Saudi telethon raises €61m

The people of Saudi Arabia have raised more than £43m (€61.2m) for the tsunami victims in Asia in a telethon staged by the government after accusations that the oil-rich kingdom was not doing enough for those affected.

People filed into a Riyadh stadium and television studio to drop cash and gold jewellery into glass boxes. State television broadcast the 12-hour telethon live, switching between shots of donors at the boxes, interviews with prominent personalities, and scenes of the devastation and suffering left by the tsunami.

A woman in black robes walked into the stadium carrying her child. When she got to the boxes, she took off her gold bracelets and dropped them in. A primary schoolboy gave his daily 70p allowance.

Ailing King Fahd donated £2.8m (€4m) and de-facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah donated €982,000, state TV reported.