Around the world
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tuesDAY, may 26, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com
Massive heat wave Malaysia finds 139 graves in trafficking camps in India kills 500 M
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t least 500 people are reported to have died in a heat wave that is sweeping India, with temperatures reaching 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in some areas. Most deaths have taken place in the southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Heat wave conditions have been prevailing in the two worst affected southern Indian states since midApril, but most of the deaths have happened in the past week; the worst hit state has been Andhra Pradesh with 246 deaths. Authorities have urged people to stay indoors and drink plenty of fluids. The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said the heat wave had killed 186 people in 10 districts in neighbouring Telangana state, with 58 people dying since Saturday. The state
of Rajasthan has also recorded several deaths due to the heat, including a woman who collapsed and died on a roadside in Bundi city. Reports said at least 10 people have also died of the heat in the eastern state of West Bengal. Non air-conditioned taxis will be taken off the road for five hours during the day in the main city in the state capital, Kolkata, after two drivers died from heat stroke. The meteorological department said the sweltering conditions were likely to continue for a few more days. “No relief” is expected in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and other northern states for the next four days, and the “heat wave will continue,” an official said. Meteorological officials said the heat wave was due to a lack of rain. (Excerpt
from BBC News)
Deal to end Nigeria fuel crisis
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igeria’s fuel wholesalers say they have reached a deal with the Government that should soon see the end of the crippling fuel crisis. The agreement was reached after talks with the Finance Minister Danladi Fasali from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association told the BBC. The wholesalers stopped distributing fuel after alleging the Government owed them US$1 billion. The shortage has had an impact on the country’s aviation and banking sectors. The party of Presidentelect Muhammadu Buhari, who is due to take office on Friday, had accused the outgoing Government of “sabotage” for failing to deal with the crisis. At the heart of
the shortage was a row over the payment to wholesalers of the difference between the subsidised pump price and the international market price. The wholesalers said they were waiting for a US$1 billion payout from the Government before they released more fuel. But now the marketers association has told its members to start transporting fuel from the depots in the commercial capital, Lagos, and fuel stations have been instructed to reopen, Fasali told the BBC Hausa Service. A committee will now be set up to verify the US$1 billion figure and then pay the outstanding money. The Government has not yet confirmed the details. (Excerpt from BBC
News)
Taiwan’s President to propose peace plan for South China Sea
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aiwan’s President is scheduled to propose a peace initiative today to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea that have put Beijing at odds with its neighbours and the United States (US), the official Central News Agency reported. It said President Ma Ying-jeou’s plan will be along the lines of his 2012 proposal for the East China Sea, which called on claimants to temporarily shelve their disagreements to enable negotiations on resource sharing. Taiwan has so far played a marginal role in tackling the series of disputes between China and its neighbours in the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Under this plan, to be presented in a speech to a law forum, it will “actively
participate in the relevant mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation to actively safeguard regional peace and development,” the news agency said. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. China said on Monday it had lodged a complaint with the United States over a US spy plane that flew over parts of the sea. The rival claims by Taiwan and China go back to before they split in a civil war in 1949 after the defeated Nationalists fled to the island from the Communists. Ma is scheduled to give the keynote address at a forum sponsored by the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law at around 01:20GMT. (Reuters)
alaysia has found 139 graves, and signs of torture, in more than two dozen squalid human trafficking camps suspected to have been used by gangs smuggling migrants across the border with Thailand, the country’s Police Chief said on Monday. The dense jungles of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia have been a major stop off point for smugglers bringing people to Southeast Asia by boat from Myanmar and Bangladesh. “It’s a very sad scene. To us, even one is serious and we have found 139 (graves),” Malaysia’s Inspector General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar, told reporters in the northern state of Perlis. “We are working closely with our counterparts in Thailand. We will find the people who did this.” The grisly find follows the discovery of similar shallow graves on the Thai side of the border earlier this month, which helped trigger a regional crisis. After a
Police and volunteers uncovering the 139 graves
crackdown on the camps by Thai authorities, traffickers abandoned thousands of migrants in rickety boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. “We were shocked by the cruelty,” said Khalid, describing conditions at the 28 abandoned camps. Pictures
of the camps showed basic wooden huts built in forest clearings. Khalid said bullet casings were found in the vicinity and added there were signs that torture had been used. Metal chains were found near some graves. The first decomposed body was brought down to
a Police camp set up at the foot of the mountains where the camps were found on Monday evening. “The body was only bones and little bit of clothing on it,” said an Officer of Padang Besar Police Department, adding that the cause of death was not immediately apparent.
(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)