Cyprus donates medicine to Aceh

INDONESIA: The government of Cyprus has donated a plane-load of medical supplies to Aceh, the Cyprus Embassy in Indonesia said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cyprus Ambassador to Indonesia, Achilleas Antoniades, met Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Monday to express his solidarity and support, on behalf of Cyprus, to the Indonesian government and its people.

Antoniades is a resident ambassador in Canberra.

"The Cyprus government has pledged 1 million euros (US$1.3 million) to the common relief of the European Union, in addition to aid in kind," the statement said.

The non-governmental organizations in Cyprus, in a coordinated fund-raising drive, have also raised another US$1 million.

"This is a genuine expression of sympathy and solidarity with the Indonesian people at this difficult time from the people of our small, but friendly country," Antoniades said. -- JP

;REUTERS;APS; ANPAa..r.. ATW-weather-Saudi-flood Floodwaters kill 29 in Saudi Arabia JP/11/ATW

Floodwaters kill 29 in Saudi Arabia

SAUDI ARABIA: Twenty-nine people were killed in Saudi Arabia's western city of Medina this week after rain, described as the worst in 20 years, and flood waters swept cars off roads and destroyed a bridge, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

Another 17 people were wounded, Al-Madina quoted regional governor Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz as saying.

The rain, said by some local newspapers as the heaviest downpour in the desert country for two decades, hit western Saudi Arabia on Saturday and disrupted the last day of the haj pilgrimage in Mecca.

"We have seen enormous damage to the roads, electricity and communications," Prince Muqrin told the newspaper after touring the flood-hit area. Al-Madina published pictures of a collapsed bridge and cars swept into palm trees by the force of the water. --Reuters