles urge tsunami relief
fund
PORT LOUIS: The Indian Ocean
island-nation of the Seychelles on Thursday urged the creation of special fund
for countries hit by the Asian tsunami disaster and echoed urgent calls for a
regional early warning system. The tsunami, which battered 12
nations leaving close to 160,000 dead, caused more than 30 million dollars in
damage to the Seychelles where two people were killed, President James Michel
told a UN conference on small islands. "This unprecedented calamity
in our region has taught us, in the most compelling terms, that there is an
urgent need for an early warning system in the Indian Ocean region, similar to
that which exists in the Pacific," he said.
Sri Lanka seeks over 100,000
tents for tsunami victims
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday
urged global donors urgently to provide more than 100,000 tents for around
73,000 families made homeless by the tsunami disaster. Most of the displaced people are
staying in camps set up in thousands of schools across the island after the
December 26 tsunamis destroyed three-quarters of Sri Lanka's coastline,
killing 30,800 people. The task forces working on
reconstruction said they urgently need tents because schools across the
country opened on Monday for the new academic year.
Donors such as the World Bank, the
Asian Development Bank, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other
organisations are in talks with the task forces to work out a reconstruction
package.
Sri Lanka investigates alleged sale of orphans
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan authorities are investigating whether a man
tried to sell two children orphaned by the tsunami. They arrested a 60-year-old man after being tipped off
about the alleged sale of the children, ages 12 and 13. It's not yet clear
what happened to the children.The suspect has been released on bail. Scores of children lost their parents to the killer waves
December 26th. About 31-thousand people died in Sri Lanka. The United Nations and international aid groups are
concerned child traffickers could take advantage of the disaster and try to
sell orphans into forced labor or the sex trade.
Death toll in Asian quake disaster
approaches 160,000
JAKARTA: The death toll from the
earthquake and tsunamis that devastated Indian Ocean coastlines last month
approached 160,000 on Thursday as India and Sri Lanka reported new deaths. Indonesia was hardest-hit by the
December 26 quake and tsunamis, with 106,523 confirmed deaths and 12,047
people missing, the social affairs ministry said. In
Sri Lanka government figures issued on Thursday showed the toll had risen by
11 to 30,893 while the number of those reported missing had come down by 50 to
6,038. In neighbouring India, more than
300 more people were confirmed dead on the Andaman islands, pushing the
official death toll to 10,672 with 5,711 still missing and feared dead. The death toll in Thailand stood
at 5,313, but the number of missing continued to slip, down by 91 names
Thursday to 3,254, including 1,063 foreigners. Myanmar's Prime Minister Soe Win
has said 59 people were killed in the tsunamis and more than 3,200 left
homeless. This was down from the UN's estimated 90. At least 82 people were killed and
another 26 were missing in the Maldives, a government spokesman said. Sixty-eight people were dead in
Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while Bangladesh
reported two deaths. Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya. 12-01-2005 Walk held for Tsunami
victims in Faisalabad |