JAKARTA: Rescuers searched for survivors Friday after a wooden boat packed with Afghan migrants sank off western Indonesia, killing at least nine people and leaving 11 others missing, the navy said.More than a dozen Afghans have been found alive in the Malacca Strait, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from land, said Al Muhfid, a navy second lieutenant. Most were plucked from the choppy waters by fishermen immediately after Thursday's accident.The Afghan men, including several who were badly hurt, told authorities they had flown from Afghanistan to Malaysia, where human traffickers offered to help them get by boat to Australia, where they hoped to start a new life.But nine hours into the journey, as they were nearing Indonesia's coast of Sumatra to refuel, they encountered a dark, thick haze triggered by land-clearing forest fires. They slammed into a fishing platform, putting the boat off balance."Just then, they were hit by high waves and the boat capsized," said Muhfid, adding that at least nine people were killed and 11 others remain missing.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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