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A plug adapter that stops energy being wasted by electrical devices left on standby is to go on sale priced £9.99.

Known as the SMJ Energy Saving Plug Adapter, the gadget stops energy being wasted when televisions and other electrical goods are left on standby instead of being turned off.

Laura Yates, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace gave mixed response: "Standby's got to go, but in the meantime it's great news that these energy saving plug adapters are now available."

Negotiations are also under way to launch a similar device known as the 'Standby Saver' which featured on the BBC's television show 'Dragons' Den' - click here to see the show.

As the massive category five storm Hurricane Dean continues to pound its way towards the Gulf of Mexico, Christian organisations are assembling their relief operations in preparation for large-scale devastation.

World Vision in the US said that its Mexico office had pre-positioned relief supplies in Yucatan in anticipation of huge needs for blankets, bed sheets, personal hygiene articles and medicines.

"This is a potentially historical storm," said Aldo Pontecorvo, director of humanitarian emergency assistance for World Vision in Mexico. "The Mexican coastline has never been hit by a Category 5 storm. We're preparing for extensive damage and widespread displacement."

Christian Aid staff and partner organisations are also stepping up relief efforts, including clearing trees and other debris blocking roads in Jamaica. The development agency will also be providing relief to people in Haiti whose crops have been destroyed.

Rhian Holder, Christian Aid’s programme officer in Jamaica, described the scene as the storm moved in:

“It's very, very loud, the wind is roaring and shrieking. The trees are breaking, you're hearing branches snapping, you're hearing thuds, things falling, you're not sure what it is.”

She added: “There is still no electricity across the island and communication is very difficult. In St Thomas, where one of our partners is based, the cell phone masts fell in a couple of areas, so it is very difficult to get through. The road to the airport in Kingston is blocked with trees, boulders and sand that have been blown across it.”

While other agencies will bring food and water, US-based Christian charity New Directions International has readied equipment for emergency shelter in Jamaica, including plastic tarpaulins and tin sheets for temporary roofing, as well as materials for roof repairs in the wake of the hurricane.

"NDI will focus on providing shelter relief and helping people dig out," according to New Directions’ CEO Joseph Williams, who added that the present hurricane resembled the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina to which New Directions also provided emergency shelter and supply within a few days.

The charity plans to remain in the hurricane-hit regions for the long haul. During the rebuilding phase, it will hand out backpacks full of school supplies among children as part of its Edu-Pack programme, and contribute towards the reconstruction of churches and schools.

The Salvation Army in Texas, meanwhile, has scrambled nine canteens and a mobile command centre to San Antonio in the case Hurricane Dean should take a turn towards the Lone Star State.

The canteens are stocked to feed a hundred first responders while the command centre will allow Salvation Army officers to coordinate their efforts to meet the urgent needs of hurricane victims.

Family members of the Korean hostages are suffering along with the victims in Afghanistan, with reports of parents passing out and being hospitalised from the emotional strain.

One hostage’s family member, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I try to sleep so that I don’t pass out, but I just can’t sleep. I’m bearing so much, just thinking about my kidnapped child,” according to Chosun Ilbo - South Korea’s largest newspaper.

Family members have dark circles under their eyes and carry weary faces as they take turns with vigils each night. Stress is especially high each time a deadline approaches.

“They are suffering from severe indigestion and heart pains due to the continued mental trauma,” said Dr. Cha Byeong-ho, who is looking after the health of the families at the hostages’ home church in Bundang, just south of the South Korean capital Seoul, according to Chosun Ilbo.

If the families decide to make the trip, they want to make the visit before the two-day summit meeting between Afghan president Hamid Karzai and President Bush starting on Sunday.

The two leaders will discuss strategies on how to stabilise the war-torn country as Afghanistan faces the worst level of violence over the past 18 months since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001. Solutions to the hostage crisis are also expected to be discussed.

“We plead with the U.S. government for help: the kidnapped went there to share love, but they are having days like hell. We believe the Bush administration will act for humanitarianism,” read the letter submitted by the families to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday, according to The Korea Times.

A South Korean delegation arrived Thursday in Washington to appeal for U.S. help in the hostage crisis. South Korea expressed hope Friday that advancements will be made during this weekend’s summit to win the release of the hostages, according to Reuters.

South Korea said it has conveyed to the Taliban that it is virtually powerless in granting the rebels’ demand to free prisoners held by the Afghan government and U.S. forces.

“Through our contacts, our foremost goal is to make it clear that there is a limit as to what our government can do to meet their demands of releasing the prisoners," presidential spokesman Chun Ho-sun told reporters Friday, according to Reuters.

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The Taliban said Friday that it will not kill any of the remaining 21 South Korean hostages before its face-to-face meetings with the delegation from the East Asian country.

Nearly a dozen deadlines and numerous threats thereafter to kill the Christian captives have been made since their abduction on July 19.

With a deadlock in negotiations over the Taliban’s proposed prisoner-rebel exchange, the militant group has been working with South Korea on setting up a face-to-face meeting to discuss other options. Yet despite their agreement to meet, a location has not yet been set where both parties feel safe.

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