Slaviansk, May 2
Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian helicopters on Friday, killing two crew, as troops tightened their siege of separatist-held Slaviansk and Moscow accused Kiev of launching a "criminal" assault that wrecked hopes of peace.

A Pro-Russian gunman runs behind barricades in Slovyansk on Friday. AP/PTI

Though Ukrainian forces appeared to be carrying out one of their most concerted military operations yet, their advance on the ground was limited. Nevertheless, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman accused Kiev of firing on civilians from the air in a "punitive operation" that destroyed an international peace plan.

Russia was "extremely worried" about the fate of Russians in the city, including an envoy sent to help free German and other foreign hostages, the Kremlin spokesman said. The dramatic language seems to raise the stakes, as Moscow has tens of thousands of troops massed on the border and claims the right to invade if needed to protect Russian speakers.

Reuters journalists in Slaviansk, the most heavily fortified bastion of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, heard shooting break out and saw one helicopter opening fire before dawn. Ten hours later, the city was largely quiet, with shops shut and armed separatists in control of the streets.

Advancing Ukrainian forces in armoured vehicles took up positions closer in to the suburbs, but rebels still controlled most of the city of 130,000. The separatist pro-Russian militants also made more moves on Thursday, seizing a rail control centre for the Donetsk region, a railway official said.

By cutting off power, they had all but paralysed train traffic. Kiev said the firing of missiles that brought down its helicopters was evidence that Russian forces were present in the town. Moscow denies that its troops are on the ground.

Nonetheless, Kremlin accounts of grave threats to civilians highlight the risk of a Russian move to seize territory ahead of a vote the rebels aim to hold on May 11 seeking a mandate to break with Kiev, like one held in the Crimea region before Moscow annexed it in March.

For Russians, the Kremlin's rhetoric of "fascists" in Kiev launching a "punitive operation" evokes the depredations of Nazi German invaders in World War Two, being given extensive state media coverage as next week's anniversary of the Soviet victory is used to foster national pride and nostalgia.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said in a statement that two Mi-24 attack helicopters had been shot down by shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles while on patrol overnight around Slaviansk. Two airmen were killed and others wounded.

The aircraft normally has two crew but can carry more. Other Ukrainian officials and the separatist leader in Slaviansk said earlier that one airman was taken prisoner. A third helicopter, an Mi-8 transport aircraft, was also hit and a serviceman wounded, the Defence Ministry said. The SBU security service said this helicopter was carrying medics. — Reuters

EU wants one price for Russian gas for all member states

* European Union member states should reject Moscow's ‘divide and rule’ tactics on pricing its natural gas exports and forge closer gas and power ties with Ukraine and Georgia, EU Energy Commissioner said on Friday.

* Polish PM Donald Tusk also promoted the idea of an EU energy union and joint purchases of Russian gas. Common purchases would improve EU's negotiating power and likely lower prices.

* Europe pays Moscow $250 billion in annual energy bills

Seoul, May 2
Two subway trains collided in Seoul today, lightly injuring 200 persons and further undermining public confidence just weeks after South Korea's ferry disaster claimed the lives of hundreds of schoolchildren.

Briefing reporters, fire department official Kim Kyung-Soo said of the 200 injured, only an elderly woman with a fracture was seriously hurt. More than 150 received some sort of treatment but mostly for minor cuts or sprains, he said.

The disaster triggered widespread public anger and a bout of national soul-searching as to whether South Korea, now Asia's fourth-largest economy, sacrificed safety standards in its rush for development.

The subway accident happened around 3:30 pm (0630 GMT) when a moving train slammed into the rear of a stationary train at Sangwangsimni station in eastern Seoul.

Around 1,000 people were evacuated from the two trains, Kim said, adding that many of those hurt had complained of ankle injuries, cuts and bruises.

According to senior Seoul Metro official Chung Soo-Young, initial investigations suggested the automated stopping system that should prevent a train getting too close to another appeared to have failed.

The tunnel curves before entering Sangwangsimni station and Chung said the driver of the moving train did not see the platform was occupied until quite late.

He applied the emergency break, but the distance was "too short" to avoid a collision, Chung said.

The two last cars of the stationary train appeared to have been thrown off the rails by the force of the impact, and TV footage showed cracked windows on the two trains and one door connecting two carriages that had been completely knocked off its hinges. — AFP 

Melbourne, May 2
The first funeral service for passengers on board the missing Malaysian jet will be held on Sunday with a family of an Australian couple deciding to hold a memorial nearly two months after the plane disappeared.

The family and friends of missing couple Rod and Mary Burrows, two of six Australians on board the flight MH370, will hold a funeral service for them in Brisbane. Their son Jayden said in April they would dearly miss their mother and father, who he said had worked hard to set themselves up to enjoy their retirement.

"We're heartbroken that this stage of their life has been cut short," Burrows was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Burrows had been on the flight with their friends Catherine and Robert Lawton, also from Brisbane. Li Yuan and Gu Naijun, from Sydney, are the other two missing Australians. — PTI

New York, May 2
Four Indians are among the winners of a Harvard Business School (HBS) competition that awards prizes worth over $300,000 to new and innovative business and social impact start-ups conceptualised by the US institution's students and alumni.

Harvard MBA student Amrita Saigal won the grand prize in the Social Enterprise category at the 18th Harvard Business School New Venture Competition for her venture ‘Saathi’ that she co-founded with Oracle engineer Kristin Kagetsu. Saathi provides affordable sanitary pads made from waste banana tree fibre to women in rural India.

Saigal and Kagetsu, who both hold mechanical engineering degrees from MIT, received a $50,000 prize at the competition, which supports both students and alumni launching new business and social impact ventures inspired by the "belief that one simple idea can change everything". Saathi also got the audience choice award through an electronic crowd vote.

The winner in the Business track category was the start-up ‘Alfred’ being launched by Saurabh Mahajan, Marcela Sapone and Jess Beck. Alfred is a concierge service individuals can use for their daily and weekly tasks, including dry cleaning, house cleaning, groceries, laundry, and more. The Alfred team also won $50,000. — PTI

Islamabad, May 2
Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baghlay to lodge a protest over the denial of visas to 500 Pakistani pilgrims to visit the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Visits to religious shrines in Pakistan and India are governed under the Bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, 1974.

Pakistan conveyed its deep disappointment and concern over the denial of visas by the Indian Government, a statement released by the Foreign Office said.

“This is the fourth time that visas have been denied to Pakistani pilgrims in the past one year,” it said. — PTI

Mazar-i-Sharif, May 2 
A landslide in northern Afghanistan killed at least 350 persons today, officials said, with hundreds also feared missing as a major rescue operation was launched to find survivors in villages buried under mud.

The first emergency teams on the scene in Badakhshan province started digging through rocks and dirt as local authorities, the United Nations and the NATO-led military force raced to assess the damage and provide help.

"The number of deceased has increased to 350," the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

"A response is being mobilised for those who survived but were displaced, with some partners already on the ground.

"(NATO's) Regional Command in the north in contact with the Afghan National Army in regards to search and rescue efforts." Badakhshan is a remote province in northeast Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan.

"It is a disaster. The landslide has affected around 1,000 families," Sayed Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, provincial director of the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority, told AFP.

"Around 300 families are missing, that could involve around 2,000 people. The people are working to remove the rocks, so far three bodies have been recovered.

"Around 700 families were rescued, we have sent in some basic assistance such as tents and blankets." US President Barack Obama expressed his condolences over the disaster, saying "our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan who have experienced an awful tragedy." "We stand ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster," Obama said at a joint press conference in Washington with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The UN said that it was helping to coordinate local authorities to rescue those still trapped, but that road access to the area could not take heavy machinery.

"About 350 to 400 houses were destroyed in Argo district as a result of heavy rains that triggered landslides," Badakhshan province deputy governor Gul Mohammad Baidaar said.

The disaster follows recent severe flooding in other parts of northern Afghanistan, with 150 people dead and 67,000 people affected by floods in Jowzjan, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces.

"With nearly 3,500 houses reported damaged and destroyed the caseload in need of shelter continues to grow," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said yesterday.

It said clean water, medical supplies, food and shelter were needed immediately as relief efforts were stepped up after days of torrential rain. — AFP