Mes: agosto 2019

(AP) BEIJING – A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. The quakes started with a 5.6-magnitude shock before 11:30 a.m. along the borders of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, and another equally big quake struck shortly after noon followed by more than 60 aftershocks, Chinese and U.S. government seismologists said. Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow, which often causes more damage. Hardest hit was Yiliang County, where all but one of the deaths occurred, according to the Yunnan provincial government’s official website. Another 715 people in the county were injured, the sites said. Yiliang county’s high population density, weak building construction, and propensity for landslides were blamed for the relatively high death toll. China Central Television showed roads littered with rocks and boulders, and pillars of dust rising over hillcrests — signs of landslides. Footage showed a couple hundred people crowding into what looked like a school athletic field in Yiliang’s county seat, a sizeable city spread along a river in a valley bottom. With some roads impassable, rescuers had yet to reach some outlying villages and towns, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Though quakes in the area occur frequently, buildings in rural areas and China’s fast-growing smaller cities and...

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(CBS News) ISLAMABAD – A teenaged Christian girl arrested in Pakistan on a controversial charge of blasphemy was ordered released on bail by a judge Friday, but there are concerns that her life may still be in danger even after seemingly dodging the allegation – which could technically have brought the death penalty. Judge Azam Khan ordered her release on about $10,000 bail after hearing competing arguments from the defense and prosecution lawyers. CBS News is withholding her identity as she is a minor.  “Our position has been vindicated. My client is now free on bail,” Tahir Chaudhary, the girl’s lawyer told CBS News. The rare legal victory for an individual targeted with Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws followed a tumultuous three weeks for the teenager who, according to a medical report, is 14 years old, but not intellectually developed to a level typical of her age. Chaudhary told CBS News his client suffers from “mental ailments that have hindered her mental development,” without specifying her condition. She was arrested after someone from her low-income neighborhood in Islamabad’s suburbs complained of seeing her carrying burned pages of the Koran – the Islamic holy book. Desecration of the Koran is considered blasphemy in Pakistan – an offense which can bring the death penalty, though it has never been meted out in court. Pakistan extends girl’s detention in blasphemy casePakistan arrests girl...