Massive landslides leave at least 65 dead in Chnia

BEIJING: At least 65 people have been killed in landslides triggered by heavy rain in flood-hit China, state media reported Sunday, in the latest natural disaster to strike the nation.

The landslides in a mainly Tibetan region of Gansu province, in the northwest, happened on Saturday night, the official news agency reported, citing Mao Shengwu, the head of the affected prefecture.

Authorities have deployed 2,400 soldiers and about 100 medical experts to help in search and rescue efforts, state television said.

Electricity has been cut in part of the area — the latest region of China to be hit by torrential rain.

Landslide in China leaves over 80 dead, 2,000 missing

BEIJING: More than 80 people are dead and over 2,000 are missing after landslides triggered by heavy rain in northwestern China, state media said Sunday.

More than 70 were injured in the landslides in a mainly Tibetan region of Gansu province late Saturday night, state television said.

A total of 20,000 people living in Zhouqu county have been evacuated, the report said.

Tariq Aziz: Obama is ”leaving Iraq to the wolves”

LONDON: The man who once served as Saddam Hussein”s leading lieutenant has appealed to the United States to extend its presence in Iraq, saying that President Barack Obama is abandoning the country, according to a British newspaper interview published Friday.

Tariq Aziz, whose long tenure as Saddam”s foreign minister made him the international face of the Iraqi dictator”s regime, was quoted by a US newspaper as saying his hopes about Obama had been dashed.

“I thought he was going to correct some of the mistakes of Bush,” the paper quoted Aziz as saying from his jail cell in north Baghdad. “But Obama is a hypocrite. He cannot leave us like this. He is leaving Iraq to the wolves.”

However, Aziz”s Jordan-based Iraqi lawyer, Badee Aref, challenged the accuracy of The Guardian”s report. He confirmed that Aziz gave the interview, but insisted that the 74-year-old was misquoted.

“I know how Aziz speaks and I know that he”s not very aware or informed of what goes on in the world outside the jailhouse where he is,” Aref told a news agency. “So, how could he say what he said about the U.S. troop withdrawal and about President Obama? He was definitely misquoted.”

The paper said that its reporter, Martin Chulov, was traveling and wouldn”t be available for comment. But the paper did release a statement saying it stood behind the story.

“We wholeheartedly reject any suggestion that Mr. Aziz has been misquoted,” the statement said.

In its story, The Guardian said that Aziz had been keeping up with events in Iraq via television. It wasn”t immediately clear if the paper had made a recording of the interview.

According to the Guardian, Aziz refused to condemn his former boss, who was executed in December 2006.

“If I speak now about regrets, people will view me as an opportunist,” he said, according to the paper.

Rescuers hope for survivors as floods kill 113 in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Rescuers resumed the search for survivors Saturday after huge floods caused by freak rains killed at least 113 people in a part of Indian Kashmir famed for high-altitude adventure tourism.

India”s military was called in to help rescue efforts after flood waters swamped Leh, the main town in the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region, and surrounding villages during the night Thursday as residents were in bed.

Floods and mudslides triggered by heavy rain created what state Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora described as “unprecedented” devastation in the remote, stark Himalayan border region.

A senior police official said rescuers had recovered 113 bodies.

“We have got dozens of people who still are missing,” the officer told media, asking not to be named as he did not have permission to talk to the media.

At least 400 people were reported injured in the floods, which struck without warning in the region, which shares a sensitive border with neighbouring China and has a large Indian military presence.

“It was a huge cloudburst,” Leh”s assistant tourism director Nissar Hussain told media. “The sound was deafening. The area looks like it has been bombarded.”

China gold mine fire kills 14, leaves 23 trapped

BEIJING: At least 14 workers were killed after a fire engulfed a gold mine in eastern China and a further 23 were still trapped underground, state media reported Saturday.

The accident happened Friday in Shandong province”s Zhaoyuan city, a local news agency said. It had previously put the number of people trapped at 50, but revised the figure, quoting a spokesman for the rescue headquarters.

Two planes collide at Beijing airport

BEIJING: Two aircraft collided at Beijing”s international airport on Saturday, China”s state media reported.

The wing of a taxiing Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 hit the tail of a stationary Air China Boeing 737-800, the report said.

Pilot error was likely to be behind the incident, in which no one was hurt, said the report, citing an official from China”s Civil Aviation Administration.

Beijing”s airport, which was shrouded in fog at the time of the incident, is home to one of the world”s largest terminals, the 98-hectare (245-acre) Terminal Three, designed by Norman Foster and opened in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

China coalmine blast leaves 15 dead: state media

BEIJING: Fifteen people have been killed in a coal mine blast in northern China, state media reported Saturday, in the latest accident to hit the notoriously dangerous industry.

The explosion happened at about 2:40 a.m (1840 GMT) at the Liugou coal mine near Linfen city in the northern province of Shanxi, the official news agency said, citing an official at the local coal mine safety bureau.

China beaches closed after oil spill

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have closed several beaches and an island resort near the major port of Dalian as they try to clean up an oil spill that has affected crude shipments, state media said Wednesday.

Tourists were barred from Bangchui island and city beaches amid ongoing efforts to clean up the slick that stretches over at least 183 square kilometers (70 square miles) of ocean, the local daily said.

More than 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria and dozens of oil-skimming vessels are being used to remove the slick, after a pipeline explosion and fire on Friday sent tonnes of crude spilling into the sea. Some state media reports put the amount of the spill at 1,500 tonnes, but others said the total amount was unknown. So far, at least 460 tonnes of oil have been scooped up, according to the local news agency.

Butt replaces Afridi as Pakistan Test captain‎

ISLAMABAD: Opening batsman Salman Butt has been named Pakistan’s captain for the remaining Tests in England following Shahid Afridi’s surprising decision to retire from Tests after the defeat against Australia at Lord’s.

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Butt replaces Afridi as Pakistan Test captain‎

Pak woos FODP support for poverty, uplift projects

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday highlighting the importance of international help and cooperation said Pakistan needs budgetary support for poverty alleviation and to complete development projects to fight against the menace of terrorism and extremism.

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Pak woos FODP support for poverty, uplift projects

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