Friday, October 23, 2009 JAKARTA: A strong 6.0-magnitude quake struck Indonesia's Papua province on the island of New Guinea on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no reports of damage.The quake struck at 8:15 pm (1115 GMT), three kilometres (two miles) east of Manokwari at a depth of 35 kilometres, the Survey said.A senior official with Indonesia's Geophysics and Meteorological Agency played down the seriousness of the quake.Indonesia's measurements suggested, "people felt the shaking but it doesn't mean there's any damage," said the agency's technical chief, Suharjono."There are no reports of damage or casualties. Those living in Manokwari felt several seconds of shaking and there was some panic, especially at the hospital," he said.A news agency reporter in the city confirmed there were no signs of damage to buildings, although panicked residents had scrambled for high ground, fearing a tsunami, and electricity supplies were briefly cut.Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where the meeting of continental plates causes frequent high volcanic and seismic activity.A 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Sumatra Island on September 30 killed more than 1,000 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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