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News Briefs

By Wire Reports
Published: 11/9/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/9/2009 5:37 AM

Flooding, mudslides fatal to 91; dozens are missing

Torrents of mud and boulders choked Verapaz's streets Sunday, part of a massive wave of rain-fueled flooding that authorities said killed 91 people throughout El Salvador and left about five dozen missing.

Almost 7,000 people saw their homes damaged, destroyed or cut off by floods and mudslides across the country.

Rescue workers dug frantically for victims, but the mud flows were so high they nearly swallowed vehicles. Many streets were blocked with boulders.

The capital, San Salvador, and central San Vicente province were the hardest-hit regions.

Town's mayor, 11 others killed in suicide bombing

A suicide bombing Sunday in a market in northwestern Pakistan crowded with shoppers ahead of a Muslim holiday killed 12 people, including a mayor who once supported the Taliban, officials said.

The suicide blast in Adazai, about 10 miles south of Peshawar, killed Adazi Mayor Abdul Malik and 11 other people, said Sahibzada Anis, the top official in Peshawar.

Malik had once been a Taliban supporter but later formed a militia to help fight the militants. He had survived several attacks on his life, Anis said.

University throws out student over minidress

A university expelled a woman who was heckled by hundreds of other students when she wore a short, pink dress to class, and it took out newspaper ads Sunday to accuse her of immorality.

The private Bandeirante University in Sao Bernardo do Campo, outside Sao Paulo, said the ex-student, Geisy Arruda, 20, disrespected "ethical principles, academic dignity and morality."

Arruda made headlines last month when she had to be escorted away by police after she tried to go to class wearing the minidress. She put on a professor's white coat and left amid a hail of insults and curses.

Saudi troops drive rebels from border mountain

Saudi Arabian forces seized a strategic mountain that straddles the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shiite rebels after five days of fighting that left three Saudi soldiers dead, a Saudi defense official said Sunday.

Rebels said they shot down a Yemeni fighter jet. Yemen acknowledged the crash but blamed a "technical error."

Saudi forces began shelling and bombing rebel positions last week, dramatically escalating a five-year conflict between Yemen's weak central government and rebels in the north of the impoverished country.

Indicted Sudan president to skip Muslim summit

Turkey said Sunday that Sudan's internationally indicted leader, President Omar al-Bashir, will not attend a conference of Muslim countries in Istanbul.

Turkey had faced criticism for its planned welcome of al-Bashir, who is the first government leader to face international war-crimes charges.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said al-Bashir would be welcome at Monday's Istanbul summit of the 57-country Organization of the Islamic Conference. Erdogan also downplayed accusations that al-Bashir and his regime orchestrated the slaughter, rape and mass expulsion of African natives in Sudan's Darfur region.

But the Turkish government said Sunday night that it had been informed that al-Bashir would not attend the summit.

Dalai Lama enters town close to his native Tibet

Joyous Buddhist pilgrims welcomed the Dalai Lama back Sunday to the Himalayan town he first set foot in five decades ago while fleeing Chinese rule in his native Tibet — a rare trip close to his homeland that has angered Beijing.

The Dalai Lama's arrival highlighted a lingering border dispute between India and China and exposed Beijing's ongoing sensitivities over Tibet.

The Dalai Lama said, however, that Beijing's accusation that his trip is anti-China was "baseless" and that he was only seeking to promote religious values, peace and harmony. "My visit here is nonpolitical," he said.

Chavez tells troops to be ready to fight Colombia

President Hugo Chavez ordered the military Sunday to prepare for a possible armed conflict with Colombia, saying that Venezuela's soldiers should be ready if the United States attempts to provoke a war between the South American neighbors.

Chavez told supporters during his weekly TV and radio program that President Barack Obama holds sway over Colombia's government, and he cautioned the U.S. leader against using his allies in Bogota to mount a military offensive against Venezuela. By Wire Reports

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my view, Sand Springs (11/9/2009 8:27:14 AM)

More BS from Chavez, while he arms the Colombia leftest rebels and gives them safe haven in Venezuela. He's preparing his military for possible attacks.

Knowing full well that the Obama administration doesn't have the will to support Colombia. At the same time he's giving the population something else to think about other than the failures of their government.

Nothing more than typical leftest think tank at work.

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Few Clothes, America (11/9/2009 6:39:40 PM)

B. Hussein loves Chavez and Castro.

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