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Thursday, July 09, 2009, BEIJING: State media says a moderate earthquake rocked southwestern China, injuring at least 336 people. The magnitude-6.0 temblor centered in Yunnan province's Yao'an county struck Thursday evening, causing damage to 2,700 homes, China’s official news agency said. It said the quake was followed by eight aftershocks. The provincial civil affairs department is sending 2,500 tents,3,000 quilts and other relief materials to Yao'an.

Thursday, July 09, 2009 BAGHDAD: The US military in Iraq on Thursday freed five Iranian diplomats held since January 2007 in a major source of friction between archfoes Tehran and Washington, Iraqi and Iranian officials said. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the five men were handed over to the government under a security accord which lays out the terms for the US pullout from the war-torn nation and the transfer of prisoners in US custody. "This process is taking place today and includes the Iranian officials arrested in Arbil," he said while talking to a French news agency. The US military, which has long accused Iran of funding and equipping militias in Iraq, had arrested the five at an office in the Kurdish city of Arbil in northern Iraq on January 11, 2007. "The five Iranian diplomats abducted in Iraq were handed over by the occupying US forces to the Iraqi prime minister (Nuri al-Maliki)," Iran's local news agency said, quoting Tehran's amba...

Thursday, July 09, 2009, TEHRAN: Iranian police fired tear-gas on Thursday as hundreds of demonstrators defied warnings staged a march to commemorate the anniversary of bloody student unrest in 1999, witnesses said. Police fired tear gas as hundreds of people were moving in from several streets in the city and trying to converge in front of Tehran University, one witness said while talking to a French news agency. A crowd of between 200 to 300 people chanted "Death to the dictator" and urged the police to support them, another witness said.

Thursday, July 09, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Visitors to the world-famous Getty Center art complex, which houses works by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh, were evacuated as a fire burned in thick brush on the steep slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains.The fire was 90 percent contained late Wednesday night after erupting early in the afternoon and quickly growing to 80 acres above parking facilities for the Getty.About 350 firefighters worked on rugged slopes and seven helicopters pounded flames with water from nearby Stone Canyon Reservoir.By the time the helicopters were grounded for darkness the blaze was mostly under control, and hand crews were looking for lingering hot spots.Fire Chief Douglas Barry said the blaze began about three-quarters of a mile from the Getty and moved away to the east as winds blew out of the west. Cool humid conditions after dark helped firefighters."We feel very confident we'll have this fire under control very shortly," Barry said.Fire Departmen...

Thursday, July 09, 2009 NEW DELHI: The death toll from a case of mass poisoning involving home-brewed alcohol in the western Indian state of Gujarat jumped to 71 on Thursday, police said. The number of deaths rose from 25 on Wednesday. A police officer in the state's largest city Ahmedabad told foreign news agency that another five people were seriously ill in hospital after consuming the contaminated liquor at a party on Sunday. The official news agency reported six police officers in the city had been suspended and transferred for failing to crack down on illegal distilleries. The state's home minister on Wednesday announced an inquiry into the easy availability of bootleg liquor in the region.

Thursday, July 09, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Michael's body was filled with injection marks at the time of his death. It is speculated that the singer may have had an injection of the drug Propofol, a powerful anesthesia. The dangerous medication was found in MJ's house after his death, and various medical experts have said there is absolutely no medical justification for Michael to have had this drug in his home. It is used to put people under before surgery and is administered through an IV.It seems Michael wanted to use the drug to cure his insomnia -- and that he had been a bit of an anesthesia junkie. Sources say the LAPD has asked the DEA to assist them in its investigation into multiple doctors who may have treated Michael and prescribed Propofol.And, if it is found that a shot of the drug is what caused Michael to go into cardiac arrest and die, serious criminal charges could be filed against the doctor who gave it to him.

Thursday, July 09, 2009 KABUL: Indian actress and social activist Shabana Azmi is in Kabul to deliver a speech on violence against women in Afghanistan. She was invited by the United Nations and will be the main speaker at the Global Convention.Surprisingly this is not the first international summit Shabana is attending, though it is very important and special to her. “The subject is Silence is Violence – views of women in Afghanistan. It is supported by the human rights wing of the UN and the human rights commission in Kabul”“The convention will discuss the findings on how women are treated in Afghanistan; we will talk about the ways to strengthen the capacity of the law enforcement and judicial institution to curb violence against women,” she said.

Thursday, July 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that the U.S. needs to turn around the conflict in Afghanistan within the next year and a half.Admiral Michael Mullen, speaking at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, said that while he can't yet be sure how much longer U.S. troops will be needed in the war torn country, the time frame to see success of President Barack Obama's new strategy is fairly short."I believe we have to start to turn the tide with respect to the Taliban in the next 12 to 18 months," he said. And although U.S. enemies in Afghanistan, including al Qaeda, have grown increasingly sophisticated, Mullen said he was confident that U.S. forces would meet that goal."The forces that we have, the strategy that we have and the approach that we have will allow us to do that," he said.One of the key differences, Mullen said, is that commanders on the ground now have the full support and res...

Thursday, July 09, 2009 JAKARTA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyno has won more votes from his rivals according to the result of the quick real count by the country's Electoral Commission (KPU) on Wednesday evening. The count is based on the number of votes received by the commission which is expected to be obtained from over 100 polling stations nationwide through text messages. President Susilo gets 2,484,581 votes of the total 4,093,744 votes, or 60.72 percent of the total, which the commission has so far received. The president is followed by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri with 1,214,486 votes, or 29.67 percent of the total, and incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla, with 9.62 percent to 393,677 votes, the commission said. Other quick count surveys also put President Susilo on top of the ballot counting, which avoids the second run-off.

Thursday, July 09, 2009, BANGKOK: Raees Khan of Pakistan got out of the Six Red Ball Snooker World Grand Prix while his compatriot Mohammad Sajjad will be seen in action on the table of knockout round in the event. The knockout stage of the tournament will begin tomorrow. On the last day of the round matches, Raees Khan could win one match whereas he suffered defeat in the second due to which he got out of the event. He could win only one match out of five matches. Pakistan’s other quest Muhammad Sajjad went down to Matthew Stevens of Wales on Thursday by 5-2 frames. Sajjad has already qualified for playing in the knockout round of SangSom 6-Red World Grand Prix Snooker Championship.

Thursday, July 09, 2009 INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: Olympic champion Aaron Peirsol reclaimed the 100 metres backstroke world record Wednesday with a time of 51.94 seconds, re-establishing himself as the man to beat at the World Championships this month.Peirsol, who won Olympic gold in a then-world record of 52.54 at Beijing last year, admitted he was surprised to see the record fall to Aschwin Wildeboer Faber, who turned in a time of 52.38sec in leading off Spain's medley relay at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy, on July 1.Wildeboer Faber's performance had ended the American's near five-year reign as world record-holder, but as it turned out, only briefly.Peirsol, 25, lowered the 100m backstroke mark for the sixth time in his career.Matt Grevers was barely ahead of Peirsol at the turn, but settled for second in 53.11.Peirsol said breaking the 52-second barrier was in his mind going into the race.Peirsol raced in an Arena X-Glide, one of the new generation of polyuretha...

Thursday, July 09, 2009,PARIS: Thomas Voeckler won the fifth stage of Tour de France cycle race while Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland is still going on top. The cyclists had to complete a distance of 196.5km in the fifth stage from Cap d'Agde and a very sensational contest was seen in this stage which was ultimately won by Voeckler of France. He crossed the allotted distance in four hours, 29 minutes and 35 seconds while Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia came second and Britain's Mark Cavendish finished third. In all, Cancellara remains on the first position and Lance Armstrong of the United States is on the second.

MANILA - Tennis player Mathieu Montcourt has been found dead at his home in Boulogne-Billancourt, France on Tuesday. The Frenchman, ranked 119th in the world, was 24. According to a TennisWeek.com report, the cause of Montcourt's death is not yet known. The online article also cited a report by radio station RMC which quoted the Association of Tennis Professionals as saying that Montcourt suffered a pulmonary embolism.“Mathieu was a promising player on the rise,” said Patrice Dominguez, technical director of the French Tennis Federation. “He was a very hardworking player and a very kind man,” Dominguez was quoted on TennisWeek.com.World No. 2 Rafael Nadal said he was shocked upon hearing the death of his colleague. “I can't believe it. I knew Mathieu since we were kids. We competed together at all the events at an international level there is since you are a kid… and of course afterwards once becoming professionals,” the Spaniard wrote on RafaelNadal.com.Tennis Week also repor...