International

Woman trapped for five days under quake rubble, rescued in Nepal

RESCUERS on Thursday (April 30), pulled free a woman who had been trapped under a collapsed building for five days following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which devastated the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal. Krishna Devi Kadkha, who is in her late twenties, was working as a maid in a Kathmandu hostel when the quake struck. She spent five days trapped under the rubble with three bodies, including that of her uncle. The alarm was raised by 14 […]

Earthquake survivor rescued from collapsed building alive

APRIL 30 (Reuters) — Fifteen-year old earthquake survivor, Pema Lama, was rescued in Kathmandu on Thursday (April 30), six days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. He was found amongst the rubble of the collapsed Hilton Hotel, and quickly extricated by Nepal’s Armed Police Force. As the death toll on Thursday neared 5,500, rescue teams toiled in pouring rain in the debris left by Saturday’s (April 25) deadly quake, as officials said the chance of […]

Many quake survivors still stranded in Nepal’s mountainous regions

APRIL 30 (Reuters) — Many survivors of the Nepal earthquake were still waiting to be evacuated from rural mountainous regions on Thursday (April 30), as the United Nations said relief efforts need to be scaled up. Local Nepalese television broadcast footage on Thursday (April 30) showed hundreds of survivors of the Nepal earthquake desperately trying to board a helicopter. Reuters cannot independently identify the locations or confirm the dates the video was filmed. More than […]

Candlelight vigil held in Mumbai for Nepal quake victims

APRIL 30 (Reuters) — Students in India’s financial capital Mumbai held a candlelight vigil on Wednesday (April 29) to express their solidarity with the people of Nepal, hit by the worst earthquake in 81 years. A powerful earthquake with the 7.9 magnitude quake hit Nepal at midday on Saturday (April 25) followed by several aftershocks, killing over 5,006 people and injuring 10,000 others. The government has yet to fully assess the devastation wrought by quake, […]

Brazil says execution of Brazilian in Indonesia complicates relations

THE Brazilian government on Tuesday (April 28) said it received with “profound consternation” the news that a Brazilian citizen had been executed in Indonesia along with eight other mostly international prisoners earlier in the day. The government also said this event compounded with the execution by firing squad of the Brazilian national Rodrigo Gularte earlier this year combined to create a “serious issue” as far as relations between Brazil and the southeast Asian country. “The Brazilian […]

Ambulances carrying bodies of executed drug convicts leave Indonesian prison island

APRIL 29 (Reuters) — Ambulances carrying the remains of executed drug convicts left the Indonesian prison island of Nusakambangan on Wednesday (April 29). The eight people, including nationals of Australia, Nigeria, Brazil and Indonesia, were executed by firing squad after midnight. But a Filipina who was on the same execution list was not executed as part of the group. A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said it had delayed the execution of Mary Jane […]

Austria, backed by 159 nations, calls for ban on nuclear weapons

AUSTRIA on Tuesday (April 28) called for banning nuclear weapons because of their catastrophic humanitarian effects, an initiative it said now has the backing of 159 countries. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz was speaking at the five-year review conference of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “The only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons will never be used again is through their total elimination,” Kurz told the 191 parties to the treaty, the world’s benchmark arms […]

Australia recalls ambassador to Indonesia after executions

APRIL 29 (Reuters) — Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday (April 29) he was recalling the nation’s ambassador to Indonesia in protest against the execution of two Australian drug smugglers. Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were executed by firing squad along with six other drug convicts from several countries shortly after midnight on Wednesday, local media said. “These executions are both cruel and unnecessary. Cruel because both Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran spent some […]

Nepal quake death toll could reach 10,000 says Prime Minister; Kathmandu residents flee quake-hit city

MANY residents of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu tried to leave the city on Tuesday (April 28) amid continuous tremors and after losing their homes in the weekend quake. People tried to get out of the city by every possible means. The surging demand has led transport prices to shoot up drastically. “We are not getting tickets in any vehicles. All the operators say whenever the vehicle moves, we’ll place you in that. They want 2,000 to […]

Families of nine facing death row emotional as midnight execution by firing squad set

NINE drug traffickers held emotional farewell meetings with their families at an Indonesian prison on Tuesday, after Jakarta rejected last-ditch pleas from around the world for clemency and ordered their mass execution to proceed within hours. “I won’t see him again,” said Raji Sukumaran, the mother of an Australian who will go before a firing squad along with a fellow countryman and convicts from Nigeria, Brazil, the Philippines and Indonesia. “They’re going to take him […]

State of emergency in Baltimore after riots

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard late on Monday (April 27) as firefighters battled blazes set by looters. Baltimore erupted in violence as hundreds of rioters looted stores, burned buildings and injured at least 15 police officers following the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died after he was injured in police custody. The riots broke out just a few blocks from the funeral of Freddie Gray […]

Activists gather at Indonesian embassy in Manila in a last-minute appeal for clemency for Veloso

Activists and supporters gathered outside the Indonesian Embassy in Manila on Tuesday (April 28) in a last-minute appeal for clemency for a Filipina facing execution. Filipina migrant Mary Jane Veloso, a mother of two children, was arrested with 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Yogyakarta Airport in 2010. Hundreds of supporters marched to the embassy gate, carrying placards and banners urging Indonesia to stop the executions. “We’re very sad, we’re very outraged that the execution is […]