WASHINGTON — Almost three in 10 Americans say they have donated to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Asia, according to an Associated Press poll.

Twenty-nine percent say they have given for tsunami aid; an additional 37 percent say they plan to, according to the poll conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

About 15 percent of Americans said they had donated less than $100. About 5 percent said they had given $100 or more. And about 9 percent said they could not specify how much they had given, raising some doubt about their answer.

"People might feel pressure to give the socially correct answer when being interviewed," said Robert Shapiro, a public-opinion specialist at Columbia University. "We know that a lot of people are giving money. People might feel it puts them in an awkward situation to say they haven't."

Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, which tracks donations, estimated $322 million in cash and goods had been contributed by U.S. corporations, foundations and individuals as of yesterday. The government has pledged $350 million.

The total in private donations is about 40 percent of what had been given to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks almost two weeks after the hijackings, said the center.

C-17s from McChord to help Thai relief effort

TACOMA — Two C-17 transport jets from McChord Air Force Base will leave for Utapao, Thailand, to take part in tsunami-relief efforts.

The first is scheduled to leave today, the second Tuesday. Both will pick up cargo from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii and deliver it to the C-17 staging area in Utapao. The C-17 can carry 170,000 pounds of supplies.

Bush signs tax rule for tsunami donations

WASHINGTON — President Bush yesterday signed legislation allowing people who donate to tsunami relief to claim deductions on their 2004 tax returns, if they write the check before the end of this month.

The bill, passed by voice vote in both the House and Senate, was aimed at encouraging private donations for relief operations. Without the law, taxpayers would have had to wait until next year to claim a tax deduction for contributions made after Dec. 31.

U.S. delays deporting to Sri Lanka, Maldives

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has temporarily stopped deporting people to Sri Lanka and Maldives, two of the countries devastated by the tsunami disaster.

Citizens of those countries with deportation orders will be allowed to stay in the United States until April 7, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department said yesterday.

391 missing Britons likely dead, official says

PHUKET, Thailand — British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday that 391 Britons who remain missing were highly likely to have been killed in the tsunami. Great Britain updated the confirmed toll to 50 — three in the Maldives, 10 in Sri Lanka and 37 in Thailand.

"The fact that (the figures) have more than doubled in the space of four days indicates the imprecision of estimates of this kind," Straw said. "... In this case, bodies are still being washed up, unearthed, so the total number of potential casualties is still not known."

Cleric suggests disaster was divine punishment

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — The main mosque in this devastated Sumatran city reopened yesterday for Friday prayers after being used as a makeshift morgue for tsunami victims, and the cleric said the disaster may have been punishment from Allah for "forgetting him and his teachings."

"Allah will not love us without also testing our love for him," said Din Syamsuddin, who is head of Indonesia's Council of Clerics. "Maybe this disaster was because we have forgotten him and his teachings and failed to implement (Islamic) Shariah law."

Richest-nations group agrees to freeze debts

LONDON — Top finance officials of the Group of Seven industrialized countries said yesterday they have agreed to freeze the debt repayments of nations hit by the earthquake and tsunami and will work with other creditors on arranging how to do so.

The finance ministers, from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain and Canada, agreed to urge the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral institutions to make the strongest possible efforts to assist the ravaged nations.

The affected Asian countries have roughly $272 billion in external debt.

Saudi telethon raises $84 million for victims

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Schoolchildren donated pocket money and King Fahd gave millions as Saudis raised $84 million for the tsunami victims in a state-organized telethon that ended yesterday.

People filed into a Riyadh stadium and television studio to place cash and even gold jewelry into glass boxes in a 12-hour telethon.

State television broadcast the telethon live, switching between shots of donors at the boxes, interviews with prominent personalities and scenes of the devastation and suffering left by the earthquake and tsunami.