In the World
Flooding deaths rising in India
HYDERABAD, India - The death toll from flooding in southern India rose to 222 yesterday even as waters began to recede after days of torrential rain left vast tracts of land devastated and displaced millions of people, officials said.The floods have submerged scores of villages in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states, disrupted transportation and communication links and forced whole villages to seek shelter in crowded government-run relief camps.
In Karnataka, the worst-hit of the two states, 172 people have died and more than 50,000 are staying in relief camps. Hundreds of thousands more have sought shelter in the homes of friends and relatives. - AP
More doubt on Shroud of Turin
ROME - Scientists have reproduced the Shroud of Turin - revered as the cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb - and say the experiment proves the relic was man-made, the Italian Committee for Checking Claims on the Paranormala said yesterday.Materials and methods that were available in the 14th century were used in the reproduction, which the group said is further evidence of a medieval forgery. In 1988, scientists used radiocarbon dating to determine it was made in the 13th or 14th century.
The new research was funded by the debunking committee and by an Italian organization of atheists and agnostics. - AP
Bomb at Haditha funeral kills six
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber killed at least six mourners and injured 15 at funeral for a member of a prominent tribe with ties to both security forces and insurgents in western Iraq yesterday, a police official said.The bomber detonated an explosive belt inside a funeral tent in the mostly Sunni area of Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.
The funeral was for a member of the al-Jaghaifa tribe, which is split between members of the police and military and supporters of the Sunni insurgency. Surrounding Anbar Province, once a stronghold for the Sunni insurgency, became a key battleground for U.S.-led forces after many tribes turned against the militants. - AP
Elsewhere:
Hundreds of dairy farmers from Germany, France and other nations drove tractors into Brussels yesterday to pressure EU farm ministers meeting in Belgium's capital on declining milk prices, as 20 of 27 member nations called for more protection from the volatile world market.
Israeli cabinet minister Moshe Yaalon, a former military chief of staff, has called off a visit to Britain because of concerns he could be arrested on suspicion of committing war crimes, his spokesman said yesterday.
Guinea's leader yesterday dismissed the French foreign minister's call for international intervention in the West African country after soldiers there opened fire on demonstrators last week, killing at least 57.
Montserrat's volcano shot a plume of ash more than two miles into the sky yesterday, lightly dusting the small Caribbean island, 12 years after an eruption killed 19 people.
