Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/592425
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 OctObEr 2015 News Hundreds dead in Afghanistan-Pakistan quake At least 300 people are known to have died, most of them in Pakistan, and at least 2,000 were injured Pakistan has dispatched air- craft, road-clearing teams and rescuers to some of the country's most isolated valleys on tuesday in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that killed at least 311 people in the region. the taliban, which controls some areas affected, called on aid agencies "not to hold back" relief supplies. a spokesman said taliban fight- ers had been ordered to help the victims. in another development, Pa- kistani officials said at least two glaciers in Pakistan's karakoram mountain range had burst and several others had cracked be- cause of the earthquake, raising fears of flash-floods. Pakistan's powerful army has taken a lead role in responding to the crisis, with extra resources pushed out to its various hospi- tals in the affected region. Pakistan has insisted that it does not require international assist- ance to cope with a disaster that caused a fraction of the damage of the devastating 2005 earthquake that killed nearly 80,000 Pakista- nis and displaced millions more. seismologists say catastrophe was averted this time because the quake struck deep underground. the rescue work will nonethe- less be a challenge, with civilian officials warning the death toll is likely to rise rapidly as teams reach isolated areas, many of which were cut off by landslides and the failure of mobile phone networks. Many people across the region, afraid of a new quake, spent the night sleeping outside in temper- atures close to freezing. afghan officials said at least 82 people had been killed and more than 260 injured, while in Pa- kistan, at least 231 people were killed and 1,632 injured. afghan President ashraf Ghani, in a televised address, urged those living in affected areas to help the rescue effort while Chief Execu- tive abdullah abdullah warned that the death toll was expected to rise. the governor of Badakhshan province, shah Waliullah adeeb, said survey teams were heading into more remote areas on tues- day but landslides had blocked roads and helicopters were need- ed. afghan victims included 12 schoolgirls killed in a crush as they tried to leave their classes in taluqan, takhar province. Most of the reported deaths were in Pakistan US Navy warship sails past disputed China islands chinese foreign ministry says US acted 'illegally' as USS Lassen came within 12 nautical miles of disputed Spratly archipelago China strongly criticised the sailing of a Us navy warship close to its man-made islands in the south China sea, saying the move posed a "threat to China's sovereignty." Guided-missile destroyer Uss Lassen breached the 12-nautical mile zone China claims around subi and Mischief reefs in the spratly archipelago. the freedom of navigation operation represents a serious challenge to China's territorial claims. Chinese authorities say they monitored, followed and warned Us warship Uss Lassen as it "il- legally" entered waters near the disputed reefs, and urged Wash- ington to "immediately correct its mistake". the Uss Lassen began its mis- sion through waters near the disputed spratly archipelago at about 6.40am local time on tues- day. the guided-missile destroyer reportedly received orders to travel within 12 nautical miles (22.2km, or 13.8 miles) of the spratlys' Mischief and subi reefs, which are at the heart of a con- troversial Chinese island build- ing campaign that has soured ties between Washington and Beijing. Chinese officials were not informed of tuesday's mis- sion, Us officials said. addressing journalists in Bei- jing yesterday afternoon, Lu kang, a foreign ministry spokes- man, said China was strongly dissatisfied with america's ac- tions, which he described as a threat to China's sovereignty. Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the south China sea, even waters close to the coasts of other states. the sea is a strategically vital water- way with shipping lanes through which about a third of all the world's traded oil passes, and the dispute has raised fears of clashes. a Us defence official told the press that more patrols would follow in the coming weeks and could also be conducted around features that Vietnam and the Philippines have built up in the spratlys. "this is something that will be a regular occurrence, not a one- off event," said the official. "it's not something that's unique to China." White house spokesman Josh Earnest referred questions on any specific operations to the Pentagon but said the Us had made clear to China the impor- tance of free f low of commerce in the south China sea. Washington has repeatedly said it does not recognise Chi- nese claims to territorial waters around the artificial islands. the decision to go ahead with the patrol follows months of de- liberation and risks upsetting the already strained Us-China ties. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - members of the association of southeast asian nations - also claim parts of the sea. taiwan is a sixth claimant. The USS Lassen received orders to travel within 12 nautical miles of the artificial reefs which have soured ties between Washington and Beijing Turkey shells Kurdish fighters inside Syria tUrkEy confirmed that its army attacked fighters from the main kurdish force in northern syria. Members of the Democratic Un- ion Party (PyD) on sunday accused the turkish military of opening fire at its forces in tal abyad after the majority arab town was in- cluded into a kurdish enclave. the yPG has been a key ally of the Us in fighting the so-called is- lamic state (is) group in syria. turkey fears advances by the kurdish People's Protection Units (yPG) near its syrian border could fuel separatist sentiments amongst kurds in turkey. the attacks come amid increasing tensions in tur- key ahead of elections. in a tV interview late on Mon- day, turkish Prime Minister ah- met Davutoglu said that turkey had warned the PyD not to cross to the "west of the Euphrates and that we would hit it the moment it did. "We hit it twice," Davutoglu said without giving further details. the kurdish force has been a key ally for the Us-led coalition fighting the islamic state of iraq and the Levant (isiL) and controls large parts of northern syria on the turkish border. in June, it expelled isiL fighters from tal abyad after fierce clashes. yet, turkey regards the PyD as the syrian offshoot of the out- lawed kurdistan Workers' Party (Pkk) which has been fighting for more kurdish autonomy in the southeastern areas of the country since 1984. Last week, the kurds in syria said they had incorporated tal abyad into their "autonomous ad- ministration" in the north of the country. the news has irked neighbour- ing turkey, which fears the expan- sion of the influence of the kurds, who represent about 20 percent of the country's population. turkey's government is con- cerned about a scenario in which turkish kurds will start cooperat- ing with kurds across the border in search of autonomy on both sides. ankara has warned syrian kurds to stay away from any attempts to create a "de facto situation" in syria. Saudi prince held over Beirut drug bust a saudi prince and four other peo- ple have been detained in Lebanon in the largest drug seizure in the history of Beirut airport, a security source has said. Prince abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin abdulaziz was among those detained by airport security while allegedly "attempting to smuggle about two tonnes of Captagon pills and some cocaine," the security source said. Captagon is the brand name for the amphetamine phenethylline, a synthetic stimulant. Manufacturing of the substance thrives in Lebanon and war-torn syria, which have become a gateway for the drug to the Middle East and particularly the Gulf. the Un Office of Drugs and Crime said in a 2014 report that the amphetamine market is on the rise in the Middle East, with seizures mostly in saudi arabia, Jordan and syria accounting for more than 55 percent of amphetamines recovered worldwide. the security source said the drugs had been packed into cases that were waiting to be loaded onto a pri- vate plane that was headed to saudi arabia. Lebanon's state news agency said the private plane was to head to riyadh and was carrying 40 suit- cases full of Captagon. the five saudi citizens were still in the airport and will be questioned by Lebanon's customs authority, the source added.