18-03-2019

INTERNATIONAL MONdAy,
MARCH 18, 2019
7
In this photo provided by National Search and Rescue Agency, or BASARNAS, the agency's
personnel and police carry the body of flood victim at Sentani, Papua Province, Indonesia, Sunday,
March 17, 2019. Flash flood and mudslides triggered by days of torrential downpours tore through
mountainside villages in Indonesia's easternmost province, killing dozens of people, disaster
officials said Sunday.
Photo : AP
Flash floods, slides in eastern
Indonesia kill at least 58
Flash floods and mudslides triggered
by days of torrential downpours tore
through mountainside villages in
Indonesia's easternmost province,
killing at least 58 people and leaving
thousands homeless, disaster officials
said Sunday, reports UNB.
Rescuers recovered more bodies as
floodwaters and landslides destroyed
roads and bridges in several areas of
Papua province's Jayapura district,
hampering rescue efforts, said Sutopo
Purwo Nugroho, the National Disaster
Mitigation Agency spokesman.
The dead included three children who
drowned after the floods began just
after midnight Saturday.
France cleans up
Champs-Elysees
after yellow vest
rioting
Paris cleaned up one of the
world's most glamorous
avenues Saturday after
resurgent rioting by yellow
vest protesters angry at
President Emmanuel
Macron stunned the nation,
reports UNB.
Luxury stores, restaurants
and banks on the Champs-
Elysees assessed damage
Sunday after they were ransacked
or blackened by lifethreatening
fires. Tourists
took pictures as shop owners
tried to repair broken
windows and city workers
scrubbed away graffiti,
much of it targeting
Macron.
The renewed violence by a
movement that had been
fizzling in recent weeks was
a wakeup call to a president
seen as favoring the elite.
Macron promised a crackdown
on troublemakers he
said "want to destroy the
republic, at the risk of killing
people." But he also tweeted
that the rioting showed that
his government needs to do
more to address protesters'
concerns.
Macron cut short a weekend
ski trip to meet Saturday
night with security officials
at the crisis center
overseeing the police
response.
On the Champs-Elysees,
an eerie calm replaced the
hours-long chaos of the day
before on the street that
Parisians call "the most
beautiful avenue in the
world."
No police were visible
Sunday, and traffic rolled
down cobblestones that had
been the scene of battles
between rioters and police
struggling to contain them.
In the midst of Saturday's
violence, firefighters said
that a mother and her child
were barely saved from a
building set ablaze because
it housed a bank on the
ground floor. Smoke from
fires set by protesters mingled
with clouds of tear gas
sprayed by police.
Nugroho said 58 bodies had been
pulled from the mud and wreckage of
crumpled homes by Sunday. Another
74 people were hospitalized, many with
broken bones and head wounds.
Nugroho said the number of dead and
injured will likely increase since many
affected areas have not been reached.
"We are overwhelmed by too many
injuries," said Haerul Lee, the head of
the Jayapura health office, adding that
some medical facilities had been hit by
power outages. "We can't handle it
alone."
Papua's provincial administration has
declared a two-week emergency in
order to get assistance from the central
government. Papua military
spokesman Col. Muhammad Aidi said
rescuers managed to save two injured
infants who had been trapped for more
than six hours. The parents of one of
the babies were washed away and died.
Worst hit was Sentani subdistrict,
where a landslide early Sunday was followed
minutes later by a river that
burst its banks, sweeping away residents
in a fast-moving deluge of water,
heavy logs and debris, said the local disaster
mitigation agency head, Martono.
Martono, who goes by a single name,
said rescuers have been evacuating
more than 4,000 to temporary shelters
as more than 300 houses damaged.
Taliban kill 22 Afghan
forces in attack on
checkpoints
A overnight Taliban assault on checkpoints
in northern Afghanistan killed 22 troops,
after some 100 Afghan forces fled a similar
assault in the country's west last week and
tried to cross into neighboring Turkmenistan,
officials said Sunday, reports
UNB.
The two battles mark the latest setbacks for
the country's battered security forces, who
come under daily attack by the insurgents
and have suffered staggering casualties in
recent years. The attacks have continued
even as the Taliban have been holding direct
negotiations with the United States aimed at
ending the 17-year war.
Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, head of
provincial council in the northern Faryab
province, said the insurgents launched the
attack late Saturday against checkpoints
manned by police and pro-government militias,
setting off a fierce gunbattle that lasted
into Sunday morning. The army sent in reinforcements,
who were among those killed.
He said another 20 Afghan forces were
wounded in the attack.
Last week, around 100 Afghan soldiers in
the western Badghis province fled their posts
and tried to cross the border during a weeklong
battle with the Taliban, officials said
Sunday.
Mohammad Naser Nazari, a provincial
council member in Badghis, said the soldiers
weren't allowed to cross the border and their
fate remains unknown. The Taliban have
posted pictures of captured soldiers on social
media.
Jamshid Shahabi, the provincial governor's
spokesman, said 16 soldiers have been
killed and 20 wounded during the ongoing
battle in the Bala Murghab district, in which
the military carried out airstrikes and dispatched
reinforcements. He said a number
of soldiers tried to flee, without providing an
exact figure.
In this Oct. 31, 2018, photo, Afghan National Army soldiers carry out an
exercise during a live firing at the Afghan Military Academy in Kabul,
Afghanistan. Afghan officials say around 100 soldiers fled their posts and tried
to cross into neighboring Turkmenistan during a weeklong battle with the
Taliban, in the latest setback for the country's battered security forces.
Mohammad Naser Nazari, a provincial council member in the western
Badghis province, said Sunday, March 17, 2019, that the soldiers were not
allowed to cross the border and their fate remains unknown. Photo : AP
Ethiopians hold mass
funeral ceremony for
crash victims
Thousands mourned the
Ethiopian plane crash victims
on Sunday, accompanying
17 empty caskets
draped in the national flag
through the streets of the
capital as some victims' relatives
fainted and fell to the
ground, reports UNB.
The service came one day
after officials began delivering
bags of earth to family
members of the 157 victims
of the crash instead of the
remains of their loved ones
because the identification
process is expected to take
such a long time.
Family members confirmed
they were given a 1
kilogram (2.2 pound) sack of
scorched earth taken from
the crash site. Many relatives
already have gathered at the
rural, dusty crash site outside
Ethiopia's capital. The
victims Ethiopian Airlines
Flight 302 came from 35
countries and included
many humanitarian workers
headed to Nairobi.
Elias Bilew said he had
worked with one of the victims,
Sintayehu Shafi, for the
past eight years.
"He was such a good person,"
Bilew said. "He doesn't
deserve this. He was the pillar
for his whole family."
As friends and families
grieved, investigators in
Paris continued their work
on the planes' black boxes.
They had been sent to
France because the French
air accident investigation
agency BEA has extensive
expertise in analyzing such
devices. Experts from the
U.S. National Transportation
Safety Board and the
plane's manufacturer Boeing
are among those
involved in the investigation.
The U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration has said
satellite-based tracking data
shows that the movements
of Ethiopian Airlines Flight
302 were similar to those of
Lion Air Flight 610, which
crashed off Indonesia in
October, killing 189 people.
Both involved Boeing 737
Max 8 planes.
The planes in both crashes
flew with erratic altitude
changes that could indicate
the pilots struggled to control
the aircraft.
Australian premier
sides with egger against
egged senator
Australia's prime minister
has suggested an anti-Muslim
senator should be
charged after he hit a teen
who cracked a raw egg over
the legislator's head, reports
UNB..
Sen. Fraser Anning has
been widely condemned for
blaming Muslim immigration
for racist attacks on two
New Zealand mosque that
claimed at least 50 lives.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison
on Sunday took the
side of the egger, telling
reporters: "The full force of
the law should be applied to
Sen. Anning." Police allege
the boy assaulted the senator
with the egg. The boy's
name has not been made
public.Police also said
Anning "retaliated and
struck the teen twice."
4 Jordanians killed in
New Zealand terrorist
attacks
Jordanian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said on Saturday
that the number of Jordanians
killed in mass shootings
at two mosques in New
Zealand rose to four after
two of the injured succumbed
to their wounds,
reports UNB.
The other five injured people
are still receiving treatment
and the ministry dispatched
a diplomat to follow
up their conditions, the ministry
said in a statement, a
copy of which was obtained
by Xinhua.
At least 49 were killed and
48 others were wounded on
Friday in the attacks in New
Zealand's city of
Christchurch, New Zealand
Police Commissioner Mike
Bush said.
New Zealand prepares
to bury mosque victims
as toll hits 50
Anguished relatives were anxiously waiting
Sunday for authorities to release the remains
of those who were killed in massacres at two
mosques in the New Zealand city of
Christchurch, while police announced the
death toll from the racist attacks had risen to
50,reports UNB.
Islamic law calls for bodies to be cleansed
and buried as soon as possible after death,
usually within 24 hours. But two days after
the worst terrorist attack in the country's
modern history, relatives remained unsure
when they would be able to bury their loved
ones.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said
police were working with pathologists and
coroners to release the bodies as soon as they
could.
"We have to be absolutely clear on the
cause of death and confirm their identity
before that can happen," he said. "But we are
so aware of the cultural and religious needs.
So we are doing that as quickly and as sensitively
as possible."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a
small number of bodies would start being
released to families Sunday evening, and
authorities hoped to release all the bodies by
Wednesday.
Police said they had released a preliminary
list of the victims to families, which has
helped give closure to some relatives who
were waiting for any news.
The scale of the tragedy and the task still
ahead became clear as supporters arrived
from across the country to help with the burial
rituals in Christchurch and authorities
sent in backhoes to dig new graves in a Muslim
burial area that was newly fenced off and
blocked from view with white netting.
The suspect in the shootings, 28-year-old
white supremacist Brenton Harrison Tarrant,
appeared in court Saturday amid strict
security, shackled and wearing all-white
prison garb, and showed no emotion when
the judge read him one murder charge and
said more would likely follow.
Tarrant, the suspect, had posted a jumbled
74-page anti-immigrant manifesto online
before the attacks and apparently used a helmet-mounted
camera to broadcast live video
of the slaughter.
A girl walk to lay flower on a wall at the Botanical Gardents in Chrischurch,
New Zealand, Sunday.
Photo : AP
Grieving families given earth
from Ethiopian crash site
Grieving family members of victims of the
Ethiopian air disaster are being given sacks
of earth to bury in place of the remains of
their loved ones, reports UNB.
Officials have begun delivering bags of
earth to family members of the 157 victims of
the crash instead of the remains of their
loved ones because the identification process
is going to take such a long time.
Families are being given a 1-kilogram (2.2-
pound) sack of scorched earth taken from
the crash sites, members of two different
families told The Associated Press. They
spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid
any possible government reprisal. An
Ethiopian government official who spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were
not authorized to speak to reporters also
confirmed the deliveries of soil.
"The soil came as it became impossible to
identify bodies and hand over remains to
family members," one family member said.
"We will not rest until we are given the real
body or body parts of our loved ones."
Forensic DNA work has begun on identifying
the remains but it may take six months to
identify the victims, because the body parts
are in small pieces. However, authorities say
they will issue death certificates within two
weeks. The victims of the crash came from 35
countries.
A mass memorial service for the dead is
planned in Addis Ababa to take place Sunday,
one week after the crash. Muslim families
have already held prayers for the dead
and are anxious to have something to bury as
soon as possible.
Interpol and Blake Emergency Services,
hired by Ethiopian Airlines, will work with
Ethiopian police and health officials to identify
the bodies, Dagmawit Moges, Ethiopia's
Minister of Transport said on Saturday.
"Preparation for the identification process
has already started and we will make sure
that the post mortem investigation will start
as soon as possible," she said.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety
Board has sent about 16 members to assist
the investigation, she said. In Paris, investigators
started studying the cockpit voice
recorder of the crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet
Saturday, grieving family members were given
sacks of dirt to bury in place of the
remains of their loved ones.
Pakistan says 9 nationals
killed in NZ attack
Pakistan's foreign ministry
spokesman says three more
Pakistanis have been identified
among those killed in the
attacks on two mosques in
New Zealand. That brings
the number of Pakistanis
killed to nine, reports UNB.
Spokesman Mohammad
Faisal? in his latest tweet
Sunday said Zeeshan Raza,
his father Ghulam Hussain
and mother Karam Bibi are
now confirmed to have killed
in the terrorist attack in
Christchurch.
Foreign Minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi said Saturday
that six Pakistanis
were confirmed dead. They
were identified as Sohail
Shahid, Syed Jahandad Ali,
Syed Areeb Ahmed, Mahboob
Haroon, Naeem Rashid
and his son Talha Naeem.
Rashid and Naeem gave
their lives attempting to
snatch the attacker's gun.
New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern says the
bodies of the 50 people killed
in Friday's mosque attacks
will start being released to
family members beginning
Sunday evening.
Ardern says only a small
number of bodies will be
released initially, and that
authorities hope to release all
the bodies by Wednesday.
Islamic law calls for bodies to
be cleansed and buried as
soon as possible after death,
usually within 24 hours.
Anguished relatives have
been anxiously waiting for
authorities to release the
remains.
Police Commissioner
Mike Bush says they are
working as quickly as they
can, but authorities have to
be absolutely clear on the
causes of death and confirm
identities before they
can release bodies. New
Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern has reiterated
her promise that there
will be changes to the country's
gun laws in the wake of
a terrorist attack on two
mosques and said her Cabinet
will discuss the policy
details on Monday.
At a Sunday news conference,
Arden used some of her
strongest language yet about
gun control, saying that laws
need to change and "they will
change." New Zealand has
fewer restrictions on rifles or
shotguns than many countries,
while handguns are
more tightly controlled.