Month: February 2010

Harare, February 28: In a shanty in north Harare, a 12-year-old girl with thin, malnourished arms uses a hoe far too heavy for her to scrabble in the dried sewage, refuse and rock.

Argentina, February 28: A seven-month-old baby in Argentina has survived alone for three days with a bullet wound in the chest, next to the bodies of its parents who allegedly committed suicide over fears of global warming, a media report said.

The incident took place in Goya city in northeastern Corrientes province, where Francisco Lotero, 56, and Miriam Coletti, 22, lived with their two small children, Clarin daily reported Saturday.

Tokyo, February 28: The Japan Meteorological Agency Sunday issued a major tsunami alert for its Pacific coast after a powerful earthquake struck Chile, Xinhua reported.

The tsunami alert is issued for the pacific coast of Aomori, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures in northeast Japan. Waves of up to three meters high are expected in the areas and “everyone near the coast must evacuate to higher ground”, it said.

The tsunami is also expected to hit Hokkaido and Izu-Ogasawara islands around 1 p.m. followed by other areas, the agency said in a public broadcast.

Mumbai, February 28: Regular sabbaticals, a welding course in New York and now martial arts for self-gratification – Abhay Deol, who is gearing up for his next outing “Road, Movie”, believes in living life in packages.

“I had taken a sabbatical from my Bollywood life when I went to New York. I was there only for a year; so it’s not long enough. I have been taking sabbaticals here and there. I work in cycles,” Abhay told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.

Beijing, February 28: One of the most powerful earthquakes in decades rocked Chile Saturday, leaving more than 140 people dead and triggering a tsunami alert across the Pacific basin.

Hundreds of people were missing and feared trapped under the rubble of buildings which buckled under the force of the magnitude 8.8 quake, the worst to hit the South American nation since 1960.

Gaza, February 27: Israel’s plan to include West Bank religious sites in a Jewish heritage plan is a clear provocation but the Palestinians will not be dragged into violence, the Palestinian PM said.

Protesting at what he said was a politically-motivated move by Israel, Salam Fayyad attended Friday prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque, or the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in Hebron, one of the sites included in the heritage plan announced this week.

Washington, February 27: The United States pressed Israel on Friday to ease its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an issue Arab officials have urged Washington to address at it tries to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters she had an extended discussion with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the Mediterranean coastal strip, which was severely damaged in an Israeli offensive launched in December 2008.

United Nations, February 27: The Security Council on Friday urged Iraq to ratify an agreement requiring it to accept intrusive inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which dismantled a covert Iraqi atom bomb program in the 1990s.

The Security Council said it could consider lifting trade restrictions it imposed on Iraq’s civilian nuclear program and other industries after its 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait if Iraq ratified the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) so-called Additional Protocol, among other steps.