World Affairs Overview

Survivor located 100 hours after disaster

BANGLADESH: More than 100 hours after a garment factory block collapsed, rescuers in Bangladesh tunnelled into the rubble Sunday to find a woman whose feeble cries for help raised hopes of more miracles.

"We can hear her noises," shouted a firefighter, who said the woman had given her name as Sakhina Begum.The collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza on Wednesday killed more than 375 people, with hopes fading of finding many more survivors.

About 2,500 people have been rescued from the site of the worst industrial accident to strike the $20 billion Bangladesh clothing industry, which produces clothes for Western brands.

AFP

Pirate Party sails into Icelandic Parliament

ICELAND: Iceland's Pirate Party, a file-sharing activist movement, had wind in its sails in the country's election, becoming the first of its kind to win seats in a national parliament, final results showed Sunday.

The libertarian movement, modelled on its Swedish namesake which has been campaigning for copyright reform since 2006, garnered 5.1 percent of the vote, just above the five percent election threshold, giving it three of the 63 seats in the Icelandic legislature.

AFP

Jackson lawyers to sue tour promoter

US: Lawyers for Michael Jackson's mother will launch their case for massive compensation from the promoter of his last doomed tour, at the trial over the late King of Pop's 2009 death.

Opening statements are due in Los Angeles at the wrongful death trial pitting Katherine Jackson against AEG Live, whom she blames for negligently hiring Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted over his killing. Jackson died at his Los Angeles mansion on June 25, 2009 aged 50, from an overdose of the powerful sedative propofol, administered by Murray to help the "Thriller" legend deal with chronic insomnia.

AFP

Five balloon riders found, two missing at sea

PERU: Five women who were riding in a hot air balloon were found Sunday after being rescued from the Pacific Ocean, while workers searched for two male passengers who are still missing, officials said.

"Thank God, we have located five female occupants and we are continuing to search for the two missing men, whom we hope to find alive," Interior Minister Wilfredo Pedraza told reporters on Canete beach south of Lima.

Pedraza sharply criticized balloon owner Globos Peru SAC, accusing it of "grave negligence" for not requiring the passengers to wear life vests on the flight over the Pacific.

AFP

Police probe high-altitude Everest brawl

NEPAL: Police near Mount Everest are investigating reports of a fight on the upper reaches of the world's highest mountain between two foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides, officials said Sunday.

"We were told our clients and the guides fought on their way to camp three. We don't have all the details yet, but our clients have come down off the peak," said Anish Gupta of Cho-Oyu Trekking, the Kathmandu-based company that organised the expedition.

He said that one of the clients, a Swiss national, had descended the mountain and was currently waiting for a flight back to Kathmandu.

AFP

Morsi steps back from confrontation with judges

EGYPT: President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday stepped back from a confrontation with the Egyptian judiciary over a proposed new law that would see several thousand judges sacked, proposing a conference to ease disputes.

During a meeting with judges, Morsi agreed to host a conference on Tuesday to resolve disagreements over the proposed new law that would lower the retirement age from 70 to 65, affecting nearly 3,000 judges, his spokesman said.

AFP