Metro Television reported the roof of Padang airport had collapsed.
“Part of the roof of the arrival hall at the Padang airport collapsed but nobody was injured. The runway is okay. The airport has been closed but will reopen at 7am tomorrow,” Hariyanto, an official of airport operating company Angkasa Pura II, said.
Rustam Pakaya, the head [...]
Ehud Barak was yesterday saved from arrest after the Foreign Office upgraded his visit from private to ‘special status’ – giving him diplomatic immunity from charges of war crimes.
He was represented by Pinochet’s attorney Clare Montgomery QC, who previously acted for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to fend off a request for his extradition to Spain [...]
Deadly tsunami in Pacific islands
Devastation hit Pago Pago on American Samoa
A tsunami triggered by a strong quake in the South Pacific has killed at least 34 people in Samoa, say reports.
Samoa’s delegate to the US Congress, Eni Faleomavaega, told AFP thousands of people had been left homeless.
Dr Lemalu Fiu, [...]
Tourism minister Najib Balala has said Muslims were “misled” into not supporting President Kibaki in the last General Election.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted by Kibaki for Muslim leaders, Balala said Muslims had since realised that Kibaki meant well for them and that they would work with him.
The luncheon, at a Nairobi hotel, which was initially [...]
The Turkish president has condemned Western countries’ focus on Iran’s nuclear program, stressing that the world should deal with Israel’s nuclear weapons instead.
Turkey’s “Radikal” newspaper on Sunday reported that Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strong comments against Israel’s nuclear program was similar to his “one minute” stance in Davos in January when he walked out of a [...]
Iran has test-fired two long-range missiles which defence analysts say are capable of hitting Israel or US bases in the Gulf region.
The state-sponsored Press TV news channel said that the Shahab 3 and Sejil missiles were fired on Monday, the second day of military exercises by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Britain, France and the European Union all [...]
Chancellor Angela Merkel has been returned to power in Germany, with forecasts showing her conservative bloc on course for a clear election victory.
Mrs Merkel told supporters they had achieved “something magnificent”, but said she wanted to be a chancellor of all Germans at a moment of crisis.
Mrs Merkel’s bloc now looks set to form a [...]
TEHRAN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi Sunday asked Western countries not to meddle in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) affairs, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Qashqavi protested against the “false remarks recently made by a number of Western leaders on the country’s peaceful nuclear program.” He called on the [...]
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — The Pentagon on Sunday opposed setting timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan as U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing on a decision whether to further increase troop levels there.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told CNN during an interview that setting such timelines or laying out an exit strategy [...]
MANILA, Philippines, (Xinhua): At least 51 people were killed while 21 others remain missing as tropical storm Kestana hit the Philippines and brought massive flood on Saturday, the government disasters relief agency said Sunday.
Rescuers saved more than 4,000 lives and transferred at least 41,205 people from their flooded homes to temporary evacuation centers, the National [...]