CHINA
Ten held in fatal bus crash
Authorities yesterday detained 10 people after 43 died in a horrific weekend accident when a van carrying flammable liquids hit a bus on a motorway, state media said. Police detained the group as part of an investigation into the “illegal transportation of hazardous chemicals,” a Xinhua report said. The collision in Hunan Province early on Saturday triggered a fire and explosion that destroyed five vehicles, it said. The death toll was previously reported to be 38. Another six people were injured in the accident, which involved a double-decker long-distance bus, with capacity for 53 occupants.
CAMBODIA
Parties to resume talks
The ruling and opposition parties yesterday said that their leaders will hold a fresh round of talks to end the year-long political deadlock after last year’s contentious election. Both parties said in a joint statement that Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy would hold talks for the third time in the past year to “defuse political tension.” Tomorrow’s talks, to take place at the Senate office, come after the arrest last week of seven opposition lawmakers and another party activist after violence broke out when party members tried to stage a rally at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh.
INDIA
Water bandits demand ‘tax’
Police say armed bandits are threatening villagers with death unless they deliver 35 buckets of water each day in the state of Uttar Pradesh. So far, 28 villages have been taking turns to deliver what the bandits are calling a “water tax,” but officer Suresh Kumar Singh in the city of Banda says persistent drought and poor supply lines have made the deliveries difficult.
PHILIPPINES
Aquino impeachment bid
Three politicians yesterday threw their weight behind a bid to impeach President Benigno Aquino III after the top court ruled his economic stimulus fund was illegal, although his control of the legislature is likely to thwart the attempt. Two citizens’ groups filed a complaint against Aquino, accusing him of betraying the public trust and violating the constitution. “President Aquino cannot invoke or feign good faith or regularity of his acts since he created, implemented and defended the Disbursement Allocation Program and all unconstitutional acts under it,” they said. The complaint refers to a 145 billion peso (US$3.34 billion) economic stimulus fund to boost public spending created by Aquino in 2011. Congressmen Neri Colmenares, Fernando Hicap and Carlos Zarate endorsed yesterday’s complaint, which will be sent to the House Committee on Justice to decide whether it has substance.
PHILIPPINES
Aquino opens stadium
President Aquino yesterday presided over the opening of what is billed as the world’s largest indoor stadium, erected by a politically influential religious sect. The US$175 million Philippine Arena, which can seat 55,000 people, was hailed as a showcase that will serve as a major venue for concerts and sports events as well as gatherings for its owners, the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) sect. “You have proved that the Filipino can reach great heights, that we can have achievements as lofty as any in the world,” Aquino said in a speech to Iglesia members. He hailed the 15-story structure as “the largest domed arena in the whole world.” Located in Bocaue town, just outside Manila, the arena’s construction is just one of many events marking the centennial of the Iglesia ni Cristo on Sunday. However, the Singapore National Stadium, completed last month, also seats 55,000 people and has been hailed in the media as the world’s largest domed structure.
SOUTH AFRICA
Boy killed in carjacking
A four-year-old boy trapped by his seatbelt was dragged to his death behind a hijacked car, leaving his traumatized mother screaming at the side of the road, police and media said yesterday. “Mommy help me,” were the last words Chantel Morris heard from her panicked son, Taegrin, as he struggled to free himself before the car sped off with him hanging helplessly out of the door, Independent group newspapers reported. Morris had loaded Taegrin and his eight-year-old sister into their VW Golf outside their grandmother’s house in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, on Saturday night when three hijackers held guns to her head. “I asked them to let me get my children out, they could take whatever they wanted, but please let me have my children. I went to the back to pull out Taegrin,” Morris said. Her daughter managed to climb out of the car, but as Morris tried to free the boy from his seatbelt his foot became stuck and the hijackers sped off, ripping him out of her hands. Morris and witnesses to the hijacking ran after the car screaming, but it did not stop. It was later found 4km away, with the boy’s body next to it.
MALTA
More migrant bodies found
The death toll from the latest Mediterranean migrant boat disaster rose to 30 on Sunday, as the government said that 29 bodies had been found in the vessel’s hold and Italy said a Syrian baby had died. Officials originally said 18 people were found dead and another had died on the way to hospital, according to figures given when the vessel was rescued on Saturday.
AUSTRIA
Iran stockpile made harmless
Iran has diluted its entire stock of medium-enriched uranium as required under a deal reached in November last year with world powers, the UN atomic agency said in its latest report seen by reporters yesterday. The country has turned all of its enriched uranium closest to the level needed to make nuclear arms into more harmless forms, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. The move was expected. Tehran had committed to convert or dilute its 20 percent enriched stockpile under the November deal that froze its atomic programs pending negotiations on a comprehensive deal. Those talks were extended on Saturday to Nov. 24. Still, the development was noteworthy in reflecting Tehran’s desire not to derail the diplomatic process with the six countries — the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. Iran had more than 200kg of 20 percent enriched uranium when the preliminary agreement was reached. That is nearly enough for one warhead. Tehran is keen to seal a deal that would end nuclear-related sanctions on its economy, but is resisting a US-led drive to put stiff, long-term constraints on atomic activities that have both peaceful and weapons-related applications. The main dispute is over uranium enrichment, which can make both reactor fuel and the fissile core of nuclear warheads.
UNITED STATES
Washington fire slowed
Firefighters made progress on Sunday slowing a massive wildfire in Washington State that has raged unchecked for nearly a week, destroying between 80 and 150 homes and charring a wide swath of wilderness east of the Cascade Mountains. Containment efforts were aided by cooler weather and slowing winds, allowing about 1,300 firefighters battling the Carlton Complex blaze about 195km northeast of Seattle to halt the spread of flames and lower evacuation orders in some areas. “Firefighters are working hard to take advantage of today’s predicted quieter winds to help them get the remaining portions of the fire lined,” incident Commander Bruce Holloway said in a statement. “They are focusing near homes and communities where needed.” The fire, one of about 18 raging from northern California to Idaho as the Pacific Northwest enters its annual fire season, has been especially vexing because it is near populated centers in Washington’s picturesque Methow Valley, home to about 10,000 people.
UNITED STATES
James Garner dies at 86
Actor James Garner, whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western Maverick led to a stellar career in TV and films such as The Rockford Files and his Oscar-nominated Murphy’s Romance, has died, police said. He was 86. He was found dead of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles on Saturday evening, Los Angeles police officer Alonzo Iniquez said early on Sunday. Although he was adept at drama and action, Garner was best known for his low-key, wisecracking style, especially with his hit TV series, Maverick and The Rockford Files. His quick-witted avoidance of conflict provided a refreshingly new take on the American hero, contrasting with the steely heroics of John Wayne and the fast trigger of Clint Eastwood. Well into his 70s, the handsome Oklahoman remained active in both TV and film. In 2002, he was Sandra Bullock’s father in the film Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. The following year, he joined the cast of 8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter, playing the grandfather on the sitcom after star John Ritter, who played the father, died during the show’s second season.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
JOINT EFFORTS: The three countries have been strengthening an alliance and pressing efforts to bolster deterrence against Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea The US, Japan and the Philippines on Friday staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance. The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships and aircraft from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal — also known as Huangyan Island (黃岩島) and claimed by Taiwan and China — in an unsettling moment but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away. “There was a time when they attempted to maneuver
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