Wednesday, December 02, 2009 SYDNEY: A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. Its epicentre was located 102 kilometres (64 miles) northwest of the capital Port-Vila at 06:42 am (0342 GMT), it said. The quake struck at a depth of 39 kilometres. No tsunami warning was immediately issued as a result of the tremor, which followed a series of huge quakes in mid-October that triggered a region-wide tsunami alert. The Pacific is still recovering from an 8.0-magnitude earthquake and huge tsunami that crashed into Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga on September 29, wiping out villages and resorts and killing 184 people.
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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