News Wrap: Southeast Asia marks 10 years since catastrophic tsunami

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Friends and relatives lined up this afternoon at the wake for a New York City policeman, Rafael Ramos. He was one of two officers shot dead last Saturday by a gunman, who then killed himself.

Hundreds turned out at a church in Queens, a day before the Ramos funeral. At the same time, a spontaneous memorial of flowers and candles kept growing at the site of the shootings in Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, in Oakland, California, Christmas night protests over recent police killings of black suspects turned violent. A crowd smashed windows and even wrecked a public Christmas tree.

In Syria, there's new word of government airstrikes that killed more than 50 people in the last two days. Activists and witnesses report airplanes and helicopters dropped barrel bombs on two towns near the key city of Aleppo. The aerial assault hit residential and industrial targets in both towns, now held by Islamic State fighters. In addition to the dead, at least 175 people were wounded.

Nations all around the rim of the Indian Ocean marked 10 years today since the tsunami that left almost 230,000 people dead. Survivors and relatives of the victims gathered at services from Indonesia to India.

Jackie Long of Independent Television News reports.

JACKIE LONG:

A gentle smattering of flowers, quiet remembrance in Indonesia for the day the tsunami struck.

The devastating effect of the wave that day touched countries across the Indian Ocean and beyond. Indonesia suffered the highest number of causalities. This is Aceh province, one of the worst-hit areas of the country.

Today, in Banda Aceh in Indonesia, the message is a simple one. "Thanks to the world," they say. Thirty-five countries helped in the rescue and rebuilding operation in Indonesia alone.

The Ocean Queen Express heads along the coastline south of Colombo in Sri Lanka, a potent symbol of this country's attempts to move on. A thousand passengers were killed when the tsunami ripped the train from the tracks 10 years ago.

For some, rebuilding their lives has been more of a struggle. Ramachandran, a fisherman in a coastal town in Tamil Nadu in India, lost five members of his family. Much has been done to make the area safer should another tsunami hit, but he says the people still live in fear.

MAN (through interpreter):

Now things are normal, but we never know when it will come again. Even though they put these stones here to stop the water from coming in, we are brave to still live here on the coast.

JACKIE LONG:

A police boat swept a mile inland by the tsunami was the focal point for official commemorations in Thailand. Nearly 5,500 people were killed here, half of them foreign tourists.

But away from the speeches, on the sands of beaches where so many died, relatives and friends paid their own tributes, making sure the memories of their loved ones will never disappear.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The tsunami was one of the worst natural disasters in recent history.

The Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists began a major prisoner swap today involving some 370 soldiers and rebels. The exchange near the rebel-held city of Donetsk was the biggest since fighting began in Eastern Ukraine earlier this year. A September cease-fire largely failed, but the level of fighting has slackened in recent weeks.

NATO has condemned Russian intervention in Ukraine, but, today, the Kremlin struck back. President Vladimir Putin approved a new military doctrine that names the Western alliance as the number one military threat to Russia. The change came as Putin's government is battling an economic slowdown brought on in part by Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Back in this country, Wall Street closed out Christmas week with new highs. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 23 points to close at a record 18053. The Nasdaq rose 33 points to close near 4807, its best finish since march of 2000. And the S&P added almost seven to finish at 2088, also a record. For the week, the Dow gained nearly 1.5 percent; the Nasdaq and the S&P rose just under 1 percent.