8 Iraqi army soldiers killed during explosion at house in Diyala province, officials say

Bomb kills 8 Iraqi soldiers north of Baghdad

BAGHDAD – At least eight Iraqi army soldiers died early Wednesday when a house they were preparing to raid blew up, army and police officials said.
The incident in the volatile Diyala province underlines the unrelenting dangers that members of Iraq’s security forces still face as American forces prepare … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : 8 Iraqi army soldiers killed during explosion at house in Diyala province, officials say.

With 1,000 still missing, hope fading for survivors in northwest China floods that killed 702

Little hope for more survivors of China floods

ZHOUQU, China – Heavy rains Wednesday lashed a remote section of northwestern China where weekend flooding killed at least 702 people, as hopes of finding more survivors faded and crews worked to stave off outbreaks of disease.
More than 1,000 people were still listed as missing in the disaster, …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : With 1,000 still missing, hope fading for survivors in northwest China floods that killed 702.

Wildfires in Russia raise fears that radioactive fallout from Chernobyl could spread

Russian wildfires raise radiation fears
MOSCOW – Russian emergency workers have increased forest patrols in a western region affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, trying to prevent wildfires that could potentially spread harmful radiation, officials said Wednesday.

The Emergency Situations Ministry’s branch in the western Bryansk region – the area of Russia that suffered worst from the … Read more »».

Sri Lanka’s government-appointed commission to probe civil war begins public sittings

Sri Lankan war commission begins public sitting

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A Sri Lankan government-appointed commission to look into the country’s civil war opened public hearings Wednesday amid international skepticism about its credibility and mandate to probe and punish war crimes.
The hearings began a day after a group of 57 U.S. lawmakers wrote to Secretary of …. Read the original article  : here.

Approaching tropical depression halts drilling of relief well at Gulf spill site for 2-3 days

Tropical depression halts drilling at Gulf well

NEW ORLEANS – Drilling the final feet of a relief well intended to permanently plug the busted BP oil well deep below the Gulf of Mexico will have to wait two to three days as a strengthening tropical depression bears down on the site.
BP and Coast Guard officials had …. Read the original article  : Approaching tropical depression halts drilling of relief well at Gulf spill site for 2-3 days.

33 rare snakes confiscated in Shanghai

SHANGHAI – Thirty-three rare snakes meant to be sold illegally in an aquatic products market in Shanghai were seized after a dealer was bitten by a poisonous species.

The snakes were confiscated from the market in Putuo district after a snake breeder named Guo Yupeng, 27, nearly died after being bitten by a narrow-banded krait, the … Read more : 33 rare snakes confiscated in Shanghai.

Alaska National Guard helicopter rescues 3 stranded sightseers from glacier; 9 people remain

Helicopter rescue plucks 3 from Alaska glacier

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Three people stranded on an Alaska glacier for two days when their small sightseeing plane crashed were finally carried away by a helicopter crew Tuesday, but deteriorating weather conditions threatened to delay the rescue of nine others, authorities said.
Another Alaska Air National Guard Pave Hawk helicopter … Read more >>>.

Man marinates ‘mean’ cat in car bonnet

NEW YORK – An American man who was caught “marinating” his cat in a mixture of peppers, salt and oil inside a cage in the car bonnet said he was doing so because the feline was mean and ill-tempered.

Police in Buffalo, 470 km from New York, pulled over a car driven by Gary L. Korkuc, … Read more >>.

Five Jharkhand police officials sacked

RANCHI – The Jharkhand government has terminated the services of five police officers appointed through illegal means by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) in 2007, says an official statement.

All four are of deputy superintendent of police rank. They were sacked after the vigilance bureau found that the officials were appointed in a wrong way, … Read more : Five Jharkhand police officials sacked.

China to resettle 45,000 mudslide-affected people

BEIJING – The Chinese government has chalked out a three-stage resettlement programme for the thousands of people affected in rain-triggered mudslides in Gansu province that left at least 702 dead while over 1,000 people are still missing.

Over 45,000 people have been affected in the landslides that occurred at midnight Sunday in Zhouqu county in Gannan … Original article on : China to resettle 45,000 mudslide-affected people.

To stop girlfriend, Chinese man says bomb on plane

BEIJING – A Chinese man who did not want his girlfriend to visit the Shanghai Expo told police that the plane she would be travelling in had a bomb in it.

Tian Yu, 21, from Henan province, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison by the district people’s court in Henan’s Kaifeng city … Read more »»».

Roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan kills 3 Afghan civilians, as noncombatant deaths surge

NATO: Roadside bomb kills 3 Afghan civilians

KABUL, Afghanistan – A roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan killed three Afghan civilians, NATO forces said Wednesday.
They died Tuesday when their vehicle struck the bomb while driving in Ghazni province’s Waghaz district, the coalition said in a statement. Another three people were wounded.
It was the latest in a growing …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan kills 3 Afghan civilians, as noncombatant deaths surge.

One killed as terrorists attack bus, army jeep in Jammu

JAMMU – A woman was killed and 15 people hurt when terrorists attacked a civilian bus and an army jeep in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district Wednesday, police sources said.

The incident took place around 9 a.m. at Dera-k-Gali in Rajouri, about 190 km north of Jammu.
A woman passenger was killed and 11 others … Read more >>>.

Magnitude 6 earthquake shakes Vanuatu: No tsunami and no injuries or damage reported

Magnitude 6 earthquake shakes Vanuatu: No damage

CANBERRA, Australia – The U.S Geological Survey says a magnitude 6 earthquake has shaken Vanuatu – a day after a stronger quake off the South Pacific island nation generated a small tsunami.
The Wednesday quake was too small to cause a tsunami and there were no immediate reports of injuries …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

‘Abortion a method of contraception in Argentina’

Buenos Aires, Aug 11 (IANS/EFE) Forty percent of pregnancies in Argentina are terminated by illegal abortions, a figure that is double the Latin American average, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said .

“In the rest of the region, 20 percent of pregnancies are terminated by abortion. In Argentina, abortion has become a method of contraception,” …. Source article  : ‘Abortion a method of contraception in Argentina’.

Brazil makes formal offer of asylum to convicted Iranian woman

BRASILIA – The Brazilian government has made an official offer of asylum to an Iranian woman – Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani – who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and killing her husband.

Brazilian foreign ministry sources said Tuesday in Brasilia that the offer, which Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made unofficially a …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Japanese tour bus driver blamed for rollover crash in Utah that killed 3 and injured 11

Bus driver under investigation for Utah crash

SALT LAKE CITY – At this time of summer, foreign tourists are swarming across U.S. landmarks. But one Japanese tour group that set off for Utah’s spectacular Bryce Canyon National Park didn’t make it.
Their tour bus careened off a highway and rolled over Monday, killing three tourists and injuring … Read more : Japanese tour bus driver blamed for rollover crash in Utah that killed 3 and injured 11.

UN warning on trial of young Guantanamo detainee

UNITED NATIONS – The opening of the trial of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15, in Guantanamo Bay Tuesday could “set a precedent that may endanger the status of child soldiers all over the world”, a top UN official warned.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative … Read more : UN warning on trial of young Guantanamo detainee.

Tropical depression forms in Gulf of Mexico, heads for oil spill site where work is halted

Tropical depression forms in Gulf, heads for spill

MIAMI – The National Hurricane Center says a tropical depression has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is headed toward the oil spill site off the coast of Louisiana.
BP and Coast Guard officials had already decided to stop drilling on a relief well on Tuesday, before forecasters …. Source  : Tropical depression forms in Gulf of Mexico, heads for oil spill site where work is halted.

Tropical depression forms in Gulf of Mexico, heads for oil spill site where work is halted

Tropical depression forms in Gulf, heads for spill

MIAMI – The National Hurricane Center says a tropical depression has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and it is heading toward the oil spill site off the coast of Louisiana.
BP and Coast Guard officials had already decided to stop drilling on a relief well on Tuesday, before … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Tropical depression forms in Gulf of Mexico, heads for oil spill site where work is halted.