| A million bucks? I'm just overwhelmed. |
| It's Kofi's pin money for the week. The least he could do, ya know. |
 The United Nations said on Monday it would provide one million dollars in immediate assistance for the victims of a powerful quake and tidal waves on Indonesia's Sumatra island and more aid would be made available. Mohamed Saleheen, the acting chief of the UN's mission to Indonesia, said the organisation would work with government teams to coordinate relief aid and a UN disaster response team would arrive as soon as it had permission. He said he held a meeting Monday with 60 representatives from donor countries and international aid groups to discuss assistance. "Donors are wanting to know what quantifiable needs are, what are mechanisms to deliver this (assistance)," he told AFP. Michael Elmquist of the UN's Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jakarta said his organisation was working with the government to send a team to Aceh, the worst hit province. He said fears were growing for several Indonesian UN employees who were in Aceh at the time of the massive tremor. "Since the quake we have not heard from them," he said. "We hope for the best." More than 5,700 people have been killed in by Sunday's earthquake in Indonesia. Most of the victims were in Aceh. |