Deadly typhoon's shift spares Manila
MANILA, Philippines -- Typhoon Rammasun strengthened overnight, leaving at least one person dead and knocking out power in many areas, but its fierce wind shifted slightly today to spare the Philippine capital, Manila, and densely populated northern provinces from being directly pummeled, officials said.
Still, the typhoon's 93-mile wind and blinding 115-mph gusts, brought down trees, electric posts and ripped off roofs across the capital of 12 million people where government offices and schools were closed. There were no immediate reports of major damage or flooding.
A woman died after being hit by a fallen electric post in Northern Samar, and two men were electrocuted but survived in Camarines Sur. Three fishermen were reported missing in Catanduanes. The three provinces were lashed by Rammasun after it made landfall in Albay province late Tuesday.
About 300,000 people moved to safer ground from their homes in Albay and five nearby provinces threatened by flooding, landslides and storm surges, officials said.
Cameron reshuffles U.K. government
LONDON -- With less than 10 months until the next general election, Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, on Tuesday finished up a broad government reshuffle, promoting several women and shaking up a ministerial team that has been criticized as unrepresentative of the country it governs.
Among the surprises were moves for William Hague, the foreign secretary, and Michael Gove,the education secretary, who both will stay in the government but with lower-profile positions. Hague, a former leader of the Conservative Party, will give up his seat in Parliament after the next elections in 2015.
Hague is succeeded as foreign secretary by Philip Hammond, who moves from the post of defense secretary. Meanwhile Gove will become chief whip, a back-room post responsible for discipline among Conservative lawmakers in Parliament.
Among the fresh female faces in the Cabinet were Nicky Morgan, a treasury minister and Liz Truss, a 38-year-old who entered Parliament in 2010 and who will become environment secretary.
Nigerian girls’ parents snub president
ABUJA, Nigeria — Parents and schoolmates of the 219 schoolgirls held captive by Boko Haram extremists refused at the last minute Tuesday to meet with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, who accused activists of “playing politics.”
“It now appears that our fight to get the girls of Chibok back is not only a fight against a terrorist insurgency, but also against a political opposition,” Jonathan said in a statement.
The mass abduction April 15 has been plagued by politics from the start. First lady Patience Jonathan said the kidnappings never occurred and were being fabricated by her husband’s enemies to damage his image.
She also had two leading activists briefly arrested, and relations between the government, security forces and the #BringBackOurGirls movement have been tense ever since.
On Tuesday, security agents locked the doors to the National Assembly, preventing the campaigners from attending a scheduled meeting with the Senate president, said Rotimi Olawale, a spokesman for the campaign.
The parents and escaped girls then decided not to meet with the president, who has faced international condemnation for his slow response to mount a campaign to rescue the girls.
Hong Kong asks China for law tweak
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s leader formally asked Beijing on Tuesday for legal changes that would ultimately let residents of the southern Chinese city elect his successor, but he downplayed calls for the public to nominate candidates free of China’s vetting.
The former British colony’s Beijing-backed top official, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, said in his report to China’s legislature that consultations with nearly 125,000 people and groups in the city found they were “eager” for universal suffrage.
He advised Beijing that changes to Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, were needed to kick off a process that will let voters pick the city’s leaders starting in 2017.
The report, however, made scant mention of calls from pro-democracy groups to allow the public to put forth candidates without Beijing’s interference. It said that “mainstream opinion” held that it was best left to an elite nominating committee like the one that has hand-picked all of Hong Kong’s postcolonial leaders.
A Section on 07/16/2014