|
JAKARTA: An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3
rattled west Sumatra province in Indonesia on Monday morning. No
casualty or damages were reported, a meteorology agency and local
military command said here. In the area closest to the epicenter of
the quake, Painan town of West Sumatra province, there were no
damaged or collapsed buildings, said Peter Manik, a military officer
in charge at the town. The quake struck at 9:37 Jakarta time (0237
GMT) with epicenter at 157 kilometers southwest of Painan, West
Sumatra province and at 34 kilometers under the seabed, an official
of the agency Ali Imron told Xinhua.
--Xinhua
TOKYO: Japanese police arrested a
US serviceman for breaking into an office on the island of Okinawa
days after Japan slapped a curfew amid outrage over an alleged rape
by a US Marine, officials said Monday. In the latest incident, the
US airman was arrested on Sunday for allegedly leaving his base and
trespassing into the office of a local association representing
construction firms. Staff Sergeant Tyrone Luther Hadnott, who had
been accused of raping the 14-year-old, was freed from custody
Friday after her family said it did not want to be part of such a
high-profile case. Authorities are also investigating separate
allegations that a US serviceman raped a Filipina in a hotel on
February 18.
--AFP
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s former
deputy prime minister and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Sunday
accused the government of perpetuating postal vote fraud as citizens
prepare to cast their ballots on March 8. Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government, which
has led the country since independence, is expected to win the poll
but lose more seats amid protests and rising prices. However,
reports of voting irregularities have cast doubt on whether the
upcoming polls will be fair.
--AFP
BOGOTA: Venezuela and Ecuador
moved their troops to their border with Colombia and engaged in a
war of words as they found themselves Monday in tense standoff over
Colombia’s anti-guerrilla raid into Ecuador. Ecuadoran President
Rafael Correa said late Sunday he had ordered the deployment of
troops to the northern border and an “immediate expulsion” of
Colombian Ambassador Carlos Holguin as a result of Saturday’s
raid, in which Raul Reyes, the second-ranking commander of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed.
--AFP
SEOUL: Hazardous yellow sand from
China covered parts of South Korea and Japan on Monday, keeping
people indoors as Tokyo pressed Beijing to reveal more information
to the public. Schools were closed as the dust blanketed southern
parts of the Korean peninsula, while Japan advised people to be
cautious and predicted the dust would continue for another day. The
yellow dust is a fine sand from Mongolia’s Gobi Desert which
sometimes includes toxic chemical smog emitted by Chinese factories.
--AFP
BAGHDAD: Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday began the second day of his historic
trip to Iraq he described as ushering in a new era of friendship
with Baghdad. Ahmadinejad blamed Washington for bringing terrorism
into the Middle East on Sunday, and rejected President George W.
Bush’s accusation that Iran was the destabilizing factor in Iraq.
Ahmadinejad was on the first visit by an Iranian president to Iraq
since the two neighbors lost an estimated one million people in a
devastating 1980 to 1988 war during the iron-fisted regime of Saddam
Hussein.
--AFP
SYDNEY: An attack in which
militant environmentalists reportedly injured Japanese sailors on a
whaling boat in Antarctic waters was condemned by the Australian
government Monday. Australia, which is a strong opponent of
Japan’s whaling program, had been notified by Tokyo of the
incident involving a liquid and a powder being thrown onto the ship,
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement.
--AFP
BEIJING: China’s annual
parliamentary season kicked off amid huge security Monday, with tens
of thousands of police and an army of volunteers manning the streets
in a dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games. About 2,000 delegates to
a parliamentary advisory body were due to begin meeting on Monday,
two days before the National People’s Congress opened at the Great
Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing. Hundreds of police and
paramilitary police were seen patrolling Tiananmen Square, which is
next to the hall, and nearby buildings and hotels in a clear show of
force aimed at maintaining security
--AFP
|
