Friday, June 05, 2009 BANGKOK: At least 17 people were killed when a bus hit a tree in southern Thailand Friday, police said, suggesting that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. About a dozen other passengers were injured when the bus, part of a convoy of 12 vehicles, ran off the road at dawn in southern Krabi province on its way from central Samut Prakarn to the southern province of Phang Nga, they said."As of now 12 people died at the scene and five more have died in hospital, but many of those who are wounded are in a serious condition," said police commander Colonel Thakoon Netpukana."I'm sure that the accident was caused by the driver falling asleep. The road is flat and straight," he said. More than 40 people had been travelling in the bus, which was completely destroyed by the crash, he said.
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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