■AUSTRALIA
Floods cut off townships
Floods caused by heavy rains have cut off several townships in northeastern Queensland state, the center of a major cotton-growing region, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said yesterday. Bligh toured an affected community — St George, a town of 2,800 people — where some residents evacuated to higher ground on Saturday, fearing a river would burst its levee. “There’s been major cuts to highways, we have seen railway lines washed away,” she said. “Without a doubt, this will be a damage bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” The Balonne River breached levees, cutting off the townships of Thallon, Bollon and Dirranbandi.
■PHILIPPINES
Pilgrims killed in crash
Twelve Roman Catholic pilgrims were killed when their bus smashed into a tree in the north, rescuers said yesterday. The vehicle’s brakes failed and the driver lost control near Pugo town late on Saturday as they were driving down from the mountain resort of Baguio as part of a Lenten pilgrimage to a number of churches in the region, they said. Eleven of the victims were women and one was decapitated, officials said.
■NORTH KOREA
Kim video broadcast
Pyongyang broadcast a video of leader Kim Jong-il attending a mass rally marking the reopening of a textile factory, a move seen as aimed at demonstrating his commitment to reviving the country’s sagging economy. Kim is often shown in state-distributed photos visiting army units and farms and watching musical concerts, but has rarely appeared in videos. In the video shown on Saturday on state TV, Kim — wearing a parka, fur hat and sunglasses — clapped his hands and waved to a crowd of people packing a plaza in the eastern city of Hamhung, but he was not shown speaking. The rally marked the completion of a factory producing a locally invented synthetic textile called “vinalon,” state TV said.
■MALAYSIA
Catholics accept apology
Roman Catholic authorities yesterday accepted an apology from a Muslim magazine after its writers took part in a mass and allegedly desecrated the communion wafer. “We accept the public apology. It is laudable,” said Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the Catholic Herald newspaper. “We trust they will not repeat it. We are not holding any grudges.” Two journalists from al Islam magazine took the wafer and spat it out after entering a Catholic church to investigate claims that Muslims were illegally converting to Christianity. “Al Islam magazine apologizes ... because the article had unintentionally hurt the feelings of Christians, especially Catholics,” it said on its Web site Utusan Karya on Friday.
■CHINA
Truck crash kills 26
A truck loaded with people heading for a Tibetan monastery crashed on a hill on Saturday when its brakes failed, killing 26 people, Xinhua news agency reported. Nine other people riding in the truck were hurt and were taken to a hospital, Xinhua said. The report, citing unnamed local police, said the crash happened in Tibet’s Shannan prefecture and the truck was heading for Samye Monastery, the oldest in Tibet. Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava, was said to have established Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century and laid the foundation for the monastery.
■GERMANY
Gunmen raid tournament
Robbers wielding hand guns and a machete raided a 1 million euro (US$1.36 million) poker tournament in Berlin — but were forced to leave much of their haul behind after a security guard tackled them, police said. The masked gang burst into the Grand Hyatt hotel in central Berlin on Saturday, where the tournament was taking place, threatening security staff and prompting a brief panic, police spokeswoman Heidi Vogt said. The attackers, armed with handguns and a machete, ordered staff to hand over the money. A security guard tried to tackle one of the robbers but was set upon by the other raiders. During the scuffle, the raiders lost a bag containing a large part of their haul, the police statement said. Berlin’s Tageszeitung newspaper said the raiders got away with 800,000 euros.
■PAKISTAN
PM boosts search for boy
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered police to step up their efforts to find a five-year-old British boy who was kidnapped while visiting relatives. Gilani, who telephoned Sahil Saeed’s father on Saturday to assure him of his full support, also directed police to provide the family with security. Kidnappers snatched the boy on Thursday from his grandmother’s house in Jhelum, a few hours before he and his father were to fly back to the UK. They also stole jewelry and cash, and demanded a US$120,000 ransom. Senior police official Raja Mohammad Tahir said police were working flat-out on the case and that he would be able to provide “good news” soon. Police arrested the taxi driver who had been booked to take them to the airport and said they were confident of recovering the child from the gang.
■AFGHANISTAN
Two British soldiers die
Two British soldiers died after they were wounded in the south of the country, Britain’s defense ministry said on Saturday. The soldiers, both from the 3 Rifles unit, were based in Helmand Province, the ministry said. One soldier was on a foot patrol in Sangin when he was hit by an explosion early on Friday and the other was hit by small arms fire, the ministry said.
■SOMALIA
EU force tracks ship
The EU’s anti-piracy mission said on Saturday it was tracking a hijacked chemical tanker off east Africa as Turkey and France announced the capture of 29 suspected pirates. Norwegian ship owner Broevigtank announced the hijacking of the tanker UBT Ocean off Madagascar on Friday and said the vessel appeared to have been turned around to head north towards Somalia, where pirates have hideouts. “UBT Ocean has a crew of 21 and they are all from Myanmar/Burma,” the EU NAVFOR mission said. Meanwhile, the Turkish military said one of its frigates intercepted a skiff in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, capturing seven suspected pirates. Paris announced that a French frigate detained 22 suspected pirates on Friday.
■SUDAN
Two peacekeepers missing
Two international peacekeepers have gone missing in south Darfur along with half a dozen vehicles and equipment after an ambush on their patrol, the UN-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission in the region said on Saturday. UNAMID said in a statement that a large group of gunmen attacked the peacekeepers’ convoy on Friday as it was traveling to Deribat. The gunmen released most of the patrol members on Saturday, but two peacekeepers are still unaccounted for, the statement said.
■CUBA
Visitors to require insurance
The cash-strapped government will require visitors to buy health insurance if they want to enter the country, a said new measure disclosed on Saturday. Under the measure, which takes effect in May, the insurance will be sold by foreign companies approved by the government or by local firms at ports of entry to the island, the government said in the online edition of the Official Gazette. The measure decrees that tourists, foreigners with temporary residence and locals living abroad who return to visit will have to be insured. It exempts diplomats and representatives of accredited international organizations.
■UNITED STATES
Forge goes up in flames
A historic metal forge that made ashtrays for the ill-fated German airship the Hindenburg and did custom work for Walt Disney has been destroyed by a fire. Saturday’s fire at the Wendell August Forge workshop and gift shop is believed to have started in the workshop, where lacquer was sprayed on bronze pieces such as awards and trophies, spokeswoman Danielle Elderkin said. All employees and customers escaped unharmed. The Wendell August Forge had been in business in Pennsylvania since 1932. Its building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Wendell August produces heirloom-quality personalized metal pieces. It made ashtrays for a Hindenburg trip called the Millionaires Flight, a promotional autumn 1936 cruise over New England for about 50 rich and powerful people including Nelson Rockefeller and World War I fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker.
■MEXICO
Shootout leaves 12 dead
A shootout between security forces and gunmen left 12 people dead in two separate attacks targeting soldiers and police in the west and north, officials said on Saturday. In Michoacan state, gunmen shot five federal police who were on patrol on a toll road late on Friday, killing two and injuring three others, a spokesman for the state prosecutor said. The officers were taken to hospital for treatment and the gunmen escaped. Some 107 police have been killed since January 2008, including 12 so far this year alone, in Michoacan, one of the five states hardest hit by violence linked to feuding drug cartels.
■COLOMBIA
Court to review accord
The Constitutional Court has decided to review an agreement giving US forces access to seven military bases after a group of lawyers filed a complaint arguing it is unconstitutional, court officials said on Saturday. The lawsuit claims the military accord last October was invalid because it was signed by the government of President Alvaro Uribe without prior discussion in Congress.
■HAITI
Food ‘surge’ feeds homeless
Aid groups in shattered Port-au-Prince began handing out heavy bags of rice to thousands of post-quake homeless on the first day of a food “surge” designed to feed 1.9 million people for a month. The operation, organized by the World Food Programme, expands on emergency rations already given away in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people. It was to continue to the end of the month. Each family was being given rations that also included oil, salt and flour in exchange for coupons distributed days ahead of the food hand-outs, while UN peacekeepers stood guard to make sure there was no jostling or rush.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese