A round-up of today's other world news in brief
Landslides wipe out three Indian villages
MUMBAI – At least 46 people were killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, police said yesterday.
Three villages in the hilly Pithoragarh district were swept away in the landslide after a cloudburst on Saturday, local police official MS Sathnam said.
Seventeen bodies have so far been recovered, he said, with rescue efforts by local emergency personnel and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police hampered by bad weather.
– (Reuters)
ETA claim three Mallorca bombs
MADRID – Three small bombs exploded yesterday in places frequented by tourists in the capital of the island of Mallorca, Spanish government officials said. No injuries were reported.
The explosions followed a phone warning made in the name of the Basque separatist group ETA.
– (Reuters)
20 feared dead in Lagos sinkings
LAGOS – Five passengers drowned and 15 were missing and feared dead after two small boats sank in a creek near Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos, police said yesterday.
One of the boats with 24 people on board was travelling to Lagos Island when it started sinking on Saturday, police said.
A second boat with 11 people on board tried to rescue the first but the two vessels capsized as passengers from the distressed boat tried to scramble aboard the other.
– (Reuters)
Quake rocks central Japan
TOKYO – A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 jolted central Japan yesterday, halting some train services briefly but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The lengthy quake, felt across the capital just before 8pm, prompted railway services to halt some high-speed services briefly while tracks were checked.
– (Reuters)
France vows to fight terrorists
PARIS – France yesterday condemned a suicide bombing at the French embassy in Mauritania’s capital, Nouakchott, that injured three people on Saturday, and vowed to fight against groups that commit such attacks.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
– (Reuters)
Paris Jackson paternity claim
Former child star Mark Lester revealed yesterday that he donated sperm to Michael Jackson and believes he could be the biological father of the late singer’s daughter Paris.
The film actor, who shot to fame in the musical Oliver!and was a close friend of Jackson, told the News of the World: "I gave Michael my sperm so that he could have kids – and I believe Paris is my daughter."
Lester (51), also said he was willing to take a paternity test to find out the truth.
He is godfather to Paris (11), and Jackson’s two other children, 12-year-old Prince, and Blanket, seven.
– (Reuters)