PAKISTAN
Temblor rocks Islamabad
Residents of Islamabad were jolted from their beds overnight by a magnitude 5.3 earthquake — a chilling reminder of the devastating temblor that killed more than 80,000 people and left 3 million homeless almost exactly five years ago. Arif Mahmood, chief seismological official, said the quake’s epicenter was only about 28km northwest of the capital. It occurred at about 2:45am yesterday and was shallow at about 10km deep, so it caused strong shaking. However, no damage or injuries were reported.
AUSTRALIA
Rains flood Queensland
Torrential downpours dumped up to 28cm of rain on parts of eastern Australia yesterday, causing flash flooding, stranding cars and knocking out power to thousands. Heavy rain has been falling across coastal areas of southeastern Queensland state since Sunday, with wind gusts of up to 100kph ripping branches from trees and downing power lines. No injuries or deaths were reported. About 16cm of rain had drenched the state capital Brisbane by yesterday afternoon, and parts of the nearby Gold Coast were drenched with 28cm, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Crews were working to restore electricity to 20,000 homes and businesses.
SOUTH KOREA
Russian nuke envoy visits
Russia’s chief nuclear envoy arrived in Seoul yesterday amid efforts to revive nuclear disarmament negotiations with North Korea. Alexei Borodavkin, the Kremlin’s nuclear negotiator for the six-party talks, was to meet his South Korean counterpart, Wi Sung-lac, yesterday, the South’s foreign ministry said. “They will discuss overall issues on the six-party talks and the current events on the Korean peninsula,” a ministry spokesman said. Borodavkin will also meet new South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin during the three-day visit to talk about other issues, the spokesman said.
PHILIPPINES
MILF urges leader’s release
Muslim rebels yesterday protested the arrest of one their senior leaders on terrorism charges, warning that his detention could scuttle planned peace talks. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) demanded the unconditional release of Abraham Yap Alonto, arrested two weeks ago on charges of involvement in bombings in the troubled south. It described Alonto as a member of the policymaking central committee of the 12,000-strong MILF. Alonto was among key MILF leaders covered by immunity from arrest under an agreement with the government, the group said. President Benigno Aquino’s chief peace adviser, Teresita Deles, said that the government would issue a formal statement later yesterday to address Alonto’s arrest.
BANGLADESH
Rescuers look for victims
Rescue workers battled strong currents and rising public anger yesterday as they struggled to locate a bus 24 hours after it plunged into a river with 50 people on board. The 52-seater bus lost control on Sunday morning and swerved into the river Turag, 20km west of the capital, Dhaka, chief district administrator Mohibul Haq said. “We have failed to locate the bus. It’s impossible to dive into the river as the current is very strong. The river is also very deep where the bus sank,” he said. Eight passengers managed to escape at the time of the accident, but all the others are presumed dead.
UAE
Canada barred from camp
Canadian forces can no longer use a military camp near Dubai from which it supported its troops in Afghanistan, a government source said on Sunday, in an escalation of a dispute over landing rights. The decision comes after the government failed to convince Ottawa to allow its two major airlines to increase flights to Canada. “Canada kept giving excuses and playing for time,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. Dubai carrier Emirates has been lobbying Ottawa to boost its three-times-a-week direct flights to Toronto and more Canadian destinations. The source said the agreement allowing Canada to use the airbase had expired in June. It was extended to last month at Canada’s request.
WEST BANK
Jericho founding celebrated
Palestinians on Sunday marked the 10,000th anniversary of the founding of Jericho, the West Bank town that may be the world’s oldest city. The festivities included a special Cabinet meeting chaired by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a 4.5km race, a military band and fireworks. “This occasion is not only a celebration, but is part of a national project to complete the building and preparation of the Palestinian state,” Fayyad said at the opening of the ceremony. The date chosen for the anniversary — 10/10/2010 — was mostly symbolic. There is evidence of settlement dating back to 9000 BC and urban fortifications dating back to 7000 BC, predating Egypt’s pyramids by 4,000 years.
UNITED KINGDOM
Rowling most influential
Magazine editors yesterday named J. K. Rowling the most influential woman in Britain, judging the Harry Potter author more powerful than Queen Elizabeth II. Rowling topped the list compiled by editors from the National Magazine Co, which publishes 20 magazines in Britain. They cited her writing skills, tenacity to succeed and philanthropic nature, the company said. In second place was pop-star-turned-fashion-designer Victoria Beckham and the queen in the third spot. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood also made it into the the top 10.
UNITED STATES
‘SpaceShipTwo’ glides
Virgin Galactic’s space tourism rocket SpaceShipTwo achieved its first solo glide flight on Sunday, marking another step in the company’s eventual plans to fly paying passengers. SpaceShipTwo was carried aloft by its mothership to an altitude of more than 13,700m and released over the Mojave Desert. The craft, manned by two pilots, flew freely for 11 minutes before landing at an airport runway followed by the mothership. The entire test flight lasted about 25 minutes. “It’s a very big deal,” Virgin president Richard Branson said. “There are a number of big deals on the way to getting commercial space travel becoming a reality. This was a very big step. We now know that the spaceship glides. We know it can be dropped safely from the mothership and we know it can land safely. That’s three big ticks … The next big step will be the rocket tests actually on the spacecraft itself.”
YEMEN
Police officer gunned down
Two attackers on a motorbike gunned down an officer who featured on an al-Qaeda hit list of 55 policemen to be killed, a security official said on yesterday. One of the attackers drove the motorbike while the other shot Ghazi al-Samawi on Sunday night, the official said. Samawi featured on an al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula list of 55 policemen.
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
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