Tsunami aid

Public Accounts Committe yesterday congratulated officials and ministers for "swift and impressive" response to the Asian tsunami. But the Independent reports that more than £9 million of British aid was sitting unspent in bank accounts 16 months after the distaster and the Department for International Development (DfID) has clawed back £2.5 million of it. DfID will now decide how to spend the money, partly donated by the public. £9 million is a relatively small amount but could make a huge difference to the people affected.