Blast at police HQ in Egypt city kills 14

Blast at police HQ in Egypt city kills 14
Train carrying nuclear waste derails near Paris
High winds, rain lash Europe leaving two dead, one missing at sea
Thai protesters block polls registrations
Thai police beef up security in Danok after bomb blast
Teenager safe after glasses deflect bullet

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 05:09 PM PST

CAIRO: A powerful car bomb tore through a police headquarters in the Egyptian city of Mansoura early Tuesday, killing at least 14 people, mostly policemen, medics and officials said.

The bombing comes just weeks before Egypt holds a referendum on a new constitution that is billed by the country's military-installed authorities as the first step towards democratic rule after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.

Egyptian security sources said the explosion in the city, north of Cairo, was massive and a part of the building had caved in.

Medics said the bombing wounded more than 100 people.

"The majority of the casualties are from the police. The explosion was caused by a car bomb," Omar al-Shawatsi, the governor of Daqahleya, of which Mansoura is the capital, told state media.

The impact of the explosion was felt around 20 kilometres (12 miles) away and shattered windows of nearby buildings, the security sources said.

The head of the security for Daqahleya, Sami El-Mihi, was wounded in the blast and two of his aides were killed, security sources said.

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on Egyptian security forces since the ouster of Morsi.

More than 100 members of the security forces have been killed across the country since Morsi's ouster. – AFP

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Train carrying nuclear waste derails near Paris

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:56 PM PST

PARIS, France: French authorities on Monday said a train carrying nuclear waste has derailed in a Paris suburb, but no leaks, injuries or other problems have been reported.

An official with the national fire service said experts carried out radiological tests after the incident in Drancy, and found no leaks.

The official said the train was travelling slowly and went about 50 centimetres off the rails, and an investigation will be carried out.

The official was not authorised to be publicly named, according to fire service policy.

Jean-Michel Genestier, deputy director of rail company SNCF Geodis, said on BFM television that it was "a minor incident."

Drancy Mayor Jean-Christophe Lagarde expressed concern about the safety of the nuclear and chemical trains that pass regularly through his town. – AFP

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High winds, rain lash Europe leaving two dead, one missing at sea

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:53 PM PST

High winds and heavy rain battered parts of Europe on Monday, leaving at least two people dead and one man lost at sea off France, and disrupting travel two days from Christmas.

In Britain a man was found in a swollen river in northwest England where the water was "fast flowing, and a lot more water than normal", said Inspector Chis Wright of the Cumbria police, adding: "It's fair to say that the weather contributed to the problem."

The other victim was a woman swept away in a river in north Wales, police said.

Rescue teams late Monday were searching the sea off the northwest French coast about 220 kilometres (135 miles) from Brest where officials say a Russian man fell overboard from a damaged cargo ship.

The Atlantic maritime authorities said the man fell into the sea as winds packed nearly 120 kilometres per hour, and swells reached up to seven metres (25 feet).

Across Brittany nearly 18,000 homes were without electricity, the French utility ERDF said, and air and rail traffic was disrupted there as well as in neighbouring Normandy.

The Met Office, Britain's national forecaster, issued amber warnings for rain — the second most severe level — for much of the southern half of England and Wales.

In all the French weather service has put 23 departments on orange alert — its second highest level — for high winds and waves.

Around 30 flights from London's Heathrow airport were cancelled, most of them short-haul routes to Europe.

Britain's train companies reduced or cancelled some services, with some of the busiest lines, such as the one linking London and Birmingham in central England, forced to operate under speed restrictions because of the conditions.

But Eurostar train services linking Britain with France and Belgium were unaffected.

However, ferry services across the Channel from France to Britain were cancelled after an alert that gale-force winds would batter the region,

The Met Office also warned that flooding was possible in southwest England as heavy rain fell on already saturated ground.

In Cornwall, 3,000 homes and businesses were without power after high winds brought down overhead power lines.

Rain and winds also battered Ireland, where more than 5,000 telephone landlines were out of order over the weekend due to high winds.

The weather was also putting a bit of a damper on some holiday activities ahead of Christmas on Wednesday.

Local French officials were advising the organisers of events like Christmas markets and fairgrounds to reinforce any of their temporary installations.

In London, Winter Wonderland — a miniature theme park and Christmas market in Hyde Park — was forced to close for the day for safety reasons. – AFP

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Thai protesters block polls registrations

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:51 PM PST

BANGKOK: Thai opposition protesters yesterday stepped up their campaign to disrupt upcoming elections, trying to block candidate registrations as part of efforts to banish Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her family from politics.

The main opposition Democrat Party, which has not won an elected majority in parliament in about two decades, has vowed to boycott the Feb 2 polls called by Yingluck following weeks of street rallies by her opponents.

It is the latest chapter in a years-old political crisis which broadly pits a Bangkok-based elite against mostly rural and poor supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive former premier who was ousted in a coup in 2006.

Hundreds of demonstrators on Monday surrounded a stadium in Bangkok where representatives of political parties were trying to register to run in the polls ahead of the Dec 27 deadline.

Nine parties, including Yingluck's Puea Thai, managed to enter although officials were unable to fully complete their registration, according to the country's Election Commission.

About two dozen parties filed complaints with the police because they were prevented from entering.

But it appeared to be only a temporary setback with the election authorities expressing confidence that the parties would be able to register in time.

"For those parties that cannot enter the stadium we will contact them and made appointments for them to submit documents," Election Commissioner Dhirawat Dhirarojvit told AFP.

Puea Thai party said that Yingluck was on top of the party's list of candidates – a position that would usually make her Puea Thai's pick for prime minister if it wins the polls.

Her candidacy is certain to anger the demonstrators, who want to rid Thai politics of the influence of her brother Thaksin – a billionaire tycoon turned premier whom protesters accuse of controlling the government from his home in Dubai.

At least 150,000 people joined the latest anti-Thaksin mass protest in the capital on Sunday, according to an estimate from National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut. Organisers said the turnout was much higher.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has vowed to "shut the country down" to prevent people voting.

The demonstrators' self-proclaimed People's Democratic Reform Committee is calling for an unelected "people's council" to be installed to oversee sweeping but loosely-defined reforms before new elections in around a year to 18 months.

They have vowed to rid Thailand of the 'Thaksin regime' and oppose the election, saying it will only bring another government allied to the former premier, who fled the country in 2008 to avoid jail for a corruption conviction he contends is politically motivated.

Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters have voiced fears that the recent protests are aimed at encouraging the military to seize power, in a country which has seen 18 successful or attempted coups since 1932.

The protesters "want to push Thailand into deadlock and then invite the military to seize power in a coup before the election", said one of the Red Shirt leaders, Nattawut Saikuar.

But if that happens "people will come out to fight back", he warned.

Thaksin is adored among rural communities and the working class, particularly in the north and northeast. But the billionaire tycoon-turned-politician is reviled by the elite, who see him as corrupt and a threat to the revered monarchy.

Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001 and Thailand has seen several bouts of political turmoil since he was deposed, with rival protests sometimes resulting in bloody unrest.

On Saturday members of the opposition Democrat Party – who earlier resigned as MPs en masse to join the street demonstrations – voted against participating in the elections.

The Democrats previously boycotted elections in 2006, helping to create the political uncertainty which heralded a military coup that ousted Thaksin.

The party last took power in 2008 by parliamentary vote after a court stripped Thaksin's allies of power, angering his "Red Shirt" supporters who launched mass street protests three years ago that ended in a military crackdown that left dozens dead.

Democrat leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva has been indicted for murder over the crackdown along with his ex-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban who is leading the street protests. — AFP

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Thai police beef up security in Danok after bomb blast

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:50 PM PST

DANOK, Thailand: Thailand police have enforced tight security around the Hotel Oliver area in Danok, the site of a bomb blast that rocked the border town between Malaysia and Thailand on Sunday.

However, the surrounding areas remained quiet and peaceful with no further incidents reported while business at the area went on as usual.

A food stall owner in Danok, Adul Ulang Adul Halim Mahmud, 51, said the incident, the first in the town for more than 30 years, shocked the people and business community in the area.

"We have lived here and gone about our business for 30 odd years and this is the first bombing incident. There may have been a specific motive but it is going to affect tourist arrivals, especially Malaysians and hurt business," he told Bernama, here yesterday.

Adul Halim was however, happy that the situation was under control and hoped the situation would return to normal soon.

Meanwhile, Songkhla Governor Girisada Booncharn is expected to visit the site of the bomb explosion today in Danok.

Yesterday, South Thailand was rocked by a series of explosions in Padang Besar, Danok and Sadao, killing two Thais and injuring 25 others.

No Malaysians were injured in the incident, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin said late Sunday night.

"I confirm that no Malaysians were injured in the bomb explosions," said Hamzah.

It was earlier reported that two Malaysians were among more than 20 people injured in the bomb explosions. — Bernama

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Teenager safe after glasses deflect bullet

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:50 PM PST

OLYMPIA, Washington: A teenage girl avoided serious injury when her glasses deflected a bullet fired during a drive-by shooting at her Seattle home, police said on Sunday.

The 16-year-old girl was asleep on her living room couch at about 9.40pm on Saturday (0540 GMT on Sunday) when shots were fired from a dark-colored sedan as it passed her house, Seattle police spokesman Detective Mark Jamieson said.

Several bullets went through the walls of the house and one through the front window, Jamieson said.

One of the bullets struck the bridge of the teen's glasses, Jamieson said.

She suffered only minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital, he added.

"She is very, very fortunate," Jamieson said.

Several other people were at the house at the time of the shooting, but no other injuries were reported, Jamieson said.

Police believe the house was targeted in what was likely a gang-related shooting, but the girl was not the intended victim.

No arrests have been made in the shooting and the police gang unit was investigating, Jamieson said.

Jamieson said police do not know how many people were involved in the shooting. — Reuters

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