Candles flickered at the heads of about 20 corpses, lying in the street wrapped in white sheets outside the Santa Maria church in the devastated main town on Nias, the Indonesian isle known as a surfers' paradise.

Indonesia’s vice president has predicted that as many as 2,000 people may have died in yesterday's earthquake.

A powerful 8.7-magnitude earthquake hammered Indonesia’s west coast, collapsing homes and burying sleeping residents inside and sparking panic across Indian Ocean countries still traumatised by the tsunami disaster three months ago. Death toll estimates varied widely, from about 200 to 10 times that number.

Tamil Tiger rebels walked out of a meeting with Sri Lankan officials on the distribution of tsunami aid today after a strident opponent of the guerrillas showed up uninvited for the talks.

The death toll from massive tidal waves that struck Sri Lanka’s coastline leapt to more than 11,500 today as thousands of soldiers and families searched for bodies a day after the disaster.

TAMIL Tiger rebels say they are ready to resume peace talks with the Sri Lankan government if the negotiations are based on their previously-rejected proposal for self-rule.

Tamil Tiger guerrillas advanced on a heavily armed breakaway faction today in a vicious gun and mortar battle that killed at least nine people, wounded 20 and imperilled Sri Lanka’s fragile two-year-old cease-fire.

Sri Lanka’s hardline president installed a new prime minister today who immediately called on neighbouring India to help revive its frozen peace process amid post-election threats of a new civil war by the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The alliance of President Chandrika Kumaratunga emerged as the largest winner in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections, but fell eight seats short of a majority and plans to seek a partner to forge a ruling coalition.

The political alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga won the largest number of seats in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections, officials said today, apparently forcing aside her longtime rival, the former prime minister.

The Sri Lankan military today began deploying soldiers to help police maintain security on the eve of parliamentary elections that could result in a hung Parliament with no clear winner.

EU external relations commissioner Chris Patten arrived in Sri Lanka today to strengthen efforts to resume stalled peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Norwegian envoys who are trying to help broker Sri Lanka’s peace with its Tamil Tiger rebels headed for the island nation today while its president and prime minister remained locked in a power struggle that has thrown uncertainty on the peace process.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume arrived in Sri Lanka today to share his experiences with Sri Lankan officials and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The Sri Lankan government has lifted a ban on the Tamil Tiger rebels, paving the way for peace talks to end the island nation’s 19-year civil war.

Rival politicians have brawled on the floor of the Sri Lankan Parliament amid bizarre claims that the president had carried a bomb into a cabinet meeting.

Sri Lankan soldiers and police officers have used rubber bullets and tear gas to block tens of thousands of protestors from demonstrating in Columbo against the suspension of the country's parliament.