Heavy rain pummels flooded Philippines, 7 dead

Flood-battered residents of The Philippine capital fled their homes or sat on rooftops today as relentless monsoon rains, which have killed seven people, submerged more than half of Manila.

Streets turned into rivers with water above two-metres (seven feet) in some parts of the megacity of 12 million people, displacing more than 130,000 people and forcing countless others to wait out the storm in or on their flooded homes.

"We have had nothing to eat, nothing to wear. A few people went to houses on higher ground, but most of us had nowhere to go," Dinah Claire Velasco, 44, a resident of a blue-collar coastal district on the outskirts of Manila told AFP.

"My children and other people were able to seek refuge on the second floor of my house but a lot of others had to just sit on their roofs... We're waiting for rescue, for help, even just food."

Philippine airforce aerial view of houses and factories submerged in floodwaters in Laguna province, south of Manila yesterday. Heavy rain in the Philippine capital brought by monsoon rain, intensified by Tropical storm Trami, forced the closure of government offices, schools, banks and most private companies yesterday, and residents in parts of the city and nearby provinces had to flee from their homes because of floods. At least three people were killed and two were missing in accidents caused by the rain and flooding, disaster and government officials said.

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US man held after “Facebook murder” of wife

A US man was being quizzed by police yesterday after gunning down his wife and posting a gruesome picture of her dead body on Facebook, authorities said.

Derek Medina, 31, was being questioned by detectives in Miami after turning himself in earlier yesterday following the shooting death of wife Jennifer Alfonso, 26.

In a macabre twist, Medina had apparently posted a picture showing his slain wife's blood-soaked body on Facebook, under the caption "RIP Jennifer Alfonso," before giving himself up.

In a status update posted shortly before the photo was uploaded, Medina wrote: "You will see me in the news."

Screenshot from Derek Medina's Facebook profile showing the posted photo of the body of his wife, Jennifer Alonso (blurred). - The Malaysian Insider pic from Facebook, August 9, 2013.

 

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Indian school head arrested over mass poisoning

Police yesterday arrested the head of a school in eastern India where 23 children died after eating a free meal laced with a lethal pesticide, an officer said.

The children, aged four to 12, fell ill within minutes of eating the lunch of lentils, potatoes and rice cooked at their primary school in a poverty-stricken village in Bihar state on July 16.

"The principal surrendered... and we have arrested her for questioning," said Sujeet Kumar, police chief of Saran district where the incident occurred.

"We need to talk to her first before framing charges," the official said by telephone.

Police have been searching for the teacher, Meena Devi, who apparently fled shortly after the tragedy in Gandaman village, which also left some 30 children ill in hospital and sparked angry street protests.

Saran district administrator Abhijit Sinha told AFP that the teacher was key to resolving the issue of just how the deadly chemicals ended up in the food.

Indian villagers carry the dead body of a child who died of food poisoning, after consuming a midday meal served in a government primary school, at the school in the state of Bihar in Saran district on July 18, 2013. - AFP

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Death toll from Spanish rail disaster rises to 77

At least 77 people died and 143 were injured when a train hurtled off the tracks along a high-speed line in northwest Spain yesterday, a regional court spokesman said, increasing an earlier toll.

Four carriages overturned in the smash, smoke billowing from the wreckage, as bodies were lain out under blankets along the tracks.

The wagons piled into each other and folded up like an accordion. One was ripped apart by the force of the crash, one of its ends pushed up into the air.

Disaster struck at 8:42 pm (1:42am, Malaysian time) as the train carrying 218 passengers and four staff was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia.

Rescue workers help a victim of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain yesterday. At least 69 people died after a train derailed in the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, the head of Spain's Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told Television de Galicia yesterday.v


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Court again defers verdict in Delhi gang-rape case

An Indian court trying a teenager over the fatal gang-rape of a student last December on a bus in the capital delayed announcing the first verdict in the case today, lawyers said.

The juvenile court has finished hearing the case of the teenager, who was aged 17 at the time of the deadly assault which shocked India and sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests.

The verdict had been deferred from July 11 to July 25 and was again delayed today by principal magistrate Geetanjli Goel to August 5 because of a legal challenge.

"The reason is because there is a case pending in the Supreme Court," defence lawyer Rajesh Tiwari told reporters outside.

Politician Subramanian Swamy, the head of the Janata Party, has filed a petition arguing that suspects aged over 16 who are accused of serious offences should be tried in adult courts.

The crime, which saw the 23-year-old victim die of internal injuries inflicted during the savage attack on a moving bus, generated widespread anger about endemic sex crime in India.

Indian policemen escort the juvenile accused (C, in pink towel) in the December 2012 gang-rape of a student, into a police truck outside the juvenile court in New Delhi today. An Indian court was scheduled to deliver today the first verdict on one of five suspects on trial over the deadly gang-rape of a student in December which shocked the nation and sparked mass protests.

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Spain declares three days of mourning over rail crash

Spain will observe three days of mourning for the victims of a train crash that killed at least 78 passengers and injured more than 140, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said today.

"Today I will sign a decree declaring three days of official mourning in all of Spain," he told reporters in his hometown of Santiago de Compostela where the disaster occurred yesterday.

"I want to express on the behalf of myself and the Spanish government my condolences to all the families of the people who have died, of which unfortunately there are too many."

Rajoy was accompanied by the president of the region of Galicia, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who had already declared seven days of mourning within the region.

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Pilots in Asiana crash relied on automatic equipment for airspeed

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A British Airways Oneworld jumbo jet lands near the charred remains of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on the runway at San Francisco Airport International Airport in San Francisco, California July 9, 2013. The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Seoul, South Korea broke apart and burned after crash-landing short of the runway on Saturday.


The pilots aboard the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed in San Francisco relied on automatic equipment - an auto-throttle system - to maintain airspeed and did not realize the plane was flying too slowly until it was just 200 feet (60 meters) above the ground, the head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday.

In her third detailed briefing on Saturday's crash that killed two Chinese passengers and injured more than 180 other people, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman also said two flight attendants were ejected from the plane after its tail hit a seawall in front of the runway and was torn off. Both were found injured but alive on the side of the runway.

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Scramble to reach Indonesia quake survivors as toll hits 22

Rescuers battled today to reach survivors from an earthquake in Indonesia's Aceh province that has killed at least 22 people, including several children who died when a mosque collapsed.

More than 200 people were also injured in Aceh's mountainous interior when the strong 6.1-magnitude quake struck yesterday, flattening buildings and triggering landslides.

The quake, which struck at a shallow depth of just 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), has sparked panic in the natural disaster-prone region where more than 170,000 people were killed by the quake-triggered tsunami of 2004.

In Blang Mancung village, Central Aceh district, at least six children were killed and 14 trapped when a mosque collapsed during a Koran reading session.

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Circus worker danced on dying elephant in horrifying animal cruelty moment

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Horrifying moment a circus worker DANCED on the body of a dying elephant after it collapsed while bathing in a river

A shocking video was filmed by horrified bystanders in Estonia
The film shows Madi - a 48-year-old Indian elephant - slowly drowning
She was on tour as part of Germany's Universal Circus Renz

A shocking video has emerged of a circus worker dancing on the back of a dying elephant while it bathes in a river.

The film shows Madi - a 48-year-old Indian elephant - slowly drowning as the circus owner's brother jumps around on her in a pair of swimming shorts as she sinks under the surface.

Horrified witnesses made the 40 minute video when Madi - from Germany's Universal Circus Renz - was taken to a river to bath during a tour of Estonia.

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Woman driver kills her husband AND herself in freak car parking accident

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Woman driver kills her husband AND herself in freak car parking accident as she practiced reversing with six-year-old daughter in car

The mother was being directed by her husband when the tragedy happened
Accident happened in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China
Newly-qualified driver was practicing reverse manoeuvre in her car

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Woman killed by runaway supermarket trolley

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Woman killed by runaway supermarket trolley which sped down an escalator at Chinese store

The accident happened on Friday morning in Shanghai
The 60-year-old died from horrific injuries after being hit by the metal trolley
Two men had loaded a trolley of their own with 15 crates of drinks


A horrific video has emerged of a grandmother being killed by a runaway supermarket trolley.

The accident, which was caught on CCTV, happened on Friday morning at Lianhua supermarket in Shanghai.

The 60-year-old, who was shopping alone, died from horrific injuries after being hit by the metal trolley at the Chinese store.The terrifying footage has been picked up by Chinese media and posted on YouTube.








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Stunt performer, pilot killed in Ohio air show crash

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A woman performing a wing-walking stunt and her pilot were killed on Saturday when their biplane crashed and burst into flames while doing aerobatics at an air show in Ohio, organizers of the event said.

Veteran stuntwoman Jane Wicker and her pilot, Charlie Schwenker, died when their Boeing Stearman crashed around 1pm EDT (1am, Malaysian time) at the Vectren Dayton Air Show in Dayton.

Video footage of the incident replayed on television and the Internet showed that at the time of the crash, the duo appeared to have been executing a stunt in which the vintage plane flips as Wicker is out on one of its wings.

Rapist and murderer pictured walking to the gallows to face execution in Kuwaiti car park

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Egyptians Ahmad Abdulsalam al-Baili and Hajjaj Saadi executed in Kuwait
Saadi raped 18 young children while Baili killed couple in arson attack
Country restarted executions this year after 12-year moratorium

These haunting images show the last moments of two condemned criminals immediately before they were executed in Kuwait for crimes which have shocked the nation.

Ahmad Abdulsalam al-Baili and Hajjaj Saadi were both hanged today on a gallows set up in a car park outside the country's main prison.

Saadi, 33, was executed for abducting and raping 18 young children, while Baili had been convicted of murdering an Asian couple.



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India monsoon floods leave 138 dead

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Military helicopters dropped emergency supplies Wednesday to thousands of tourists and pilgrims stranded by flash floods that tore through towns and temples in northern India, killing at least 138 people, officials said. Thousands of people have already been evacuated after floods and landslides caused by early monsoon rains wrought devastation through the region in the Himalayan foothills, they said. "As of now we know that over 65,000 people are stranded," Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters in New Delhi. "We are committed to rescuing everyone now that the rains have stopped," the minister said, adding that the army has evacuated 5,000 people cut off by the downpour. Torrential rains at least three times as heavy as usual have hit the state of Uttarakhand, often called the "Land of the Gods," where Hindu shrines and temples built high in the mountains attract many pilgrims. 

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