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Twin quakes rattle China, 89 killed
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Militants attack Iraq prisons; 500 escape, 41 dead
Mursi’s family accuses army of abducting him
Osama, son of Mohamed Mursi, in Cairo on Monday. — AFP
Pope heads to restive Brazil
Fighter jets found on North Korean ship: Panama
Surjit Hans has translated all works of William Shakespeare into Punjabi.
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Twin quakes rattle China, 89 killed
Beijing, July 22 Over 400 aftershocks had been recorded in the quake-hit region, with the strongest measuring 5.6 in magnitude, Chang Zhengguo, spokesman for the provincial government, said. Official Xinhua news agency reported that the death toll has climbed to 89. According to latest figures, 87 persons were killed in the city of Dingxi and two in the neighbouring city of Longnan. Minxian reported the bulk of the casualties, with 87 deaths, 5 missing and 515 injured, including 60 persons in serious condition. An initial survey showed that the quake had caused the collapse of over 1,200 houses and severe damage to 21,000 homes. Around 3,000 firefighters, armed police, soldiers and local government workers have been mobilised for the rescue. Aftershocks and minor landslides with falling rocks were seen in the mountainous region, posing dangers for rescuers arriving at quake-hit villages. In the villages in the seriously hit Meichuan Township, of Minxian County, many rural buildings had been reduced to ruins and others had cracks in the walls, Xinhua reported. A total of 31 persons have been confirmed dead in Meichuan, according to rescuers. Zhu Wenqing, a 40-year-old farmer in Majiagou village in Meichuan, said his house survived the first quake but eventually collapsed following seven or eight aftershocks. Villagers said the victims were mainly elderly and children, who failed to escape from collapsing houses. — PTI
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Militants attack Iraq prisons; 500 escape, 41 dead
Baghdad, July 22 The coordinated attacks on the Taji prison, north of Baghdad, and the Abu Ghraib, west of the capital, were launched last night and triggered fighting that raged for around 10 hours, officials said. The Abu Ghraib prison, already infamous as a centre for the torture of opponents of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein's regime, gained further notoriety in 2004 when graphic pictures emerged showing prisoners being humiliated and abused by their US guards. A frenzy of comments posted on social media, including some Twitter accounts apparently operated by jihadis, claimed that thousands of prisoners had escaped. The two prisons had held around 10,000 inmates between them, an interior ministry official said. "About 500 prisoners escaped from the Abu Ghraib prison," Hakem al-Zamili, a member of the parliamentary security and defence committee, said. He said the escaped prisoners were "terrorists" but that, to his knowledge, no inmates managed to break out from the Taji. However, MP Shwan Taha, also a security
and defence committee member, said in an online statement that between 500 and 1,000 inmates escaped from the two
prisons. — AFP |
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Mursi’s family accuses army of abducting him
Cairo, July 22 "We are taking local and international legal measures against Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group," Shaimaa Mohamed, Mursi's daughter, told reporters. "We hold the leader of the military group and the whole of his putschist group responsible for the health and safety of President Mursi," she said at a press conference here. Mursi, 61, has been held at an undisclosed location, without charge, since being ousted from power on July 3. The statement is the first from Mursi's family since the country's first democratically elected president was deposed from office. One of Mursi's sons, Osama, termed his father's detention as the "embodiment of the abduction of popular will and a whole nation". He said the family will "take all legal actions" to end his detention. "What happened is a crime of kidnapping," he said. "I can't find any legal means to have access to him." He said the family met with Mursi for the last time on July 3, shortly before his ouster. Since then, they have had no contact with him. "We warn Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and his coup leaders against harming the life, health or safety of the legitimate President, our father," Osama said.
— PTI Many injured in Cairo clashes |
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Rio De Janeiro, July 22 Francis left Rome for Rio de Janeiro shortly before 0700 GMT, embarking on his first foreign trip abroad since becoming pontiff. In keeping with his trademark simplicity, the 76-year-old carried his own hand luggage onto the plane. "I am arriving in Brazil in a few hours and my heart is already full of joy because soon I will be with you to celebrate the 28th World Youth Day," Francis tweeted after his departure. Pilgrims from around the world were gathering in Rio for World Youth Day, arriving by bus from neighbouring nations or landing by plane from across the ocean to greet the first pope from Latin America. As men in swim trunks and women in tiny bikinis dived in the waves, workers climbed scaffolding on Copacabana beach yesterday to finish the ornate stage that the Pope will use to greet throngs of young people on Thursday. Nuns checked in at hotels while other pilgrims walked on the beach, flaunting the colours of their countries. — AFP
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Fighter jets found on North Korean ship: Panama
Panama City, July 22 The supersonic jets were found alongside missile and other weapons parts concealed in a shipment of sugar, in what could constitute a violation of tough UN sanctions on Pyongyang. Cuba has claimed the shipment, intercepted earlier this month, consists of "obsolete" weapons it was sending to North Korea to be refurbished and returned. UN sanctions experts plan to travel to Panama to inspect the shipment on August 5. Panama's President Ricardo Martinelli said the two jets, anti-aircraft missile batteries and other parts have been found on board. “Apparently, these aircraft were in use because they had fuel,” he said during a visit to the port of Manzanillo, where the boat is being unloaded. The 35-man crew of the North Korea-flagged Chong Chon Gang have been detained and could face arms trafficking charges.
— AFP |
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Indian prof honoured in London
London, July 22 Ealing Mayor Kamaljit S Dhindsa and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party of Ealing Council Ranjit Dheer presented the bust to Hans in appreciation of his works, including translation of 38 plays of Shakespeare. Hans, who taught history at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, said he is currently translating Charles Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’ into Punjabi. Virendra Sharma, Labour MP, Onkar Sahota, London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon, Hari Singh, leading NRI solicitor and founder chairman of the H S Law solicitors and several councillors were present on the occasion last night. — PTI
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Koreas hold fifth round of Kaesong industrial zone talks Radioactive water ‘leaked’ into sea at Fukushima 75 Syrian rebels killed in Damascus battles France defends veil ban after riots Woman on horseback enters McDonald outlet
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Cairo, July 22
