Stranded pilot whales die in New Zealand

Stranded pilot whales die in New Zealand

Stranded pilot whales die in New Zealand

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 05:02 PM PST

NEW ZEALAND: A pod of 39 pilot whales died after stranding themselves at a remote beach on New Zealand's South Island, conservation officials said Monday.

The whales, which are notorious for beaching themselves, were being monitored after they were spotted close to the shore of Golden Bay on Sunday but rangers were powerless to stop them stranding, the Department of Conservation said.

Golden Bay conservation services manager John Mason said 12 of the whales died naturally and rangers euthanized the rest after assessing they were too far up the beach to be refloated.

"We carefully weighed up the likelihood of being able to refloat them and get them safely back out to sea," he said.

"But our staff, who have extensive experience in dealing with mass whale strandings in Golden Bay, determined that due to various factors it was unlikely they could be rescued."

Mass pilot whale strandings are common in New Zealand, with scientists unclear about why the marine mammals swim ashore in large groups. – AFP

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14 killed in China mosque stampede: Xinhua

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 04:44 PM PST

Posted on January 6, 2014, Monday

NINGXIA, China: Fourteen people were killed and 10 injured in a stampede during a gathering at a mosque in northwest China's Ningxia region, state media reported Monday.

The stampede occurred around 1:00 pm Sunday while traditional food was being handed out to people attending an event to commemorate a late religious leader, Xinhua news agency said, citing the local government. – AFP

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Four die in Swiss Alps avalanches

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 03:08 PM PST

SWITZERLAND: Four skiers were killed and another was in a critical condition after a series of avalanches hit the Alps in southern Switzerland Sunday, Swiss media reported.

Three of the victims, including a guide, died when a wall of snow bore down on a group of cross-country skiers in the canton of Valais, critically wounding another, public broadcaster RTS reported.

A fourth, a 34-year-old Swiss man, was killed as he skied off-piste in the same canton, Valais police told the ATS news agency.

The deaths came two days after mountain rescue workers in the canton cautioned that there was an especially high risk of snowslides.

Police said several avalanches had been set off by off-piste skiers and urged caution, warning that the risk of more snowslides remained high.

Four people were swept up in a flood of snow in Verbier, but escaped without injury, RTS said.

The latest deaths bring to at least 11 the number of people killed by avalanches in Switzerland so far this winter. – AFP

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Man takes son in 9-floor suicide jump after torching ex

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 03:06 PM PST

Posted on January 6, 2014, Monday

LYON: A man in eastern France jumped out of the window of his ninth-floor flat with his three-year-old son after torching the child's mother, police said Saturday. The tragedy occurred on Friday in Chenove near the Burgundy city of Dijon.

The 25-year-old father was killed on the spot, the toddler died of his wounds soon after and the mother was fighting for her life in hospital with severe burns, local prosecutor Marie-Christine Tarrare told AFP.

Investigators and relatives said the man doused his former partner with a flammable liquid and set her alight after a row erupted over the child's custody. — AFP

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Pope calls for fresh Church approach to children of gay, divorced parents

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 03:06 PM PST

ROME: Pope Francis has called for a rethink in the way the Catholic Church deals with the children of gay couples and divorced parents, warning against 'administering a vaccine against faith'.

"On an educational level, gay unions raise challenges for us today which for us are sometimes difficult to understand," Francis said in a speech to the Catholic Union of Superiors General in November, extracts of which were published on Italian media websites on Saturday.

"The number of children in schools whose parents have separated is very high," he said, adding that family make-ups were also changing.

"I remember a case in which a sad little girl confessed to her teacher: 'my mother's girlfriend doesn't love me'," he was quoted as saying. — AFP

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Thai protesters march again in bid to bring down govt

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 03:05 PM PST

BANGKOK: Thousands of anti-government protesters marched through the Thai capital yesterday, a prelude to a broader action next week when they say they will shut down Bangkok in their bid to scuttle a February election and topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The protesters, who accuse Yingluck of being the puppet of her self-exiled brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, have vowed to stop the Feb 2 election. Instead, they want an appointed 'people's council' to oversee reforms before any future vote.

The crisis has dragged on for weeks and has hit the Thai economy. It pits Yingluck and her brother and their support base among the rural poor in the populous north and northeast against protesters who draw support from Bangkok's conservative, royalist elite and middle classes and the south.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a fiery former deputy premier from the main opposition Democrat Party, said two more marches would be held tomorrow and Thursday leading up the Jan 13 'shutdown'.

That event is shaping up as the biggest confrontation since the latest round of largely peaceful protests began in November. The protests at times have brought as many as 200,00 people on to the streets, but have also sparked sporadic clashes with police in which three people were killed and scores wounded.

"We will keep walking, we won't stop," Suthep said on the march. "We will walk until we win and we won't give up."

Yesterday's march began at Bangkok's Democracy Monument, where some supporters had gathered overnight. Suthep said the protesters would set up stages at five rallying points through the city leading up to Jan 13.

They plan to shut down government offices in an attempt to force Yingluck's administration to a standstill but, mindful of bloody crackdowns by police on similar protests, they have also said they will minimise the impact on ordinary Thais and will not target airports.

The protests since November have been the biggest in Thailand since 2010, when mostly 'red shirt' supporters of Thaksin tried to bring down a Democrat-led government.

Those protests led to a military crackdown in which 91 people were killed.

Yingluck has steadfastly refused to bow to the protesters' demands and is determined that the election, which her Puea Thai Party is almost certain to win, will go ahead.

The government has vowed to roll out some 20,000 police and 20 companies of troops to maintain order during the protests. Concurrently, the 'red shirts' have also promised to hold rallies outside Bangkok to counter the anti-government group.

Thousands of Puea Thai supporters gathered in a Bangkok suburb on Saturday for the party's official campaign launch.

Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, based on their support among the rural poor who have benefited from Thaksin's populist policies such as cheap healthcare, easy credit and subsidies for rice farmers.

The anti-government protesters accuse Thaksin of effectively buying their support and manipulating Thailand's democracy, while also enriching his family and business associates. — AFP

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