| Nearly 10,000 dead, thousands buried in China earthquake Beijing, May 12 : Nearly 10,000 people were confirmed dead and thousands more were feared dead after an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale caused widespread damage in south-western China Monday. At least 8,530 died in Sichuan province and scores died in neighbouring regions. But there were apparently still no reports by late Monday evening from Wenchuan county, the nearest town to the epicentre, which has a population of 112,000. All roads remained cut off to Wenchuan, although it was believed that military helicopters and planes had surveyed the area. Nearby Beichuan county earlier reported that between 3,000 and 5,000 people were feared dead after the earthquake caused 80 percent of buildings to collapse, the official Xinhua news agency said. The agency said officials also estimated that about 10,000 people were injured in Beichuan, which is about 100 km from the epicentre. The earthquake struck at 2:28 p.m. in Wenchuan county, and could be felt in cities hundreds of kilometres away, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Bangkok. It was the worst earthquake in China since 1976, when an estimated 242,000 people died in the northern city of Tangshan, near Beijing. At least four teenagers were confirmed dead after the earthquake caused school buildings to collapse and bury nearly 900 students at the Juyuan Middle School in Sichuan's Dujiangyan city. One Dujiangyan resident told DPA by telephone that her five-storey apartment block and many other buildings in the city were seriously damaged by the earthquake. A spokesman for the Sichuan provincial seismological bureau told Xinhua that "whole rows of houses" had collapsed in Dujiangyan. Several hundred workers were buried after two chemical plants collapsed onto them in Sichuan's Shifang city. Some 80 tonnes of ammonia leaked from the plants, forcing the evacuation of 6,000 residents in Shifang. The earthquake also affected Sichuan's capital, Chengdu, and nearby Chongqing. PML-N decides to pull out its ministers from Pak Govt Islamabad, May 12 : Pakistan's two-month-old ruling coalition today faced its first major threat of survival with Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N deciding to pull out its ministers from the government following deadlock over the contentious issue of reinstating sacked judges. The PML-N Ministers will submit their resignations to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani tomorrow, Sharif told a crowded press conference at the end of a marathon meeting of top party leaders here. PML-N will remain in the Pakistan People's Party-led coalition and extend issue-based support to the government, he said. Sharif's party has nine ministers in the 24-member Cabinet, which was sworn in on March 31. "We are quitting the Cabinet because the promise to reinstate the judges was not fulfilled," Sharif said while referring to the May 12 deadline which ended today. Peres sees Mideast peace deal as 'extremely difficult' Washington, May 12 : Israeli President Shimon Peres said, in an interview published today, that reaching a formal comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians would be "extremely difficult" right now because of the "emotional" nature of unresolved disputes. "In the political negotiations, the gaps are not very great, but they are highly emotional," Peres told The Washington Post. "It will be extremely difficult to put them on paper because each party looks to its own audience and will be very careful not to appear as losers." The Israeli leader argued the unresolved issues were of varying complexity and suggested resolving them one by one rather than as part of an overall, all-encompassing deal. "We cannot compare, for example, the issue of Jerusalem with the issue of borders," Peres said. "If we can agree on borders, let's agree. If we can agree on refugees, let's agree. It will take time." The comments came as US President George W Bush heads to the Middle East this week, where his efforts to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace face growing scepticism with less than nine months left in his term. Energy, infrastructure new bases of India-Gulf ties: Pranab Abu Dhabi, May 12 : Energy security and development of infrastructure are the foundations of India's new terms of engagement with the Gulf region, according to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Stating that India needed to maintain high economic growth rates every year for the coming 15-20 years, Mukherjee said: "Two of the most important prerequisites in this regard for us are energy security and development of infrastructure." He was speaking on 'India's Foreign Policy and India-Gulf Relations: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century' at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) here Monday evening. "India needs $500 billion in resources to meet specific targets in infrastructure development set out in our 11th Five-Year Plan. We also need to expand electric power production six to seven times between now and 2032," he said. "It is here that I see the foundations of India's new terms of engagement with the Gulf region." According to Mukherjee, as a result of high oil prices and prudent fiscal policies, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have generated extraordinary investible resources. "More importantly, they are today looking beyond their traditional partners in the West; in fact, the 'Look East' policy is important today to all the GCC countries. I am happy to see that all of them see India as an important partner in this regard," he stated. Gaza gets fuel after weekend of power cuts Jerusalem, May 12 : Israel today authorised the resumption of fuel deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, where shortages caused the only power plant to shut down over the weekend, an Israeli security official said. The Nahal Oz border terminal, which supplies most of the territory's fuel, reopened on Monday morning, the official said. Gaza's only electricity plant shut down on Saturday for lack of fuel, Palestinian officials said. The Gaza plant provides 30 per cent of the impoverished territory's electricity, with most of the rest directly supplied by Israel and a small amount coming from Egypt. Israel cut off fuel shipments to the Hamas-ruled territory after Palestinian militants attacked Gaza's main Nahal Oz fuel terminal on April 9, killing two Israeli civilian employees. It later resumed the supply of industrial-grade fuel for the power plant, but the plant had received no fuel for several days when it shut down. Curfew lifted in north Iraq, US soldier killed in attack Baghdad, May 12 : Iraqi authorities lifted a curfew Monday in northern Nineveh, allowing people to leave their homes three days after a military offensive was launched in the province. Driving is still prohibited but the curfew on vehicles will be gradually lifted, the Nineveh operations command said in a statement carried by the Voices of Iraq news agency. "People can open their shops and do their business and move around on foot," the statement said. The curfew has been in force since Friday evening. The Iraqi government has deployed an armoured brigade of army troops, launching an offensive codenamed Lion's Roar against Al Qaeda militants in Mosul, the provincial capital of Nineveh. More troops are to move into the area backed by thousands of local Sunni tribesmen, who are taking part in the onslaught on the terrorist network. Many of these tribesmen were once allies with Al Qaeda but have now turned against the terrorist network and joined forces with the government. Insurgents loyal to the Al Qaeda in Iraq group have over the last year lost their foothold in Baghdad and Anbar province in the west of the country and have been regrouping in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad. Iran-IAEA hold new round of nuclear talks Tehran, May 12 : Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog held a new round of talks on Monday on Tehran's disputed atomic drive, the official IRNA news agency reported. An unnamed source quoted by the agency said the talks, which meetings between Iranian officials and representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency in April, would last three days. The Iranian delegation is headed by Iran's ambassador to the UN agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh while the agency's director for safeguard operations Herman Nackaerts is heading the IAEA team, the source said. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is due to report in June on Iran's nuclear programme to the body's board of governors and the UN Security Council, which has imposed three sets of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear defiance. Polls show Clinton lead in West Virginia, Kentucky Washington, May 12 : New polls today predicted landslide wins for Hillary Clinton in two looming primaries, despite pressure for her to cede to Barack Obama's mathematical lock on the Democratic White House race. The former first lady, who is insisting she will battle on, even as Obama turns his sights on Republican presumptive nominee John McCain, led her foe by 60 points to 24 in the latest poll out of West Virginia, which votes tomorrow. In Kentucky, which holds its primary on May 20, Clinton was up 58 to 31. Huge wins in the two states would do little to loosen Obama's control of the Democratic nominating contest, but could underscore his struggle to win over white, working-class voters which could prove a problem in November's election. Arizona senator McCain, who was today giving a major speech on global warming, and Obama are increasingly fighting the early shots in the general election campaign. Malaysia warns Hindus against illegal gatherings Kuala Lumpur, May 12 : State authorities of Penang has warned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters of arrest if they hold any assembly without police permit. Penang authorities' move follows a recent Hindraf decision to gather in the state every Sunday. "Anyone wanting to hold an assembly must first apply for a police permit or else it would be considered an illegal gathering, and those taking part can be arrested," a senior state security official has warned. Police rounded up seven persons, including a web blogger, a teacher, activists and Hindraf supporters out of the 40 who gathered "illegally" in the state yesterday to press their demands. All were later released. Supporters of Hindraf held protests across Malaysia yesterday demanding the Home Minister to immediately ensure that its leader P Uttayakumar, detained under the controversial Internal Security Act, is taken to the Heart Institute for treatment. Dubai police clamp down on drugs gang Dubai, May 12 : The anti narcotics officials of the Dubai police have busted an international drugs trafficking gang which was planning to smuggle a huge quantity of heroin to a number of countries, WAM news agency reported Monday. The anti-narcotics officials seized over 6.1 kg heroin worth 615,200 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($167,730) from the African gang during a raid Sunday, an official with the Crime Investigation Department said. "The arrest of the African gang was triggered by police's discovery of a filter in the parcel in which the heroin capsules, weighing over 1.1 kg, were hidden at Dubai cargo village. The parcel was ready to be flown to an African country," the official said. After the discovery of the parcel, the CID tracked down the sender, who was staying at a hotel in Dubai. The police raided his room and found many heroin capsules, weighing 4,458 kg. Olmert's popularity nosedives, Israelis want his resignation Jerusalem, May 12 : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's popularity nosedived following fresh allegations of financial irregularities with 59 per cent of Israelis observing that he should resign or suspend himself till investigations are over. Only one third of the Israeli public has backed him to continue in office, according to a new survey. Sixty per cent of Israelis do not believe Olmert's statement that he did not take bribe as against 22 per cent who believe him, said the survey conducted by the daily 'Yedioth Ahronoth' and the Dahaf Institute headed by Mina Tzemach. The opinion poll released today also revealed that an overwhelming 60 per cent of those questioned feel that the fresh allegations affect the Prime Minister's ability to lead the nation and his capability to make important diplomatic moves vis-a-vis the ongoing peace process with Palestinians. In another major setback for Olmert, his arch-rival in the ruling Kadima party, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, stands a better chance of bringing back the party to power against the oppositions Likud led by Benjamin Netanyahu and Labour Party led by Ehud Barak, the survey said. Iran hangs five convicted sex murderers: report Tehran, May 12 : Iran has hanged five men convicted of burning a young woman alive after raping her, in a prison in the central city of Qom, the government newspaper Iran reported today. The five men identified only as Morteza, 21, Hadi, 24, Javad, 24, Hossein, 19, and Mehdi, 24, were sent to the gallows after being found guilty of the woman's abduction, rape and murder, the paper said. The victim, who was identified only as Narges, was a newly wed, it added. "We, together with eight friends, kidnapped and raped her... And then we burned her with petrol while she was still alive to make it impossible to identify her," the paper quoted the two main defendants in the case as saying in a joint confession. The five men were also found guilty of raping several boys, convictions for which they were sentenced to be thrown off a cliff. That punishment is prescribed by Iran's Islamic penal code for men raping members of their own sex but there have been few reports of its use. Pakistan re-admitted to Commonwealth London, May 12 : Suspended for almost six months, Pakistan was on Monday re-admitted into the Commonwealth. The decision to this effect was taken by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group which deals with violations of the organisation's rules on democracy. "Pakistan is now restored to the councils of the Commonwealth," said Commonwealth new Secretary-General India's Kamalesh Sharma after the talks at the grouping's Marlborough House headquarters. Pakistan was suspended from the 53-nation grouping on November 16 last year at its Kampala Summit after President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency in the country the third of the same month. Sharma was keen to see Pakistan back into the group considering that the Emergency was lifted and a democratic government was in office in Islamabad. |