At least 35 people have died and 10 are missing in Bolivia as a result of floods caused by months of heavy rain. Up to 340,000 people are estimated to have been affected, as water levels continue to rise in eastern areas. Roads in the worst-hit provinces of Santa Cruz and Beni have been blocked by mudslides, hampering relief efforts. The government has declared a state of emergency and is appealing for international aid. Two months of heavy rain have been blamed on what has become known as the El Nino effect, an occasional seasonal warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 09:40:00 02-20-07 |
22 drown as children's boat sinks |
A river boat carrying children on a school trip capsized in southern India on Tuesday, and at least 18 children and four teachers drowned, a local official said. Sixteen children were missing as night fell.Three boats were carrying more than 100 students and staff down the Periyar River in the Thattekkad bird sanctuary when one boat capsized, said Mohammad Haneesh, a top official of the district. All the children were younger than 11.As darkness fell, 16 children were still missing, and 10 had been admitted to a local hospital, he said.... http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/20/india.boat.ap/index.html?eref=rss_world
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Editor - 09:38:00 02-20-07 |
In China, a Move Against Privatization |
A group of Chinese scholars and retired officials has petitioned China's legislature to halt the privatization of state companies, arguing it has widened the country's income gap and fueled social unrest, a petitioner said Tuesday. The petition strikes a discordant note just weeks before the annual session of the national legislature, a time leaders of the communist government usually emphasize unity and consensus. In a possible sign of official disapproval, many of the Chinese Web sites carrying the petition accessible when it was first posted last week had been blocked by Tuesday. The sharply worded appeal criticized a decade-long program to privatize state companies, saying it had allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in assets to fall into private and foreign hands. Such privatization, it said, violates the constitution and must be stopped to curb spreading social unrest. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2889556
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Editor - 09:37:00 02-20-07 |
Salvador politicians found dead |
Police have found the bodies of three Salvadorean politicians and their driver in a bullet-riddled and burnt-out car outside Guatemala City. The three men were members of the governing Arena party of El Salvador, and were deputies to the Central American Parliament. One of them was the son of the party's late founder, Roberto D'Aubuisson. D'Aubuisson was accused of being behind the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero in 1980. The four killings followed a controversial request by the Salvadorean Congress to honour Roberto D'Aubuisson, who died of cancer in 1990. The Salvadorean victims have been named as Eduardo D'Aubuisson, William Pichinte and Jose Ramon Gonzalez. Their driver has not been named.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6378645.stm
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Editor - 09:31:00 02-20-07 |
Heavy shelling in Somali capital |
Somali government forces and Ethiopian troops have shelled areas of Somalia's capital Mogadishu after their positions came under fire from insurgents. At least 12 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the exchanges - the heaviest since the government took Mogadishu from Islamists last year. Unknown gunmen launch almost daily attacks in the city. Some Islamists, who last year were controlled much of southern Somalia, have vowed to start a guerrilla war. The government blames the attacks on Islamist fighters and on Monday set up a special unit to target "terrorists". Dozens of people have been killed during attacks this year. Both the insurgents's mortars and the government's artillery response landed on residential areas, causing civilians casualties... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6377941.stm
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Editor - 09:28:00 02-20-07 |
Three American Women Released After Brief Kidnapping in West Bank |
Three American women were briefly kidnapped Tuesday in the West Bank city of Nablus and were released later in the evening, Palestinian security officials said.There was no claim of responsibility by an armed Palestinian group.At one point, a man calling himself Hadi Saud contacted The Associated Press in Nablus and said he was the kidnapper. He demanded to be given a job in the Palestinian security forces and medication for a shooting injury sustained last year, in exchange for releasing the hostages. He provided no proof that he is holding the women.The security officials said the three women were last seen taking pictures on the outskirts of the Balata refugee camp near Nablus before they were kidnapped. They were held briefly before being released, security officials said.... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253033,00.html
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Editor - 09:26:00 02-20-07 |
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post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
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