MANILA: Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains have left 20 people dead in the eastern Philippines, officials said Monday.Storms lashed the eastern Bicol region and the southern fringe of Luzon island at the weekend, displacing nearly 50,000 people in five provinces, the Civil Defense Office said. Some parts of the eastern provinces of Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Albay remain flooded."There were 20 reported deaths," the agency said, adding that rescuers were still searching for three people buried by a landslide in the town of Magallanes. Ferry operations across the eastern seaboard remained suspended, while the government rushed relief workers to the affected areas.While the storms were dissipating and moving away, the state weather bureau said the eastern-most island of Catanduanes would continue to be battered by rains and strong winds, which may cause more flooding and floods.
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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