UN court awards disputed Hindu temple to Cambodia
Bangkok, November 11
Cambodia should have sovereignty over the disputed land around a 9th century Hindu Shiva temple bordering Thailand, the UN’s highest court ruled today.

B’desh cabinet quits to allow all-party govt for elections 
Dhaka, November 11
Bangladesh’s cabinet ministers today resigned to facilitate the formation of an all-party interim government to oversee general elections, even as the BNP-led opposition stuck to their demand for a neutral non-party government further deepening the violent political standoff.

Tacloban, November 11
Dazed survivors of a super typhoon that swept through the central Philippines, killing an estimated 10,000 people, begged for help and scavenged for food, water and medicine on Monday, threatening to overwhelm military and rescue resources.

As President Benigno Aquino deployed hundreds of soldiers in the coastal city of Tacloban to quell looting, reports from one town showed apocalyptic scenes of destruction in another region that has not been reached by rescue workers or the armed forces. “The situation is bad, the devastation has been significant. In some cases the devastation has been total," Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras said.

The United Nations said officials in Tacloban, which bore the brunt of the storm on Friday, had reported one mass grave of 300-500 bodies. More than 600,000 people were displaced by the storm across the country and some have no access to food, water, or medicine, the UN says.

Flattened by surging waves and monster winds up to 235 mph (378 kph), Tacloban, 580 km (360 miles) southeast of Manila, was relying almost entirely for supplies and evacuation on just three military transport planes flying from nearby Cebu city. Dozens of residents clamoured for help at the airport gates. "Help us, help us. Where is President Aquino? We need water, we are very thirsty," shouted one woman. "When are you going to get bodies from the streets?"

Haiyan is estimated to have destroyed about 70 to 80 per cent of structures in its path as it tore into the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar.

The damage to the coconut- and rice-growing region was expected to amount to more than $69 million, Citi Research said in a report. Most of the damage and deaths were caused by huge waves that inundated towns and swept away coastal villages in scenes that officials likened to the 2004 tsunami. — Reuters

Hanoi: At least 13 people were killed and 81 others injured as Haiyan, packing winds about 115 kmph, ripped through Vietnam early Monday. Government officials said most victims were reinforcing their houses or trimming trees when Haiyan hit their locations. — IANS

Beijing: Nine persons have been killed in after a deadly storm triggered by Typhoon Haiyan here. Two bodies were found by rescuers in Hainan and the victims are suspected to be sailors from a cargo ship that went missing in the South China Sea on Sunday. — IANS

Relief pours in

* The United States sends a team of about 90 marines and sailors as part US military assistance.

* Australia announces a $10 million package; Britain gives $9.6 million package, including aid for 500,000 people.

* Even Vietnam, despite coping itself with Haiyan, provided emergency aid worth $100,000.

Islamabad, November 11
Nasiruddin Haqqani, eldest son of the chief of the Haqqani network that has been blamed for attacks on the Indian Embassy in Kabul and US forces, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital, police sources said today.

Nasiruddin was killed by two gunmen riding a motorcycle while returning home from a mosque in a car in Barakahu area late last night. Police sources confirmed that he was killed though there was no information on who was behind the attack.

Leaders of the Haqqani network were also quoted by the media as confirming his killing. Nasiruddin, the eldest son of Haqqani network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, was born in Paktika province of Afghanistan.

He was put on the UN Security Council’s sanctions list for individuals subjected to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo after the 9/11 terror attacks.

According to the sanctions list, Nasiruddin had travelled to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to raise funds for the Taliban and operated from Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region.

The Haqqani network is considered the most dangerous Taliban faction in Afghanistan. — PTI 

Male, November 11
A political crisis deepened in the Maldives today when Parliament's speaker warned caretaker president Mohamed Waheed that his mandate had expired after the country failed to hold elections on time.

Speaker Abdulla Shahid, who is linked to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), told Waheed that he had no right to govern because his time in office had lapsed under the terms of the constitution.

The country's controversial Supreme Court postponed a run-off presidential vote which could have elected a president yesterday, a move slammed by the United States and likely to draw further international criticism. "There is no other provision for extending the period of office of the president," the speaker said in a letter to Waheed.

He also informed other branches of the state that Waheed was no longer able to exercise the powers of a president. When it blocked the run-off vote on Sunday, the Supreme Court said Waheed could continue to hold office until a run-off election is held on November 16, five days after his term should have ended today.

The court, dominated by judges named during 30 years of autocratic rule by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, has blocked three attempts to elect a new leader for the Sunni Muslim nation of 350,000 people.

Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president who was ousted in February last year, is the frontrunner to return to power. He has accused the court and Waheed of deliberately blocking him. — PTI

Bangkok, November 11
Cambodia should have sovereignty over the disputed land around a 9th century Hindu Shiva temple bordering Thailand, the UN’s highest court ruled today.

In a unanimous decision,, The Hague-based International Court of Justice's said that a 1962 ruling by its judges gave Cambodia sovereignty over the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

It said Thailand was therefore “under an obligation to withdraw from that territory the Thai military or police forces or other guards or keepers that were stationed there.” This is the latest attempt to settle a long-simmering border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand which has claimed at least 28 lives in outbreaks of violence since 2011 over the ownership of the patch of border land next to the UNESCO heritage site built during the Khmer Empire atop a cliff in the Preah Vihear province of Cambodia.

Last year, the ICJ ruled that both countries should withdraw forces from around the temple. Cambodia and Thailand finally pulled hundreds of soldiers from the disputed zone in July 2012, replacing them with police and security guards. — PTI 

Dhaka, November 11
Bangladesh’s cabinet ministers today resigned to facilitate the formation of an all-party interim government to oversee general elections, even as the BNP-led opposition stuck to their demand for a neutral non-party government further deepening the violent political standoff.

However, the BNP and its 17 allies are adamant on their demand for a caretaker government to organise the elections and demanded the resignation of Hasina. "The only way to avert the current crisis is forming a non-party government.” BNP said. — PTI