National and International news: northern

domingo, 20 de maio de 2012

Powerful quake kills at least 4 in northern Italy

Eyewitness NewsSANT'AGOSTINO DI FERRARA, Italy -- One of the strongest earthquakes to shake northern Italy rattled the region around Bologna early Sunday, a magnitude-6.0 temblor that killed at least four people, toppled buildings and sent residents running into the streets, emergency services and news reports said.

The quake struck at 4:04 a.m. Sunday between Modena and Mantova, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of 5 kilometers (3.2 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It was one of the strongest quakes to shake the region, seismologists said, and initial television footage indicated that older buildings had suffered damage: roofs collapsed, church towers showed cracks and the bricks of some stone walls tumbled into the street. As dawn broke over the region, residents milled about the streets inspecting the damage.

News reports, citing emergency services, said three people were killed in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara when a ceramics factory collapsed. Another person was killed in Ponte Rodoni do Bondeno, ANSA said.

Italy's Sky TG24 showed images of the collapsed ceramics factory where the two workers were reportedly killed; the structure, which appeared to be a hangar of sorts, had twisted metal supports jutting out at odd angles amid the mangled collapsed roof.

"This is immense damage but the worst part is we lost two people," said Stefano Zeni, a worker in the factory.

SKY said two other people died of apparent heart attacks in the wake of the quake.

"It was a strong one, and it lasted quite a long time," said Emilio Bianco, receptionist at Modena's Canalgrande hotel, housed in an ornate 18th century palazzo. The hotel suffered no damage and Modena itself was spared, but guests spilled into the streets as soon as the quake hit, he said.

Many people were still awake at 4 a.m. and milling about town since it was a "white night," with stores and restaurants open all night. Museums were supposed to have remained open as well but closed following the bombing Saturday of a school in southern Italy that killed one person.

The epicenter was between the towns of Finale Emilia, San Felice sul Panaro and Sermide but was felt as far away as Tuscany and northern Alto Adige.

The initial quake was followed about an hour later by a 5.1-magnitude temblor, USGS said. And it was preceded by a 4.1-temblor.

In late January, a 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings.

In 2009, a devastating temblor killed more than 300 people in the central city of L'Aquila.

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domingo, 22 de maio de 2011

UN: Tanks of northern Sudan in contested Abyei

By MAGGIE FICKJUBA, Sudan -- Northern Sudanese troops appeared to have seized the contested town of Abyei on Saturday night, a U.N. spokeswoman said, increasing fears of conflict the country's south prepares to become the world's newest country.

U.N. officials have seen 15 tanks belonging to the northern army in parts of the town, where earlier mortars slammed against a United Nations base, Hua Jiang said. One of those mortar rounds exploded, but there were no casualties among U.N. personnel, she said.

The attack on the compound has prevented the U.N. forces from patrolling this contested town, Jiang said.

The violence comes against the backdrop of a four-day visit by the U.N. Security Council to Sudan, starting Saturday. Southern Sudan will become independent on July 9 and the U.N. has expressed concerns about recent violence in Southern Sudan and in several spots across the contested border region.

Southern Sudanese army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said Saturday that the northern army was bombing the area near Abyei from the air for a second day.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan issued a statement earlier Saturday calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities in Abyei and urging the north and south to protect civilians in the areas where fighting may be ongoing.

Southern Sudan's independence - approved overwhelmingly in a January vote - is less than two months away, but the status of Abyei has not been determined. Its future is the most important outstanding issue remaining to be settled between north and south.

"There are still air bombardments," Aguer told The Associated Press on Saturday, referring to the southern army's allegations that the northern army begun bombing Abyei on Friday after clashes there Thursday evening between northern and southern troops.

He also said the northern Sudanese Armed Forces attacked four villages in the Abyei area, but said he had no information on casualties. Aguer also said the southern army had received information that a northern army ground force was moving through the area.

Jiang said artillery was heard in Abyei on Friday but that the U.N. could not verify more details because of insecurity in the area.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said late Saturday they treated 42 wounded people who were brought to their hospital Friday night following "violent clashes" in Abyei.

The group received the wounded at their hospital 24 miles (40 kilometers) south of Abyei.

Doctors Without Borders said in its statement that "the entire population of Abyei town fled" Saturday morning. The group said it suspended its primary health care programs in Abyei to treat the wounded.

Local officials also said Saturday that at least six rebels and soldiers were killed in clashes between the southern army and rebels Friday and Saturday in Unity state.

Fighting broke out in two different areas of Unity State when two different rebel groups, which the south claims are both backed by the northern government, attacked villages on Friday and Saturday.

The top local official in Unity state's Mayom County, Charles Machieng Kuol, also told the AP by phone on Saturday that four police officers were also killed Friday when they ran over a mine that exploded.

The reports of violence follow a sharp escalation in tensions in Abyei after a northern army convoy accompanied by U.N. peacekeepers came under attack late Thursday, wounding two northern soldiers and provoking harsh condemnation from the U.N. mission.

The northern army accused southern troops of firing upon the convoy, a charge the southern army denied. The southern military later on Friday accused the north of carrying out bombing runs in the Abyei area, including attempting to hit targets near a strategic bridge across a river in southern Abyei.

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Associated Press writer Philip Mabior contributed to this report from Juba.

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