Boy survives at sea on mattress

A five-year-old Indonesian boy spent two days floating at sea on a mattress to survive the tsunami that killed thousands of people from his town, and was reunited with his family yesterday.

"Mother, mother, mother," he cried as he was rushed to his parents, older brother and younger sister at a refugee camp in Meulaboh, his home town in Aceh, that was one of the hardest hit in Sunday's disaster.

The boy, Wira, said he was playing with his brother and two-year-old sister near his home when the waters rushed through. He held on to various floating pieces of wood while being swept away.

"I was not afraid because I am used to the sea. As I was still holding on to a door, the mattress came by so I decided to climb on it. I was not afraid, but I was cold."

Wallets open worldwide for victims ...

People throughout the world opened their hearts and wallets this week to give millions of dollars to the victims of Asia's tsunamis, jamming phone lines and websites and outpacing their own Governments in their generosity.

Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said it had collected the equivalent of US$39 million ($54.9 million), less than a day after launching an appeal on behalf of 12 British charities.

The American Red Cross said that by noon on Wednesday it had collected US$18 million ($25 million). Finns lined up in the cold in Helsinki to contribute. The country of just five million people quickly raised US$4 million ($5.5 million). Even Amazon.com collected US$4.8 million ($6.6 million) in donations from online shoppers.

... And mobile phone texts boost total

Italian mobile phone users were reported to have donated more than 11 million ($21.2 million) euros for the victims of the tsunamis through a text messaging arrangement that seemed to be setting a trend in other countries.

The Milan daily Corriere della Sera said Italians could contribute 1 euro every time they sent a text message to a special number, in a scheme sponsored by the country's four mobile phone companies and its main television channels.

Organisers of Germany's biggest New Year's Eve party, to be held at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, said party-goers could make donations to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) by sending a text message to a special number. And in Spain, Telefonica mobiles invited customers to send messages for 0.9 euros to humanitarian organisations, with the company donating the proceeds raised.

Devastation recalls World War II bombing

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who was evacuated from his seaside Sri Lankan holiday hotel when the tsunami hit, said the resulting devastation reminded him of World War II bombing.

Kohl, 74, recounted what he saw before a Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter lifted him and his entourage out of the island's south, one of the worst-hit areas.

Kohl said he was on the third floor of a hotel outside Galle, Sri Lanka's second-biggest city, when the waters struck.

"Only when we saw that the entire lower and second floors of our hotel were flooded did we realise the full extent of the catastrophe," he said. "It brought back images of the war, which I lived through as a boy. It looked like after a heavy bombardment."

Kohl said he would stay in Sri Lanka to see if he could help with relief efforts.

Bid to put stricken nations' debts on hold

French President Jacques Chirac yesterday told his Government to push for the Paris Club of creditor nations to put a moratorium on debt payments owed by countries hit by the tsunamis.

The proposal, already raised by Germany and the US, would see some of the 11 countries hit by Sunday's catastrophe given debt relief while they struggle with the aftermath of the devastation dealt to their populations.

Canada has already announced a moratorium on debts while the countries rebuild.

Top soccer clubs pledge cash aid

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and other English Premiership soccer clubs pledged at least £1 million ($2.72 million) in aid. All 20 clubs in the top division have promised £50,000 ($134,000) each to help to provide relief to an area where English football is followed passionately.

US leaders to visit devastated regions

US President George W. Bush will send a delegation headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to the tsunami-affected region on Sunday to assess the need for assistance, the White House said.

The President said a US$35 million ($49 million) US pledge for victims of the tsunamis was only the beginning and any suggestions America was stingy were "misguided and ill-informed".

Critics have attacked the President for not making a public statement sooner on the disaster.