Russia declares emergency as wildfires kill 34
Russia declared a state of emergency in seven regions on Monday after wildfires killed at least 34 people and left thousands homeless in the worst heatwave since records began 130 years ago.
Fires raging across European Russia have destroyed homes, forests and fields, already scorched for weeks by an unprecedented heatwave.
Drought in some regions of Russia, one of the world's biggest wheat exporters, has sent global prices soaring to 22-month highs and driven thousands of farmers to the brink of bankruptcy.
Officials said firefighting manpower was increased ten fold near a nuclear research center in Sarov, Niznhy Novgorod region, one of the hardest-hit provinces, around 350 kilometers (220 miles) east of Moscow.
Nearly 700 wildfires were burning over 1,210 square kilometers (750 square miles) of land, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry told Reuters.
In the capital Moscow, residents wore masks against the choking smog caused by peat fires stoked by the hot weather.
President Dmitry Medvedev declared a state of emergency in the Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Ryazan, Mordovia and Mari El regions as well as the province that rings the capital, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The toll rose from 28 dead on Sunday to at least 34 on Monday, an Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman said. He would not give details about the locations or specific cause of death for the new fatalities.
More than 180,000 people were fighting the blazes and 18 aircraft dumped 3,000 tons of water on the fires and threatened areas on Sunday, the ministry said.
Firefighters near Maslovka in the southern Voronezh province, where the temperature on Monday hit 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), welcomed a respite from high winds that have fanned flames.
FIRE NEARS NUCLEAR FACILITY
Authorities dramatically stepped up firefighting manpower to fight blazes near a nuclear center in Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Interfax news agency quoted Emergencies Ministry official Pavel Plat as saying.
The nuclear center, now a research facility, was a top-secret location in Soviet times codenamed Arzamas-16, where the first Soviet atom and hydrogen bombs were designed.
A spokesman for state nuclear agency Rosatom, Sergei Novikov, told Ekho Moskvy radio the center was not currently in danger but said firefighters were on guard in case new blazes broke out on land south of the center.
Thick smoke blanketing the area prevented Emergencies Ministry aircraft from dropping water on the flames. ITAR-TASS news agency reported that at least five civilian flights were canceled at Nizhny Novgorod airport because of the smoke.
Smog returned to the capital after a hiatus over the weekend. The concentration of pollutants, which has caused health concerns, was slightly lower than the absolute summer high recorded last week, an air monitoring expert said.
"The concentration of carbon monoxide and suspended particles surged three to eight times in the morning hours," Alexei Popikov, chief specialist at Mosekomonitoring, a government agency monitoring air pollution, told Reuters.
Pollution rose up to 10 times above the norm on Wednesday, the agency said, the worst this summer but lower than a record high reached during wildfires in 2002.
Russia's heat wave is expected to last through the week at least.
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Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ (
listen); Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation[7][8] (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. Russia shares borders with the following countries (from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan (by the Sea of Okhotsk) and the United States (by the Bering Strait).
At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is by far the largest country in the world, covering more than a ninth of the Earth's land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation in the world with 142 million people.[1] It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 9 time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources,[9] and is the world's largest energy superpower.[10][11][12][13][14] It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.[15]
The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs, who emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.[16] Founded and ruled by a noble Viking warrior class and their descendants, the first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century and adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988,[17] beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.[17] Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated and the lands were divided into many small feudal states. The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was Moscow, which served as the main force in the Russian reunification process and independence struggle against the Golden Horde. Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities and came to dominate the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland in Europe to Alaska in North America.
Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower,[18][19][20] that played a decisive role in the allied victory in World War II.[21][22][23] The Soviet era saw some of the greatest technology achievements of the nation, such as the world's first human spaceflight. The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet state.[24] Russia has the world's 6th largest economy[25][26] by nominal GDP or the seventh largest by purchasing power parity, with the fifth largest nominal military budget. It is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[27] Russia is a superpower[28][29][30][31][32][33] and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community, the OSCE, and is the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Inmate who said he’d kill more linked to 2nd death
A Virginia inmate who warned prosecutors he would kill again if not given the death penalty for strangling his cellmate was involved in the death of another inmate, authorities said.
Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney Ron Elkins confirmed late Saturday that Robert Gleason Jr. was "involved" in the death of 26-year-old Aaron Alexander Cooper, though Elkins refused to elaborate. Gleason, who was already serving a life term for murder before killing his cellmate last year, has not been charged in the death.
Cooper died Wednesday in the recreation yard for inmates housed in segregation at the maximum security Red Onion State Prison in southwestern Virginia. Elkins is awaiting a report from the medical examiner on Monday, but he said authorities believe Cooper was strangled.
Authorities are trying to figure out how it could have happened, because each inmate is placed in a separate, small caged-in area for recreation. Elkins said authorities believe Cooper was strangled with a piece of clothing, towel or bed sheet that was somehow reached through the chain link fence that separates the inmates on the recreation yard.
Elkins said he didn't know when charges might be filed against Gleason.
Gleason is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31 for killing his cellmate at Wallens Ridge State Prison last year. He fired his attorneys and pleaded guilty in May, telling prosecutors he would kill again if they didn't seek the death penalty in his case.
"I murdered that man cold-bloodedly. I planned it, and I'm gonna do it again," the 40-year-old Gleason told The Associated Press. "Someone needs to stop it. The only way to stop me is put me on death row."
Elkins said he may wait until after Gleason is sentenced to determine whether to charge him in Cooper's death. He was set to visit Red Onion Monday morning to review video surveillance of the incident.
"If he gets the death penalty I'm not really sure what we'll do," he said.
Death penalty cases are costly and time-consuming. Gleason has said he would not appeal his case if given the death penalty.
Gleason already was serving life for another murder when he killed 63-year-old Harvey Gray Watson Jr., a man with a history of mental illness who had been placed in Gleason's cell a week earlier.
Gleason said he begged correctional officers to move Watson, who he said sang, screamed profanities and masturbated in the 8-by-10-foot cell they shared for seven days. He said Watson also got inmates to give him cigarettes in exchange for drinking his urine or clabbered milk on the recreation yard.
On the eighth day — May 8, 2009 — correctional officers found Watson bound, gagged, beaten and strangled. His death went unnoticed for 15 hours because correctional officers had not followed proper procedure for inmate head counts at the high-security prison in southwestern Virginia.
Prison employees involved in that case have denied repeated requests for comment from the AP. Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor declined to discuss the situation, but said that two officers were disciplined and two others were fired. One of the fired officers was reinstated upon appeal.
Traylor said the department was investigating Cooper's death. He referred all questions regarding Gleason to the commonwealth's attorney.
Cooper was serving 34 years for crimes including carjacking and robbery.
Related info :
Murder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with "malice aforethought", and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter). As the loss of a human being inflicts enormous grief upon the individuals close to the victim, as well as the fact that the commission of a murder is highly detrimental to the good order within society, most societies both present and in antiquity have considered it a most serious crime worthy of the harshest of punishment. In the US, a person convicted of murder is typically given a life sentence or even the death penalty for such an act. A person who commits murder is called a murderer ;[1] the term murderess, meaning a woman who murders, has largely fallen into disuse
Inmate who said he’d kill more linked to 2nd death
A Virginia inmate who warned prosecutors he would kill again if not given the death penalty for strangling his cellmate was involved in the death of another inmate, authorities said.
Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney Ron Elkins confirmed late Saturday that Robert Gleason Jr. was "involved" in the death of 26-year-old Aaron Alexander Cooper, though Elkins refused to elaborate. Gleason, who was already serving a life term for murder before killing his cellmate last year, has not been charged in the death.
Cooper died Wednesday in the recreation yard for inmates housed in segregation at the maximum security Red Onion State Prison in southwestern Virginia. Elkins is awaiting a report from the medical examiner on Monday, but he said authorities believe Cooper was strangled.
Authorities are trying to figure out how it could have happened, because each inmate is placed in a separate, small caged-in area for recreation. Elkins said authorities believe Cooper was strangled with a piece of clothing, towel or bed sheet that was somehow reached through the chain link fence that separates the inmates on the recreation yard.
Elkins said he didn't know when charges might be filed against Gleason.
Gleason is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31 for killing his cellmate at Wallens Ridge State Prison last year. He fired his attorneys and pleaded guilty in May, telling prosecutors he would kill again if they didn't seek the death penalty in his case.
"I murdered that man cold-bloodedly. I planned it, and I'm gonna do it again," the 40-year-old Gleason told The Associated Press. "Someone needs to stop it. The only way to stop me is put me on death row."
Elkins said he may wait until after Gleason is sentenced to determine whether to charge him in Cooper's death. He was set to visit Red Onion Monday morning to review video surveillance of the incident.
"If he gets the death penalty I'm not really sure what we'll do," he said.
Death penalty cases are costly and time-consuming. Gleason has said he would not appeal his case if given the death penalty.
Gleason already was serving life for another murder when he killed 63-year-old Harvey Gray Watson Jr., a man with a history of mental illness who had been placed in Gleason's cell a week earlier.
Gleason said he begged correctional officers to move Watson, who he said sang, screamed profanities and masturbated in the 8-by-10-foot cell they shared for seven days. He said Watson also got inmates to give him cigarettes in exchange for drinking his urine or clabbered milk on the recreation yard.
On the eighth day — May 8, 2009 — correctional officers found Watson bound, gagged, beaten and strangled. His death went unnoticed for 15 hours because correctional officers had not followed proper procedure for inmate head counts at the high-security prison in southwestern Virginia.
Prison employees involved in that case have denied repeated requests for comment from the AP. Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor declined to discuss the situation, but said that two officers were disciplined and two others were fired. One of the fired officers was reinstated upon appeal.
Traylor said the department was investigating Cooper's death. He referred all questions regarding Gleason to the commonwealth's attorney.
Cooper was serving 34 years for crimes including carjacking and robbery.
Related info :
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction, which did not often include kidnapping of the driver, and concentrated on the theft of the load, rather than the vehicle itself. During the later day car theft crime[clarification needed], typically, the carjacker is armed, and the driver is forced out of the car with the threat of bodily injury. In other rarer cases, the driver is kidnapped under the assault by a weapon and is retained as a passenger under duress, or made to drive his or her abductor. Women are particularly victimized in this latter method. The word is a portmanteau of car and hijacking.
Treatments for Breast Cancer
Prevention is better than cure, it holds true for breast cancer. However there are methods to cure breast cancer, though great deal of time and money is involved in these treatments. There are four basic types of treatments that are used to cure breast treatments.
Surgery
Most of the cancer patients go through the surgery to remove the cancer cells. Cancer is developed in the lymph nodes, to verify the presence of cancer these cells are taken out and viewed under microscope. Breast conserving surgery is done to remove only the tissues that contain the cancer. There are two basic types of breast conserving surgeries. Lumpectomy, involves removing tumor and small tissues attached with it , therefore conserving the rest of the breast. Partial mastectomy involves removing the part of the breast having the tumor. This depends on the growth of the tumor and it location in the breasts.
However there are surgeries where whole breast is removed to prevent its growth to the rest part of the body. This surgery is termed as whole mastectomy. Even after the surgery patients are often given radiation therapy, hormone therapy or chemotherapy to kill the remaining cancer cells.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy makes use of strong x-rays or other radiations to kill the cancer cells. Type of radiation therapy is selected depending on the type and stage of the breast cancer. Normally two kinds of therapies are used, internal therapy and external therapy. In internal therapy, a radioactive substance is brought near the cancer, with the help of wire, catchers and seeds. However in case of external therapy, a machine placed outside the body of the patient is used to direct the radiation towards her breasts.
Chemotherapy
Drugs are used in chemotherapy to stop the growth of the cancer and to kill the cancer cells. This drug is either taken in form of medicine or injected into the blood directly or the muscle. The drugs move in the bloodstream to reach the cancer cells. Types of chemotherapy depend on the stage and type of the cancer. Chemotherapy can be placed in the part of the body directly where the cancer is present.
Hormone therapy
Hormones are produced by glands; some of them may enhance the growth of the cancer cells in the breasts. However by controlling the productivity of these hormones, cancer cells can be stopped from growing further. Estrogen is the kind of hormone which is produced bay ovaries and supports the growth of the cancer. Hormone therapy is used to reduce the production of estrogen.
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Colorectal cancer can take many years to develop and early detection of colorectal cancer greatly improves the chances of a cure. The National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine estimated in 2003 that even modest efforts to implement colorectal cancer screening methods would result in a 29 percent drop in cancer deaths in 20 years. Despite this, colorectal cancer screening rates remain low.[35] Therefore, screening for the disease is recommended in individuals who are at increased risk. There are several different tests available for this purpose.
- Digital rectal exam (DRE): The doctor inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum to feel for abnormal areas. It only detects tumors large enough to be felt in the distal part of the rectum but is useful as an initial screening test.
- Fecal occult blood test (FOBT): a test for blood in the stool. Two types of tests can be used for detecting occult blood in stools i.e. guaiac based (chemical test) and immunochemical. The sensitivity of immunochemical testing is superior to that of chemical testing without an unacceptable reduction in specifity.[36]
- Endoscopy:
- Sigmoidoscopy: A lighted probe (sigmoidoscope) is inserted into the rectum and lower colon to check for polyps and other abnormalities.
- Colonoscopy: A lighted probe called a colonoscope is inserted into the rectum and the entire colon to look for polyps and other abnormalities that may be caused by cancer. A colonoscopy has the advantage that if polyps are found during the procedure they can be immediately removed. Tissue can also be taken for biopsy.
In the United States, colonoscopy or FOBT plus sigmoidoscopy are the preferred screening options.
Thai PM considering curfew after 25 die in clashes
Thailand's leader warned violence was on the rise in Bangkok and hinted Sunday that a curfew may be imposed on the sprawling metropolis of more than 10 million people after three days of rolling street battles that have killed 25 people.
A towering column of black smoke rose over the city Sunday as protesters facing off with troops set fire to tires serving as a barricade. Elsewhere, they doused a police traffic post with gasoline and torched it.
Schools were ordered shut Monday due to the violence that has killed 25 people since a military operation began Thursday to seal off a 1-square-mile protest camp occupied for weeks by anti-government demonstrators demanding early elections.
Speaking on his weekly television program, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insisted that the military operation to quell protests was the answer in ending the country's two-month-long crisis.
"Overall, I insist the best way to prevent losses is to stop the protest. The protest creates conditions for violence to occur. We do realize at the moment that the role of armed groups is increasing each day," he said.
He said his deputy prime minister and the military were meeting to discuss a possible curfew. Abhisit said he had asked the education minister to postpone the beginning of a new school semester, due to begin Monday, for a week.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns of sustained, widespread chaos in Thailand — a key U.S. ally and Southeast Asia's most popular tourist destination that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles."
On Saturday, soldiers blocked major roads and pinned up notices of a "Live Firing Zone" in one area of Bangkok.
The protesters launched a steady stream of rudimentary missiles at troops who fired back with live ammunition in several areas around a key commercial district of Bangkok.
Army snipers were perched with high-powered rifles atop tall buildings, viewing the action below through telescopic sights. Thick black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by demonstrators as gunfire rang out.
Protesters dragged away the bodies of three people from sidewalks — shot by army snipers, they claimed.
The protesters have occupied a tire-and-bamboo-spike barricaded, 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) zone in one of the capital's ritziest areas, Rajprasong, for about two months to push their demands for Abhisit to resign immediately, dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
The violence ignited after the army started forming a cordon around the protesters' encampment and a sniper shot and gravely wounded a rogue general reputed to be the Red Shirts' military adviser.
At least 54 people have been killed and more than 1,600 wounded since the protests began mid-March, according to the government. The dead include 25 killed since Thursday.
The clashes are the most prolonged and deadliest bout of political violence that Thailand has faced in decades despite having a history of coups — 18 since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
The crisis had appeared to be near a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.
The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.
The Red Shirts, drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, say Abhisit's coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifferent to the poor.
The fighting is taking place in the no man's land between the encampment and the army cordon, a normally bustling area with hotels, businesses, embassies, shopping malls and apartments. Most of them are now shut and public transport is off the roads.
The army said its cordon has been effective, and the number of protesters at the encampment has dwindled by half. Water and power also were cut off to the area Thursday.
About 5,000 hard-core demonstrators held their ground under threat of military operations to oust them, down from about 10,000 days earlier, army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.
"If the protesters will not end the situation, we will have to enter the encampment," Sansern said.
The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area. Demonstrators accused army snipers of shooting all three in the head.
On Saturday, soldiers unrolled razor wire across roads leading to Ratchaprarop — a commercial district north of the main protest site — area and pinned up Thai and English-language notices saying "Live Firing Zone" and "Restricted Area. No Entry."
Ratchaprarop houses high-rise buildings, posh hotels and designer shops. It was the scene of some of the worst fighting Friday night between troops and anti-government protesters.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch on Saturday called on the Thai government to revoke the fire zones and negotiate an end to the fighting.
"By setting out these `live fire zones' the Thai authorities are on a slippery slope toward serious abuses. It's a small step for soldiers to think `live fire zone' means `free fire zone,' especially as violence escalates," the human rights watchdog said in a statement.
The Red Shirts especially despise the military, which had forced Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist premier favored by the Red Shirts, from office in a 2006 coup. Two subsequent pro-Thaksin governments were disbanded by court rulings before Abhisit became prime minister.
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The country's official name was Siam (Thai: สยาม RTGS: Sayam, pronounced [sàˈjǎːm]) until June 23, 1939,[12] when it was changed to Thailand. It was then renamed Siam from 1945 to May 11, 1949, after which it was again renamed Thailand. Also spelled Siem, Syâm or Syâma, it has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyâma (श्याम, meaning "dark" or "brown"). The names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word, and Śyâma is possibly not its origin but a learned and artificial distortion.[13]
The word Thai (ไทย) is not, as commonly believed, derived from the word Tai (ไท) meaning "freedom" in the Thai language; it is, however, the name of an ethnic group from the central plains (the Thai people).[citation needed] A famous Thai scholar argued that Tai (ไท) simply means "people" or "human being" since his investigation shows that in some rural areas the word "Tai" was used instead of the usual Thai word "khon" (คน) for people.[14] The phrase "Land of the free" is derived from Thai pride in the fact that Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia never colonized by a European power.
While the Thai people will often refer to their country using the polite form Prathet Thai (Thai: ประเทศไทย), they most commonly use the more colloquial word Mueang Thai (Thai: เมืองไทย) or simply Thai (Thai: ไทย); the word mueang (Thai: เมือง) meaning nation but most commonly used to refer to a city or town. Ratcha Anachak Thai (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย) means "Kingdom of Thailand" or "Kingdom of Thai".
Etymologically, its components are: -Ratcha- (from Sanskrit raja, meaning "king, royal, realm") ; -ana- (from Pāli āṇā, "authority, command, power", itself from Sanskrit ājñā, same meaning) -chak (from Sanskrit cakra or cakraṃ meaning "wheel", a symbol of power and rule). The Thai National Anthem (Thai: เพลงชาติ) refers to the Thai nation as: prathet-thai (Thai: ประเทศไทย). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai (Thai: ประเทศไทยรวมเลือดเนื้อชาติเชื้อไทย) and was translated in 1939 by Colonel Luang Saranuprabhandi as: “Thailand is the unity of Thai blood and body.”
Clashes in Kyrgyzstan kill 1, injure more than 60
Gunfire erupted in Kyrgyzstan on Friday as hundreds of interim government backers fought supporters of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for control over regional government buildings. At least one person was killed and more than 60 injured in the worst violence since last month's forceful government change.
The opponents exchanged gunshots, hurled stones and fought with sticks on a square in front of the regional government building in Jalal-Abad, the administrative center of a province in southwestern Kyrgyzstan.
Several hundred Bakiyev supporters, some armed with automatic rifles, had holed up in the building overnight after capturing it Thursday evening, but were driven out on Friday by backers of the interim government.
The interim government's backers also ejected a pro-Bakiyev crowd Friday from the regional government offices in Osh, the country's second-largest city about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Jalal-Abad. The two sides threw rock at one another, but no serious injuries were reported there.
Both cities are in southern Kyrgyzstan, the power base for Bakiyev, who was ousted April 7 amid clashes between government forces and protesters that left at least 85 people dead in the capital, Bishkek. Bakiyev fled to the ex-Soviet nation of Belarus.
Witnesses in Teyit, the village hosting Bakiyev's family compound, said about 500 pro-government supporters set fire to the deserted homes of Bakiyev's relatives. Farid Niyazov, a spokesman for interim authorities, confirmed to The Associated Press that three houses had been torched.
The prospect of further disturbances in Kyrgyzstan will cause alarm in Washington and Moscow, which both have military bases in the Central Asian nation.
The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek voiced concern about the unrest and urged parties to refrain from violence, while the Kremlin sent former Russian Security Council secretary Vladimir Rushailo as a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan.
In Moscow, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle to discuss coordinated efforts to help stability in Kyrgyzstan, the Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian Security Council current secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, said Moscow would not interfere as Kyrgyzstan's interim government was capable of restoring order, according to Russian news wires.
About 4,000 backers of the Ata-Meken party that supports the interim government had arrived Friday in Jalal-Abad to try to evict the occupiers, but many dispersed when gunfire broke out, leaving a crowd of several hundred.
Some men in the approaching mob returned fire, while others fought with sticks. At least 1 person died of wounds and more than 60 others were injured, including 32 with gunshot wounds, the Health Ministry said.
During a second wave of the gunfire exchange Friday afternoon, an Associated Press reporter saw one man hit by a bullet in the shoulder.
"The interim government has the situation under total control, with the exception of Jalal-Abad," General Prosecutor Azimbek Beknazarov said. "Within one day, we will settle the situation in Jalal-Abad."
There were no signs of disturbances in the capital, though about 400 Ata-Meken party supporters rallied in support of the interim government while others marched around Bishkek waving red flags, which they did before driving Bakiyev from power
Prosecutors also disclosed details of what they called a wiretapped telephone exchange between Bakiyev's former adviser Usen Sydykov and a lawmaker about organizing rallies in southern Kyrgyzstan.
The general prosecutor said Sydykov — seen as a behind-the-scenes power broker in Kyrgyzstan — is heard issuing instructions for the seizure of administrative buildings in Osh and Jalal-Abad.
Sydykov has been arrested for his involvement in the clashes, Beknazarov said, while militia groups have been formed across the country to prevent more riots by Bakiyev supporters.
The acting security services director, Keneshbek Duishebayev, accused members of Bakiyev's family, in particular his oldest son, Marat, of fomenting instability.
Speaking at an emergency government meeting, Duishebayev alleged that Marat Bakiyev, who was deputy head of the KGB successor agency until his father's ouster, was based in neighboring Kazakhstan and has provided $1 million to fund public disturbances.
Related information:
Kyrgyzstan (English pronunciation: /ˈkɜrɡɪstɑːn/; KUR-gi-stahn; Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан, IPA: [qɯrʁɯzstɑ́n]; Russian: Кыргызстан [kɨrɡɨsˈtan]), officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People's Republic of China to the east.
The ethnonym "Kyrgyz", after which the country is named, is thought to originally mean "forty tribes", presumably referring to the epic hero Manas who, as legend has it, unified forty tribes against the Khitans. The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan symbolizes the forty tribes of Manas.[6]It might also refer to “red”, the colour of the “south country” of the original Turkic nations.
Wild tiger kills Indonesian man
An Indonesian man was killed when a rare Sumatran tiger dragged him from a forest hut, broke his neck and shattered his skull before his friends could save him, a conservation official said Monday.
The victim, 25, died from his injuries after the attack on Sunday night at Berbak National Park in Jambi province, Sumatra island, provincial conservation agency head Didi Wuryanto told AFP.
"A Sumatran tiger went into the makeshift hut while they were asleep and dragged one of the men out. There was a struggle but the tiger managed to break the victim's neck and bit the back of his head, leaving a hole," he said.
"His friends heard screaming but when they got to him it was too late. The tiger was gone and their friend was dead."
Authorities are investigating why the men camped overnight in a forest where tigers are known to roam, he added.
Human-animal conflicts are a rising problem as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.
There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, according to conservationists, but Wuryanto said there were up to 30 human deaths attributed to tiger attacks last year.
Related information:
The Sumatran Tiger is the smallest of all surviving tiger subspecies. Male Sumatran tigers average 204 cm (6 feet, 8 inches) in length from head to tail and weigh about 136 kg (300 lb). Females average 198 cm (6 feet, 6 inches) in length and weigh about 91 kg (200 lb). Its stripes are narrower than other subspecies of tigers' stripes, and it has a more bearded and maned appearance, especially the males. Its small size makes it easier to move through dense rain forests. It has webbing between its toes that, when spread, makes Sumatran tigers very fast swimmers. It has been known to drive hoofed prey into the water, especially if the prey animal is a slow swimmer.
Sumatran Tigers commonly prey on larger ungulates, like Wild Boar, Malayan Tapir and deer, and sometimes also smaller animals, like fowl, monkeys, and fish. Orangutans could be prey, but since they spend a minimal amount of time on the ground, tigers rarely catch one.
Attackers kill 12 in latest Nigeria fighting
Attackers killed 12 people in a small Christian village in central Nigeria on Wednesday, and witnesses said some of the victims' tongues had been cut out in a region where religious fighting already has killed hundreds this year.
Raiders entered the village of Byie around 2 a.m., setting fire to homes and driving frightened residents into waiting attackers' machete blades, said Mark Lipdo, leader of a regional Christian nonprofit group. Ten adults and two children were slain, he said.
Three people were wounded in the overnight raid and taken to a local hospital, Lipdo said. He said attackers burned down 15 homes during the violence.
More than 200 people — mostly Christians — died last week in massacres in villages outside of the central Nigerian city of Jos. In January, more than 300 people, mostly Muslims, were slain.
Nigeria, a country of 150 million people, is almost evenly split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian south. The recent bloodshed has been happening in central Nigeria, in Nigeria's "middle belt," where dozens of ethnic groups vie for control of fertile lands.
The violence, though fractured across religious lines, often has more to do with local politics, economics and rights to grazing lands.
The latest killings add to the tally of thousands who already have perished in Africa's most populous country in the last decade over religious and political frictions. Rioting in September 2001 killed more than 1,000 people. Muslim-Christian battles killed up to 700 people in 2004. More than 300 residents died during a similar uprising in 2008.
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The Nok people of central Nigeria produced the earliest terracotta sculptures ever to be found in the country.[9] A Nok sculpture resident at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, portrays a sitting dignitary wearing a "Shepherds Crook" on the right arm, and a "hinged flail" on the left. These are symbols of authority associated with ancient Egyptian pharaohs, and the god Osiris, and suggests that an ancient Egyptian style of social structure, and perhaps religion, existed in the area of modern Nigeria during the late Pharonic period.[10]
In the northern part of the country, Kano and Katsina had recorded history dateing back to around 999. Hausa kingdoms and the Kanem-Bornu Empire prospered as trade posts between North and West Africa. At the beginning of the 19th century under Usman dan Fodio the Fulani leaded the centralized Fulani Empire which continued until 1903 when the Fulani population and land were divided into various European colonies. Between 1750 and 1900, between one to two-thirds of the entire population of the Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves.[11]
The Yoruba kingdoms of Ifẹ and Oyo in the southwestern block of Nigeria became prominent around 700—900 and 1400 respectively. However, Yoruba mythology states that Ile-Ife is the source of the human race and that it predates any other civilization. Ifẹ also produced terra cotta and bronze figures and Ọyọ once extended from western Nigeria to Togo. Arguably the most powerful and prominent kingdom in the whole of Nigeria's history was also located in southwestern Nigeria, the Kingdom of Benin. Benin's power lasted between the 15th and 19th century. Their dominance reached as far as the city of Eko (a Bini name later changed to Lagos by the Portuguese) and further.[12]
In southeastern Nigeria the Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo people flourished from the controversial date of around the 10th century until 1911, making it the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Nri Kingdom was ruled by the Eze Nri. The city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture. Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umeuri clan, who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure, Eri.
Pakistani officials: Suspected US missile kills 9
An apparent U.S. missile attack destroyed a suspected militant compound in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, intelligence officials said.
It was not immediately clear who was targeted in the strike, in the Datta Khel region of North Waziristan, said the two officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. An unknown number of people were injured.
The area is the home of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a powerful warlord whose fighters are battling U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The CIA has stepped up missile strikes on militant positions in Pakistan's tribal regions since December, when a suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan publicly criticizes the U.S. missile attacks, saying they violate its sovereignty and fuel more anti-Americanism among the population, but Islamabad is widely believed to be sharing intelligence with the Americans on at least some of the strikes.
Washington refuses to publicly discuss the program, which uses unmanned drones, but Pakistani intelligence and government officials say privately the attacks have killed several senior al-Qaida and Taliban commanders in recent years.
Meanwhile, in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, police on Tuesday uncovered the second major weapons cache in as many days. Police, searching a fruit market warehouse, found 4,400 pounds (2,000 kilograms) of explosives, three suicide jackets and four machine guns.
A day earlier, police had discovered a weapons stash that included suicide jackets and more than 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms) of explosives. They were hidden inside an unused shop elsewhere in the city.
Lahore has been battered by a string of explosions in recent days. On Friday, two suicide bombers targeting soldiers on patrol killed 55 people and injured about 100 more in coordinated explosions.
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A missile is a self-propelled projectile used as a weapon. Missiles are typically propelled by rockets or jet engines. Missiles generally have one or more explosive warheads, although other weapon types may also be used.
Taliban claim blasts that kill 13 Westerners
The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for two separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan that killed eight Americans, five Canadians and an Afghan in a surge of violence in the war-battered country. A U.S. congressional official said CIA employees were believed to be among the victims of a suicide blast at an American base in the volatile east.
The explosion at the Forward Operating Base Chapman base in Khost province on Wednesday killed eight American civilians and one Afghan, the worst loss of life for the U.S. in the country since October.
Separately, four Canadian soldiers and a journalist imbedded in their unit were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in the southern Kandahar province, the bloodiest single incident suffered by that country's military in 2009.
Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old health reporter with the Calgary Herald, was the first Canadian journalist to die in Afghanistan. She arrived in the country just two weeks ago.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks in messages to The Associated Press.
Also Thursday, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand province in the south said an airstrike by international forces killed and wounded civilians. Dawud Ahmadi said he did not have immediate information on how many were killed in the Wednesday incident in Babajid district, which he said occurred after an international forces patrol came under fire.
NATO said it was aware of the reports and was investigating. Claims of civilians killed by foreign forces are a highly emotional issue among Afghans and feed strong resentment of international soldiers.
It was not immediately clear how the suicide bomber at the American base at the edge of Khost city was able to circumvent security.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that an Afghan National Army officer wearing a suicide vest entered the Khost base Wednesday and blew himself up inside the gym. A U.S. official who was briefed on the blast also said it took place in the gym.
Khost is the capital of Khost province, which borders Pakistan and is a Taliban stronghold.
The U.S. official said eight American civilians and one Afghan were killed; it was not clear if the Afghan victim was military or civilian. Six Americans were wounded, the official said. The CIA has not yet commented on or confirmed the deaths.
There was no independent confirmation that the bomber was a member of the Afghan military. Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said no Afghan National Army soldiers are at the base.
But an Afghan official in Khost said about 200 Afghans have been contracted by the U.S. to take care of security at the base. They are usually deployed on the outer ring of its walls, although some work inside, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"It's not the first time that Afghan forces have conducted such an attack to kill Americans or foreigners," the Taliban statement said, citing the killing of an American soldier and the wounding of two Italians this week in Badghis province. NATO has provided no details of that incident, but Afghan Gen. Jalander Shah Bahnam said an Afghan soldier opened fire on a base in the province's Bala Murghab district.
The congressional official in Washington said it was not clear how many of the victims in Khost were assigned to the CIA.
A former senior CIA officer who was stationed at the base said a combination of agency officers and contractors operated out of the remote outpost with the military and other agencies.
All the U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
NATO said only that the base is used by provincial reconstruction teams, which consist of both soldiers and civilians, and other personnel.
A spokesman in Kabul for the international coalition force said no U.S. or NATO troops were killed in the explosion. The attack was the bloodiest for Americans since eight soldiers were killed in an insurgent attack on a base in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 3.
In the south, NATO said the four Canadian troops and the reporter died when their armored vehicle hit a bomb while on an afternoon patrol south of Kandahar city. It was the third-deadliest day for Canadians in Afghanistan since the war began.
Lang "was one of those journalists who always wanted to get to the bottom of every story so this was an important trip for her," said a Calgary Herald colleague, Colette Derworiz.
The military has not disclosed the names of the Canadian troops because relatives have not all been notified.
Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard, commander of coalition forces in Kandahar, said the soldiers were conducting a community security patrol.
Wednesday's attack was the second lethal strike against Canadian forces in a week. One Canadian soldier and an Afghan soldier were killed Dec. 23 during a foot patrol in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province. According to figures compiled by The Associated Press, the latest casualties bring to 32 the number of Canadian forces killed in Afghanistan this year; in all, 138 have died in the war.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement of condolence to Americans and Canadians, saying "your children sacrificed their lives for the people of Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism. The Afghans will not forget your sacrifice."
