QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic proportions.”
Dr. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization Article, this page
Rescuers reach flood survivors in India
LUCKNOW, India - Days after floods killed more than 100 people, rescuers used helicopters and climbed through mountain paths to reach about 4,000 people trapped by landslides in a narrow valley near a Hindu shrine in the northern Himalayas, officials said Thursday.
The helicopters ferried rescue workers and doctors along with equipment, food and medicine to Kedarnath in the state of Uttrakhand, said Air Commodore Rajesh Prasad, who is overseeing the operations.
Amit Chandola, a state spokesman, said authorities have been unable to reach eight villages feared washed away by the weekend floods in the worst-hit districts of Rudraprayag and Chamoli.
With the weather improving, army commandos would try to reach the areas today, Chandola said.
He said the official death in Uttrakhand was 105. An additional 17 people died in collapsed homes in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state, said R.L. Vishwakarma, a state police officer.
Rakesh Sharma, a state official, said the death toll could be much higher, running into thousands, but the exact number would be known only after a survey of the entire region.
Bomber targets vote-count center in Iraq
FALLUJAH, Iraq - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a ballot-counting center in western Iraq late Thursday, officials said, killing at least four people after the polls closed in elections that already had been delayed once over security fears in two of the country’s most volatile provinces.
The attacker struck at the end of what had been a relatively calm election day in Sunni-majority Anbar and Ninevah provinces. A decision by the central government to postpone elections there had raised concerns that voters would be disenfranchised, adding to their grievances with the Shiite-led government.
Security had been a top concern ahead of Thursday’s vote. Thousands of policemen and soldiers were deployed to secure the elections, and authorities imposed a vehicle ban in major cities in the two provinces.
The bombing happened in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, 70 miles west of Baghdad. There were conflicting casualty tolls. Two police officers in Anbar said at least four people were killed and five more were wounded. Talib Humadi, a councilman from Anbar, said the blast killed seven people.
Germany blocks Turkey embrace by EU
BRUSSELS - Germany stood in the way of reviving Turkey’s bid to join the European Union on Thursday, protesting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on dissenters, two EU officials said.
Germany opposed the renewed embrace of Turkey at a meeting of representatives of the bloc’s 27 governments in Brussels, the officials said. The Dutch representative abstained, and the other 25 countries were in favor. Progress required unanimity.
Turkey’s chief liaison to the EU accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is running for re-election in September, of playing politics and warned that she will meet the same fate as Nicolas Sarkozy, an opponent of Turkish membership who failed last year to win a second term as French president.
“If Mrs. Merkel examines what happened to Sarkozy who followed a similar line, it will be obvious that messing with Turkey would not bring good,” said Egemen Bagis, the Turkish negotiator.
The plan had been for Turkey to start talks Wednesday on aligning its regional policies with EU norms. National representatives may reconsider it Monday.
Fireworks explosion in Quebec kills 2
MONTREAL, Quebec - A huge explosion at a fireworks warehouse killed two workers Thursday, police said, leaving a plume of smoke blanketing an area west of Montreal.
A series of explosions spread from the charred building after the initial blast at B.E.M. Fireworks near Valleyfield, Quebec. Images from the scene showed a building near a highway completely destroyed.
Provincial police said two bodies were found in the wreckage, but they did not identify them.
Nearly two hours after the blast, fireworks could still be heard exploding as a fire continued to burn out of control, according to witnesses.
Police ordered the surrounding community of Coteaudu-Lac evacuated. A nearby highway also was closed in both directions.
Police also said low traces of metal materials were found in the surrounding area.
According to its website, B.E.M. has been designing and manufacturing pyrotechnics and fireworks for 25 years.
Robert Sauve, the mayor of Coteau-du-Lac, said the business has about 20 employees and the owner lives in the community, less than an hour’s drive southwest of Montreal.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 06/21/2013