Tsunami stories: Bush gives US$10,000 to tsunami victims

President George W. Bush has added US$10,000 ($14,300) from his personal fortune to the US$350 million in official American aid.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the President - a multimillionaire - had written cheques to several organisations listed on a website directing Americans to charities collecting private contributions.

US death toll now 36

The number of Americans presumed dead rose to 36 yesterday when the State Department added 20 more people to the toll.

A further 3500 are missing.

Double miracle

An Indonesian woman plucked from the sea after clinging to a tree for five days heard yesterday that she is 18 weeks pregnant with her first child.

"I'm very glad, very happy," 25-year-old Malawati said from hospital in Penang, Malaysia.

The farmer from Indonesia's Aceh province said she could not wait to tell her husband of four years and relatives, although she was not sure how many had survived.

When the waves swept her out to sea, she clung to a sago palm and lived off its fruit before being rescued by a Malaysian tuna boat crew.

1500 aftershocks

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organisation, which monitors compliance with a global ban on nuclear tests, said its instruments recorded about 1500 aftershocks in the 48 hours after the Asian quake and tsunami.

Doing her bit

A British mother of two is auctioning a three-course, home-cooked, Sunday roast to raise money for victims.

Steph Dugdale, 37, of Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, and her husband put the offer on internet auction site eBay complete with a picture of a similar meal. They hoped to raise about £100 ($270) but the bidding has reached £800 and is expected to top £1000.

The winner and three friends will visit the family home for a full three-course meal whenever they choose.

Long hair a death trap

Scores of women in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu were killed when their long hair became caught in trees.

Charles Badenoch, chief executive of World Vision UK, said almost 8000 people in the area had died.

"The women have long hair and when they were fleeing they got their hair caught up in brambles and the wreckage and were dragged under the water."

Family's tribute

The family of Paul Giardina, one of the first identified Australian victims, have paid a loving tribute to the Down syndrome teenager in a newspaper death notice the day before his funeral.

Paul, 16, of Melbourne, was helpless when he was swept away from his parents, Joseph and Ivana, at Phuket.

His uncles, aunts, cousins and grandmother contributed to the death notice that took up a column in Melbourne's Herald Sun.

"God, please fold your arms around Paul and hold him close to You," wrote his Uncle Vince and Aunt Fran Parisi. "Always a part of us, never forgotten."

Con artists cash in

Con artists are posing as tsunami victims on the internet to divert some of the millions in relief money.

Security experts say crudely written appeals for help have begun to appear in inboxes, asking for donations through a website or an overseas bank account.

"It's only a matter of time before ... we have fully fledged websites that spoof well-known charities," said Paul Wood, of MessageLabs, an internet security company.

Monk sells his temple

A Buddhist monk in Canada stunned his congregation by putting his temple in a Vancouver suburb up for sale to raise C$500,000 ($590,945).

Thich Nguyen Thao said: "This is the least I could do to provide some comfort to the victims ... Their need is urgent and greater than our own."

Buddhists who meet at the building, many of whom fled Vietnam in the late 1970s, were at first stunned but now fully support the sale.

Guidelines issued

The United States State Department is issuing guidelines to officials and volunteers to prevent human trafficking amid reports that thousands of orphans risk being picked up by unscrupulous gangs.

The guidelines include registering people who come to camps and ensuring proper security for residents, especially women and children.

Silence, sadness

Europe was briefly united in silence yesterday. Tens of millions of people interrupted their busy daily lives, from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterannean, to reflect for three minutes on tsunami disaster. Radio and television stations fell silent and buses and trams paused.