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Sunday, August 1, 2010

Russia: 30 killed in Voronezh forest fires


At least 30 people were killed while 600 others were left without a roof over their heads due to forest fires in the city of Voronezh. Rescue teams subdue forest fires in Voronezh, but the situation remains tense due to extremely hot and dry weather. Wildfires spread across parts of western Russia, engulfing 30 percent more land in just 24 hours. Doctors, stationed at the nearby hotel, provided medical assistance to the evacuees. At least 2000 soldiers of the Russian army and as many as 240,000 activist are taking part in the relief and rescue operation.

Celebrities a rare breed at Clinton wedding


BILL and Hillary Clinton have tried to shield their daughter, Chelsea, from the gaze of the public for most of her life. But on her wedding day to banker Marc Mezvinsky yesterday, even as the Clintons sought to shroud the event in secrecy, residents and onlookers at this exclusive estate along New York's Hudson River decided they were going to celebrate along with them, invited or not. So despite confidentiality agreements, anonymous hotel reservations and a no-fly zone established over the area, this moneyed and normally subdued town turned into a Chelsea theme park, with shop windows filled with tributes to her, including one with a live model in a wedding dress having her make-up done.

Pakistan president to visit Britain amid terror row

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Britain this week for talks overshadowed by a row over remarks by Prime Minister David Cameron suggesting Islamabad was not doing enough to fight terrorism. Pakistan's spy chief, who had been due to visit London on Monday for talks on counter-terrorism, cancelled his trip in protest at Cameron's remarks, a spokesman for the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency said on Saturday. Cameron, speaking in Pakistan's rival India on Wednesday, told Islamabad that it must not become a base for militants and "promote the export of terror" across the globe, raising the ire of several officials and many people in the key U.S. ally. Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Zardari should cancel his visit to Britain. "I think it's inappropriate and an insult to the sentiments of the Pakistani people," he told reporters during a visit to flood-hit areas in the northwest. Images of protesters in Karachi burning an effigy of Cameron have received widespread television coverage in Britain and dominated the front page of at least one newspaper. Pakistan's envoy to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, said he had personally dissuaded Britons of Pakistani descent from demonstrating against Cameron's remarks before Zardari's visit. The Pakistani leader travels to London from Paris, where he flew to on Sunday for talks with President Nicholas Sarkozy on security and economic issues as part of a three-day visit.

Floods kill 1000 and affect a million in crisis-hammered Pakistan


The United Nations says up to 1 million people have been affected by the flooding. There are also reports of a cholera outbreak in Swat district. ''At least 713 people died in Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsada while the death toll in Shangla and Swat districts is over 300,'' a provincial government spokesman, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said. ''This is the worst flood in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's history.'' Pakistan's weather bureau said an ''unprecedented'' 312 millimetres of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the north-west.Manuel Bessler, head of the UN's office for the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance in Pakistan, told the BBC: ''We still do not have the full picture because of the breakdown in communications … We have a planning figure of 1 million people affected directly by the floods.'' Officials said the deluge was the worst since 1929 in north-west Pakistan, where water levels in dams continued to rise. With more rain forecast for all but that part of the country, increasing the likelihood of more flash floods and landslides, government officials issued pleas for international aid. Also hit hard was the Swat Valley, where the government has been working on reconstruction after last year's operation there to remove the militants. Of the 65 bridges washed away by the rains, 25 were in Swat. The scale of the floods and the government's inability to provide immediate relief have led to widespread resentment and bitterness among those affected. Displaced people have contacted local reporters and accused government officials of apathy and incompetence. The President, Asif Ali Zardari, who is scheduled to visit Britain this week, has already been criticised by his political opponents, who want him to cancel his trip and focus on relief efforts. About 30,000 Pakistani soldiers, 21 army helicopters and 150 boats had been deployed to carry out rescue and relief operations, an army spokesman said, adding that 19,000 people had been rescued.