LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Ordinary Iraqis are paying the price of the political struggle in Baghdad.”
Ahmed Abdullah,
an engineer in Iraq’s Electricity Ministry, on the inability of the country’s leaders to form a new government Article, 1AChina flood toll at 132; dozens missing
BEIJING - Major rivers burst their banks in southern China, triggering floods that have killed 132 people and forced 860,000 to flee their homes, the government said Sunday. With dozens missing and more storms forecast, the death toll was expected to rise.
More than 10 million people have been affected since torrential rains began June 13, including those who have been injured, stranded or have suffered property losses, the Ministry of Water Resources said in a news release.
While the death toll was up from 90 on Saturday, the number of evacuees was lower than the previous day’s figure of 1.4 million. A further 86 people still are missing.
China suffers flooding annually along the mighty Yangtze and other major rivers, but this year’s floods have been especially heavy.
Thousands of houses have been destroyed and economic losses have topped $2 billion, the ministry said.
Mine execs’ plane missing in Cameroon
YAOUNDE, Cameroon - A plane carrying the chairman, chief executive officer and top executives of an Australian mining firm disappeared into the jungle as it flew from Cameroon to Republic of Congo and rescue teams were searching Sunday for the aircraft.
The aircraft, chartered by Australian company Sundance Resources Ltd., was carrying nine passengers Saturday, including six executives, from Yaounde to Yangadou in the neighboring Republic of Congo where the company has a mine, the firm said Sunday.
Republic of Congo is located in central Africa and is often overshadowed by its much larger neighbor, Congo.
A Cameroon official for the company said the plane went missing as it flew to its first stop in Mbalam, another of the firm’s mining sites located in Cameroon’s eastern region. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
A statement from the company said those aboard included Geoff Wedlock, chairman for Sundance Resources, and Don Lewis, the company’s CEO. The company said families have been notified and a ground search began.
Al-Qaida warns of new, deadlier strikes
CAIRO - Al-Qaida’s U.S.-born spokesman warned President Barack Obama on Sunday that the militant group may launch new attacks that would kill more Americans than previous ones.
In a taunting, 24-minute message that dwelled on Obama’s setbacks, including the loss of a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts to the Republicans, Adam Gadahn set out al-Qaida’s conditions for peace with the U.S., including cutting support for Israel and withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
If one compared the number of dead Muslims “with the relatively small number of Americans we have killed so far, it becomes crystal clear that we haven’t even begun to even the score,” Gadahn said, dressed in a white robe and turban.
“That’s why next time, we might not show the restraint and self-control we have shown up until now,” he said.
Al-Qaida offered the same conditions for an end to hostilities to then President George W. Bush in 2007, including the release of all Muslim prisoners and cutting off aid to Middle East governments.
Indians fire on Kashmir protesters
SRINAGAR, India - Indian troops fired on hundreds of demonstrators who tried to torch a paramilitary bunker in Kashmir on Sunday, killing one person and wounding at least five, police said. More were injured in subsequent clashes.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state, in an angry protest against the death of a 25-year-old who died a day earlier after being beaten by soldiers in a demonstration last week.
The protesters threw rocks at security forces and surrounded an armored vehicle belonging to paramilitary soldiers, according to footage from AP Television News.
They later tried to light a bunker on fire, said Farooq Ahmed, a top police officer. A spokesman for the paramilitary force said they fired in self-defense.
One person was killed and at least five wounded, said Ahmed.
New clashes broke out as police and paramilitary soldiers fired warning shots and tear gas to quell the spiraling protests. At least six protesters and five soldiers were injured, Ahmed said.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 06/21/2010