|
|
|
|
|
15 killed, 85 injured in Nigerian church blast
Hurricane Sandy set to hit US east coast
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tsunami hits Hawaii after Canada quake
Qaida’s all-female ‘Burkha Brigade’ to hit Western targets
Myanmar
Unrest
|
|
15 killed, 85 injured in Nigerian church blast
Kaduna, October 28 The bomber approached the gate of St Rita's Catholic Church in Malali area in a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and tried to drive in but was denied access, local Leadership newspaper reported quoting its sources. He then reversed the car and used the back to ram against the gate which caved in as a loud explosion followed, the report said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist sect Boko Haram has claimed similar attacks in the past and has attacked several churches with bombs and guns since it intensified its campaign against Christians in the past year. "The heavy explosion also damaged so many buildings around the area," said survivor Linus Lighthouse, saying he thought there had been two explosions in different parts of the church. Other witnesses and the police said there was just one bomber. A wall of the church was blasted open and scorched black, with debris lying around. Police later moved in and cordoned the area off. Church attacks often target Nigeria's middle belt, where its largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north meet and where sectarian tensions run high. Kaduna's mixed population lies along that faultline. Shortly after the blast, angry Christian youths took to the streets armed with sticks and knives. A Reuters reporter saw two bodies on the roadside lying in pool of blood. "We killed them and we'll do more," shouted a youth, with blood on his shirt, before police chased him and his cohorts away. Police set up roadblocks and patrols across town in an effort to prevent the violence spreading. At least 2,800 persons have died in fighting since Boko Haram's insurrection began in 2009, according to Human Rights Watch. Most were Muslims in the northeast of the country, where the sect usually targets politicians and security forces. The sect says it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, whose 160 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims. — Agencies
|
||
|
Hurricane Sandy set to hit US east coast Hatteras Island, October 28 Sandy could have a brutal impact on major cities in the target zone like Boston, New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, one of the most densely populated regions of the country and home to tens of millions of people. "The size of this alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is going to be history making," said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist who writes a blog posted on the Weather Underground. Forecasters said Sandy was a rare, hybrid "super storm" created by an Arctic jet stream wrapping itself around a tropical storm, possibly causing up to 12 inches of rain in some areas, as well as heavy snowfall inland. Government officials in several states in Sandy's path faced tough decisions on emergency plans, including mandatory evacuations in vulnerable coastal areas, and residents scrambled to buy supplies before the storm comes ashore on Monday night. On its current projected track, Sandy is most likely to make landfall between in the New York/New Jersey area and head inland to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, forecasters said. While Sandy's 75 mph winds were not overwhelming for a hurricane, its width made it exceptional. Hurricane-force winds extended 280 km from its centre while its lesser tropical storm-force winds spanned 1,670 km in diameter. It was not expected to strengthen but was expected to broaden. —
Reuters
|
||
|
Tsunami hits Hawaii after Canada quake
Honolulu, October 28 "The tsunami is arriving right now," Gerard Fryer, a senior geophysicist with the center, told reporters. "It is coming in as we speak." Countless Halloween parties were interrupted, restaurants and bars emptied, and highways quickly filled with cars heading away from beach areas. Television images from the island of Oahu showed relatively small waves peacefully rolling toward shore. But Fryer urged Hawaii residents not to deceived by appearances. Initially, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no "destructive widespread tsunami threat" after the 7.7 magnitude quake shook the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada. But later it issued a warning, saying a tsunami had been generated and that it was headed toward Hawaii.— AFP
|
||
|
Qaida’s all-female ‘Burkha Brigade’ to hit Western targets
London, October 28 A film posted by fanatics online shows the all-female unit of the Al-Qaida using a fearsome array of weapons, including machine-guns, grenade rocket launchers and sniper rifles during their training session at an unknown place. The women are thought to have been recruited from the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya by an Qaida-linked group, with bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, British tabloid The Sun reported today. The films carry the symbol of 'Islam Awazi' or 'Voice of Islam, an Al-Qaida linked terror group based in Russia's Caucus region. The report has raised concerns among authorities and experts who say the global terror network has formed such units as women are less likely to attract suspicion than men and can easily infiltrate the security barriers. In recent months, cases of female suicide attackers successfully hitting targets have emerged in different countries. Such bombers generally hide the explosives beneath their abaya -- a woman's black cloak worn from head to toe. The report raises concern as several women terrorists have been arrested in the West that includes America's Colleen LaRose alias Jihad Jane and Germany's Filiz Gelowicz. In September, a female suicide bomber in Afghanistan rammed an explosive-laden car into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least 12 people including eight South Africans. — PTI
|
||
|
Myanmar
Unrest Sittwe, October 28 The United Nations said 22,587 people had now been displaced after unrest between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines claimed at least 67 lives in Rakhine State and tested the reformist mettle of the quasi-civilian government that replaced Myanmar's oppressive ruling junta last year. "We were told to stay in our homes but then they were set on fire," said Ashra Banu, 33, a mother of four who fled the coastal town of Kyaukpyu after its Muslim quarter was razed on October 24. "When we ran out people were being shot at by Rakhines and the police," she said. "We couldn't put out the fires. We just tried to run." New York-based Human Rights Watch earlier released before-and-after satellite images showing the near total devastation of the Kyaukpyu's Muslim quarter. Located about 120 km south of the Rakhine State capital Sittwe, Kyaukpyu is crucial to China's most strategic investment in Myanmar: twin pipelines that will carry oil and natural gas from the Bay of Bengal to China's energy-hungry western provinces. No new clashes were reported on Sunday, but a Reuters journalist at Te Chaung camp near Sittwe witnessed a constant trickle of new arrivals, mainly from Kyaukpyu, where more than 811 buildings and houseboats were destroyed according to Human Rights Watch's analysis of satellite imagery. The government estimates at least 3,000 homes have been destroyed across in Rakhine State since October 21. — Reuters
|
||
|
|
Chinese Premier’s family denies NYT report on huge wealth Ukraine votes in key democracy test Five killed, 25 hurt in Pak blast Asia’s biggest radio telescope unveiled
|
||||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Kaduna, October 28
Hatteras Island, October 28
