More foreign help

Continuing yesterday's post (updated here),
Pacific nations help Katrina victims
I had mentioned Australia and Japan before, and the details are that

Australia will send 10 million Australian dollars (£4 million) and a team of 20 disaster experts to the US to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the prime minister John Howard said.

The money will go to the US Red Cross

Japan considers releasing oil reserves. The Japanese government will provide aid worth up to US$500,000 (Ђ403,615) to the United States

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Japan will give US$200,000 (Ђ161,445) to the American Red Cross.

It also is ready to provide up to US$300,000 (Ђ242,170) in emergency supplies such as tents, blankets and power generators, he said.

Singapore's sent three CH-47 Chinook helicopters and 38 troops based in Grand Prairie, Texas, to Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The same article states that

Sri Lanka, which received substantial U.S. military and other foreign aid after the tsunami killed more than 31,000 and displaced 1 million, on Friday pledged US$25,000 (Ђ20,200) to the American Red Cross.

The government also urged Sri Lankan-born physicians living in the United States to volunteer their services to the relief effort.

In Indonesia, the country worst-hit by the tsunami, and Thailand, which was also battered, top government officials expressed their condolences and said they were still considering how best to offer practical help.

The UK's Sun reports that Taiwan has pledged £1.8million to the relief effort. This is particularly generous, considering how Taiwan was hit by a typhoon that left three dead and 59 people injured less than 36 hours ago.

Employees of China's National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) (which was recently in the news over the company's bid for Unocal) have donated $99,000, which the company will match dollar-for-dollar

Meanwhile back in Venezuela, Hugo's gone passive-agressive by offering planeloads of soldiers and aid workers to help American victims of Hurricane Katrina, while at the same time taking aim at the U.S. government for its handling of the crisis, and saying the USA could learn from how Cuba deals with natural disasters. What a guy. I guess he can't remember a flood 125,000 strong.