The White House on Thursday waived an act that was preventing foreign ships from delivering supplies to Puerto Rico, more than a week after Hurricane Maria devastated the US territory [...] The Jones Act requires goods sent between US ports to be carried on ships built, owned and operated by the US. But lawmakers said it slowed the delivery of much-needed aid to Puerto Rico, where millions of Americans do not have electricity, adequate access to clean drinking water or a reliable fuel supply. 

Natural disasters know no political boundaries. And that’s why international humanitarian relief flows so quickly, and in such great and humbling quantities, when hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis strike. But today, with Houston suffering as Mother Nature’s latest victim, will the world’s giving nations step-up and step-in to help American relief efforts?

Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to Sri Lanka to assist more than 600,000 people who were driven away from their homes following Friday's monsoon deluge. India and Pakistan have also deployed medical teams on the ground in some of the worst-affected areas, he said. The United Nations has said it will provide water containers, water purification tablets and tarpaulin sheets while the World Health Organisation will support medical teams in affected areas.