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updated :THURSDAY
15 MAY
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China quake toll mounts to 20,000
Beijing,
May 14: China today rushed more
troops and air-dropped relief
supplies in areas cut off near
the epicentre of the devastating
earthquake in southwest Sichuan
province as the toll mounted
to nearly 20,000 with thousands
of people still buried, trapped
or missing.
As troops reached the quake-battered
areas near the epicentre, the
state media reported that the
death toll in Mianyang city
alone rose from 3629 to 5,540
with 18,486 more buried and
1,396 missing.
In Yingxiu of Wenchuan county,
only 2,300 people were believed
to have survived out of 10,000
people living in the town near
the epicentre, official Xinhua
news agency said. It had earlier
reported a toll of over 12,000
in the quake.
The toll was expected to rise
further once rescuers reach
other towns in Wenchuan.
Some towns near the epicentre
have been “razed to the
ground” with no houses
left standing, a police official
was quoted by the state media
as saying.
“The losses have been
severe. Some towns basically
have no houses left. They have
all been razed to the ground,”
Wang Yi, head of an armed police
unit sent into the disaster
zone, was quoted as saying by
Sichuan Online news site.
Around 20,000 soldiers had landed
in the disaster-struck areas,
another 30,000 en route by air,
road and rail and on foot and
the People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) has ordered 30,000
more troops to reinforce the
disaster relief, the agency
said. The first batch of elite
soldiers from airborne special
force were parachuted into Maoxian
county. Inclement weather had
initially hampered rescue operations.
Survivors desperately need medical
help, food and water, officials
were quoted as saying in Yingxiu,
where people had to dig with
their hands after cries for
help were heard from under the
debris of a school. Blocked
roads prevented rescue teams
and machinery from reaching
the site. Rocks were still rolling
down from the mountains.
Military helicopters air-dropped
food, drinking water and medicine
in Yingxiu, Xinhua said. “Time
is life”, Premier Wen
Jiabao told rescuers as he arrived
at Beichuan county, one of the
worst hit by Monday’s
deadliest earthquake in three
decades, where the death toll
is estimated between 3,000 and
5,000. Racing against time amidst
flickering hopes, soldiers and
civilians were still searching
for survivors in Beichuan, a
mountainous county, where the
quake toppled 80 per cent of
the buildings with 1,000 students
buried under rubble of a six-storey
school building.
“The ground was moving
and I felt as light as a tree
leaf. In a minute or two, I
thought the ground cracked and
the mountain slid and I lost
consciousness. When I woke up
again, rubbed my eyes and saw
the whole county had disappeared
in front of my eyes,”
the state media reported quoting
a teacher who survived in Beichuan.
After reaching the quake-battered
areas battling against inclement
weather and damaged roads, rescuers
were pulling out bodies from
the heaps of rubble of schools,
hospitals and houses, with hopes
for survivors. Seven PLA helicopters
had delivered 9.1 tonnes of
disaster relief goods to Wenchuan
and its neighbouring counties
till noon. The supplies included
satellite communication systems,
medicines and quilts. (PTI)
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Malaysia’s
top court quashes Indian leaders’
bid for freedom
Kuala
Lumpur, May 14: Malaysia’s
top court today refused to free
five ethnic Indian leaders detained
indefinitely under a draconian
security law, dashing hopes
of the community which has been
campaigning for their release.
Dismissing an appeal of the
five leaders of Hindu Rights
Action Force (Hindraf), held
for organising a massive rally
of ethnic Indians to protest
their alleged marginalization,
the Federal Court held the detention
as lawful.
The court’s three-man
panel led by Chief Judge of
Malaya Alauddin Mohd Sheriff
said Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi in his capacity
as the then Internal Security
Minister had rightly issued
the detention order and had
complied with the procedural
requirements under the Internal
Security Act.
The bench unanimously upheld
the High Court’s decision
to quash the leaders’
habeas corpus application seeking
release from detention under
ISA.
The Act allows indefinite detention
without trial.
The Hindraf five — lawyers
M Manoharan, 46, who has been
recently elected a state assembly
member, P Uthayakumar, 46, V
Ganabatirau, 34, R. Kengadharan,
40, and Hindraf coordinator
T Vasantha Kumar — were
represented by lawyer and opposition
Democratic Action Party leader
Karpal Singh who said he would
file for a review petition against
the ruling on Monday.
The respondents were represented
by Attorney-General Abdul Gani
Patail.
Family members and relatives
of the five were present at
the Federal Court. Several were
seen sobbing after the decision,
media reports said.
The five were detained in December
last year for organising the
rally, declared “illegal”
by the authorities, in November.
Last week, Hindraf supporters
had appealed to the Home Minister
to send Uttayakumar to the National
Heart Hospital claiming that
the Hindraf leader’s health
was not good.
On Monday, Uttayakumar’s
mother too appealed to the Prime
Minister to ensure that her
son was sent to the heart hospital
for treatment.
Indian dissatisfaction over
alleged discrimination is seen
as one of the contributing factors
to the ruling Barisan Nasional
coalition’s poor performance
in March general elections,
when it lost its two-thirds
majority in Parliament. (PTI)
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Vignettes
Kelly
Brook and Billy Zane back
together?
English model and actress
Kelly Brook is back with actor
Billy Zane, according to reports.
The pair, who split up last
month, is said to have rekindled
their romance once again.
According to sources, Brook
cut short a girls’ holiday
for a summit with Zane in
London.
After a string of heart-to-hearts,
Zane persuaded the model to
give their relationship a
second chance. “He’s
the one,” The Sun quoted
Brook, as telling a friend.
Sources revealed that the
Titanic actor flew to London
from a film set in South Africa
and bought chocolates and
roses for Brook. They were
seen spending the night together
at a posh West London hotel
after Zane had persuaded her
to give their 4-year love
another chance. “Kelly
was giggling and looked very
happy. She kept touching his
arm,” a diner said.
However, Brook’s 35,000
pounds engagement ring could
not be seen anywhere. (ANI)
Nicolas Cage to star in Bad
Lieutenant remake
Nicolas Cage has signed on
to star in Werner Herzog’s
remake of the 1992 cult classic
Bad Lieutenant, for Nu Image/Millennium
Films.
Pressman Film Corp. will produce
the new version of its original
Abel Ferrara NC-17 film about
the depraved New York police
officer, who was heavily involved
in drugs, gambling, sex and
stealing, reports Variety.
Cage takes the role originated
by Harvey Keitel, with TV
police show writer Billy Finkelstein
scripting. Production of the
film, which is due to be announced
at Cannes, begins late summer.
Stephen Belafonte is also
producing, while development
was financed by producers
Alan and Gabe Polsky. Along
with Avi Lerner, Nu Image/Millennium’s
Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short
and Boaz Davidson will executive
produce with Elliot Rosenblatt
and Alessandro Camon. Randall
Emmett and Cage’s Saturn
Films are also producing.
(ANI)
I don’t think sex is
a big deal: Alba
Jessica Alba admits that sex
is something she has never
taken very seriously.
The ‘Fantastic Four’
star told Allure magazine
in an interview for their
June issue that she has never
believed that women need to
be in love before they experiment
with sex, reports the New
York Daily News. “I
never believed women had to
be virgins when they got married,
or that a woman has to fall
in love with a guy just because
they’re having sex.
I don’t think sex is
a big deal,” she told
the mag.
Alba, currently expecting
her first child with fiance
Cash Warren, also admitted
that falling pregnant wasn’t
a ‘total accident’.
“I can’t say it
was a total accident. Because
you’re aware of when
you’re being careful
and when you’re not.
It just happened so soon,”
she says. And, pregnancy certainly
has made her do some crazy
things - like kicking her
beau out of their Beverly
Hills House. “Yes I
kicked him out. But it wasn’t
like that. ...When you’re
pregnant your emotions are
more tense. If the shoes are
in the wrong place you kind
of lose your mind,”
she says. (ANI)
Celine Dion owns over 3,000
pairs of shoes
Obsession for something is
okay as long as it stays within
the limit. But singer Celine
Dion’s passion for shoes
has gone overboard - with
up to 3,000 pairs of shoes.
The 40-year-old singer recently
admitted that she is unable
to stop herself from buying
footwear. “My hobbies
are shopping and golfing,”
The Sun quoted her as saying.
“I own between two and
three thousand pairs of shoes,”
she added. Dion, a mum-of-one,
also revealed that she would
like to have another child
with manager hubby Rene Angelil.
“To be a mother is my
most important role,”
she added. (ANI)
Father of Malawian tot supports
Madge’s bid
Madonna’s adoption of
Malawian tot David Banda has
received support from the
boy’s biological father.
The pop superstar is set to
appear in a Malawian court
on May 15 for what she is
hoping will be the final ruling
on the long-running case.
And she will face no opposition
from Banda’s father
Yohane, reports Contactmusic.
“I have no problem with
the government’s recommendation
to allow Madonna to get the
child,” he said. However,
his only condition in the
adoption process is a request
that Madonna bring the child
home for visits. (ANI)
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High-level
PPP meeting to discuss impasse
over judges
Islamabad, May 14: In a last-ditch
effort to save the six-week
old fragile coalition in Pakistan,
PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari
will meet the top leaders
of his party today to find
a way out of the deadlock
with PML-N over the issue
of restoration of deposed
judges.
The political crisis gripping
the country deepened with
nine ministers belonging to
PML-N of former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif resigning yesterday
after the coalition failed
to meet a second deadline
to reinstate the judges sacked
by President Pervez Musharraf
last year.
PPP said a joint meeting of
the party’s parliamentarians,
senators, legislators from
Punjab province and members
of the central executive committee
and federal council from Punjab
will he held in Zardari House
here this evening.
Zardari will preside over
the meeting to “take
stock of the latest political
situation in the country,”
it said.
Sharif has been pressing hard
for bringing back the judges,
a move that may spell trouble
for Musharraf who removed
them in November fearing a
verdict against his re-election.
Keen on keeping the path for
reconciliation open, Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani,
apparently on instructions
from the PPP chief, refused
to accept the resignations
and called for a “last-minute
effort” to save the
coalition. “Let’s
do a last-minute effort so
that this issue is somehow
resolved,” he told Sharif’s
aides.
On his part, Sharif assured
Gilani that his party would
continue to support the government.
The meeting will decide whether
to accept the resignation
of ministers from the PML-N,
Zardari told reporters last
night on returning to the
federal capital from a foreign
trip.
Zardari is scheduled to address
a press conference this evening
after the meeting. (PTI)
Canada
varsity honours Akshay Kumar
LONDON, May 14: Bollywood
actor Akshay Kumar has been
awarded a Honorary Doctorate
of Law by the University of
Windsor in Ontario, Canada
for his outstanding work in
film industry and contribution
to social work.
The 40-year-old actor is not
only the Indian ambassador
for the Special Olympics,
he has also helped raise money
for Trillium Health Care Centre
in Mississauga and the Vancouver
Children’s Hospital,
his spokeswoman said in London.
Now Akshay has joined the
list of Bollywood personalities
like Amitabh Bachchan, Yash
Chopra, Shabana Azmi and Shilpa
Shetty who were conferred
honorary doctorates from foreign
universities in the past.
“Wow! This really is
one of the most nerve-racking
days of my life. My hands
are shaking,” Akshay
said receiving the Doctorate
at a ceremony at the University
Chapel in Ontario, crammed
with his fans.
He said: “I don’t
think even an Oscar would
mean as much as this means
to me. Indians believe that
our success lies at the feet
of our parents. It’s
not I who should be receiving
this award, but my parents.”
Paul J Rennick, the President
of the University, said: “We
take particular pride and
pleasure in honouring men
and women of achievement and
altruism, whose lives manifest
the values of integrity, discipline
and learning that are at the
heart of the University.”
(PTI)
‘LTTE
left talks offering lame excuses’
London, May 14: Sri Lanka
has accused Liberation of
Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE)
of not reciprocating to its
efforts for a dialogue while
seeking global support in
defeating the rebel force.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, addressing the
Oxford University Student
Union at the institution yesterday,
stressed that he did not believe
in a military solution to
the ethnic problem.
“We have attempted talks
with the LTTE on several occasions
- thrice since my election
as the President - but they
have not reciprocated,”
he said.
“They have always left
the talks, with lame excuses.
We are still ready to talk,
once we are certain of their
genuine intent for a political
solution and their readiness
to give up arms,” Rajapaksa
told a packed house of Britons
and expatriate Sri Lankans.
Urging global support for
his country to deal with the
Tamil Tigers, the President
said: “If Sri Lanka
fails in its war against the
LTTE, the world will fail
in its fight against terrorism
and democracy will be the
victim. This is the plain
truth”.
Terming the LTTE as “the
most brutal terror outfit
the world has ever seen”,
Rajapaksa said defeating it
required global support.
“What Sri Lanka is doing
in my opinion is fighting
this terror outfit single-handed
to ensure that democracy and
respect for human life prevail
in the world,” he said.
Rajapaksa also noted that
country’s development
thrust had its own obstacles
because of the continuing
three-decade long conflict
particularly through the use
of suicide bombers. (PTI)
Nine
killed as trains collide in
Bangladesh
Dhaka, May 14: At least nine
persons were killed and 30
others injured when two passenger
trains collided in the central
Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh
early today, officials and
witnesses said.
Northeastern Sylhet-bound
Upaban Express hit the waiting
Noakhali Express at Ashuganj
railway station from rear,
killing eight people on the
spot and damaging its own
engine and six coaches of
the two trains, district police
chief Ataul Kibria told PTI.
Both the trains started their
journey from Dhaka late last
night. Kibria said the injured
passengers, some of them with
critical head injuries, were
being treated at Brahmanbaria
Sadar Hospital and other nearby
facilities.
Witnesses reached here by
phone said a ninth person
died at a local hospital as
he was being treated there.
(PTI)
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