News briefs
BY Wire reports
Friday, February 08, 2013
2/08/13 at 3:02 AM
Port-au-Prince, Haiti : Haiti court postpones Duvalier hearing
A Haitian judge on Thursday postponed a court hearing on possible human rights abuse charges against Jean-Claude Duvalier because the former dictator known as "Baby Doc" failed to show up.
Judge Jean Joseph Lebrun of Haiti's Court of Appeals accepted a request by the defense team to reschedule the hearing because it fell on the 27th anniversary of Duvalier's ouster.
Lebrun didn't punish Duvalier for ignoring an order to appear before the court but said Duvalier would be arrested if he didn't show up for the new hearing Feb. 21.
Sydney : Death toll in Solomon Islands tsunami now 9
Aid workers struggled to reach remote, tsunami-ravaged villages in the Solomon Islands and the death toll rose to at least nine as more bodies were found in wrecked homes and debris in the South Pacific country. A strong aftershock rocked the islands Friday.
The victims, including a child, were killed when a powerful earthquake set off a small tsunami that sent 5-foot waves roaring inland on Santa Cruz Island, in the eastern Solomons, on Wednesday. Around 100 homes across five villages were damaged or destroyed.
The waves proved deadly for five elderly villagers and a child, who weren't fast enough to outrun the rushing water, said George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister. Three more bodies were found Thursday, but Herming said details of how those victims died were not immediately available.
The tsunami was generated by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck near the town of Lata, on Santa Cruz in Temotu.
London : U.K.: Frozen lasagna tests positive for horse meat
U.K. authorities say beef lasagna products recalled from British supermarkets by frozen-food company Findus have tested positive for more than 60 percent horsemeat.
The revelation comes after millions of burgers were taken off shop shelves earlier this month as it emerged that beef products from three companies in Ireland and Britain contained horse DNA.
The U.K. Food Standards Agency said Thursday that its tests on Findus's beef lasagna were part of an ongoing investigation into mislabeled meat and that there is no evidence the results pose a food safety risk. But it advised people not to eat the lasagna and return them to the shops where they were purchased.
Findus had recalled its beef lasagna after its French supplier, Comigel, raised concerns.
Lusaka, Zambia : At least 53 killed in Zambia bus crash
A bus operated by Zambia's postal service carrying passengers toward its capital Lusaka smashed into a semi-truck and another car Thursday, killing at least 53 people in one of the worst traffic crashes in the nation in recent history, officials said.
The crash happened Thursday morning near the town of Chifamba, about 60 miles north of Lusaka, police spokeswoman Elizabeth Kanjela said. Images carried by local media in Zambia showed rescuers climbing over the smashed-in front-end of the white bus, the remains of the orange semi-truck in pieces in front of it.
Kennedy Sakeni, Zambia's information minister, said at least 53 people died in the crash, while another 22 had been taken to local hospitals. A sport utility vehicle also was involved in the crash, he said.
Jerusalem : Facebook video overturns parking ticket in Israel
An Israeli woman has turned to Facebook to beat a parking ticket - and expose a Tel Aviv road crew.
Hila Ben Baruch says she parked her car legally near her Tel Aviv home only to find it gone and replaced with a handicapped parking sign. City Hall slapped her with more than $300 in fines. Making matters worse, she says a city representative accused her of lying when she called to complain.
Determined to prove her innocence, she obtained footage from a security camera showing municipal workers painting the handicapped symbol under her car, then towing the vehicle away.
She told Channel 2 she was "shocked." The video, put on Facebook, has gone viral.
The Tel Aviv municipality has apologized and refunded the fines.
Associated Images:
Military personnel search for bodies after a Zambia Postal Service bus collided with a truck near the town of Chifamba, 60 miles north of Lusaka, Zambia, on Thursday. The accident killed at least 53 people. SALIM DAWOOD/Associated Press
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