A 7.2 R. Earthquake south of the Mariana Islands,..[ 1634 ]

No tsunami warning after Pacific quake

By the CNN Wire Staff-13-8-2010

(CNN) -- A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has struck south of the Mariana Islands, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Mariana Islands -- an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean -- are made up of two U.S. territories, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The islands sit about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami warning after the quake, which struck at 7:19 a.m. Saturday (5:19 p.m. ET Friday).

"We wouldn't expect any kind of significant tsunami for this event," said the center's director, Charles McCreery, noting that the quake's magnitude was relatively low to provoke one.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, emergency management officials said.

The quake struck about 375 kilometers (233 miles) west-southwest of Hagatna, Guam, and 445 kilometers (276 miles) west-southwest of Rota, Northern Mariana Islands.

It ran 4.7 kilometers (2.9 miles) deep

Australia, Melbourne.,.double murder 'chaos'.[ 1633 ]

Witness recounts double murder 'chaos'

Police say the gunman was equipped with a semi-automatic handgun and fired up to five shots. (AAP: David Crosling)

MELBOURNE.,( ABC ) 14-8-10.,,Posted 1 hour 16 minutes ago

Police have described yesterday's double shooting at a Melbourne gaming venue as callous and outrageous, while one onlooker described the scene as chaos.

A man remains in custody after two men aged in their 60s or 70s were shot dead at the Players on Lygon bar in Lygon Street, Carlton, around 5.00pm (AEST).

Bystanders say a gunman shot one man on the footpath outside the venue before entering the building and shooting another.

Police say the gunman was equipped with a semi-automatic handgun and fired up to five shots.

One witness, who was in the venue at the time of the shooting, says the alleged gunman chased a third man into a nearby park but he escaped.

"It was chaos. The young lady who works in there was freaking out," he said.

"She was yelling at the gunman and telling him 'please don't, please don't'.

"Other people were running left, right and centre, trying to hide behind the machines and walls and stuff."

Police hope security camera footage will help with the investigation.

Detective Sergeant Wayne Woltsche says the incident does not appear be linked to the murder of 65-year-old crime patriarch Macchour Chaouk.

Chaouk was shot at his heavily secured Brooklyn home in Melbourne's west at 11:00am yesterday.

"We have a person in custody as a suspect for this shooting and that's the only assurance I can give," he said.

"I can certainly say that at this stage we haven't established any connection to that shooting."

The Pakistan floods..[ 1632 ]

UN boss to visit flood-ravaged Pakistan

By South Asia correspondent Sally Sara and wires

ABC/BBC  Saturday , Aug 14, 2010

Updated 33 minutes ago

UN officials estimate up to 6 million people are in need of food, water, medicine and shelter. 
(AFP: Arif Ali)

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan later today in the wake of the nation's worst floods on record.

Mr Ban will meet Pakistani government officials before touring flood-ravaged areas tomorrow. 

He is leading a UN appeal for urgent international assistance for victims of the disaster.

Aid agencies are warning of a second wave of deaths from disease and hunger.

UN officials estimate up to 6 million people are in need of food, water, medicine and shelter.

Flood waters are receding in the north west of the country, but the River Indus is expected to reach dangerous levels in Punjab and the southern province of Sindh in the next two days. 

UNICEF spokesman Oscar Butragueno says the organisation is particularly worried about the welfare of children under five.

"Their defence system is very weak and they are susceptible to water-borne diseases," he said.

"When this is combined with malnutrition, it can increase significantly the mortality rate."

The Pakistani government has also scrapped Independence Day celebrations today to concentrate on the relief operation.

President Asif Ali Zardari says the directive means there will be no special official gatherings or flag-raising ceremonies or special parades at military corps headquarters.

- ABC/BBC

UK, Senior military chiefs "difficult decisions ahead" ..[ 1631 ]

Senior military chiefs 'facing axe'

The Ministry of Defence faces cuts to its backroom operations

the London Evening Standard.,13.08.10  

Senior military officers face a cull under plans to cut costs and make the Ministry of Defence "leaner", Defence Secretary Liam Fox has signalled.

Dr Fox said the MoD's backroom operations would have to shrink to ensure frontline troops got all the equipment and support they needed.

He indicated that top brass and civil servant numbers would be reduced to help tackle a £37 billion black hole in the department's finances.

The Defence Secretaetary did not comment on which military projects are facing the chop as part of massive Whitehall funding cuts ordered by the coalition Government. But he hinted there were still disagreements between the MoD and the Treasury over who will pay the £20 billion cost for replacing Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.

Prime Minister David Cameron also admitted there were "difficult decisions ahead" as he attended a passing-out ceremony for Army officer cadets at the Sandhurst military training academy.

The scale of the savings defence officials need to make was highlighted by a report suggesting there could be a 20% cut to the budget for helicopters alone. A secret internal memo sets out demands for £3.96 billion of savings across the fleets of rotary wing aircraft operated by the Royal Navy, Army and RAF, according to the London Evening Standard. The MoD refused to comment.

Dr Fox used a speech in London to announce a wide-ranging reform of how the MoD is run to make it "leaner", less centralised and more transparent.

He said a visit to Afghanistan this week reminded him that supporting British troops on operations had to take priority over spending on staff in Whitehall. He said: "It brought home to me once again that the prime purpose of what we are doing is to make sure that our Armed Forces on the front line have everything they need, and all the support they require, to carry out their mission successfully and safely. That means that the backroom sometimes has to do without to make sure that the front line gets what it wants."

He said it would be "difficult and painful" to deal with this "dangerous deficit", but pledged a stop to the "endless salami slicing" of military budgets.

Dr Fox ruled out any merger of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF but suggested numbers of senior officers could be reduced. He said: "We will also consider whether the current senior rank structure across the services is appropriate for the post-SDSR world. We cannot demand efficiency from the lower ranks while exempting those at the top.

'Swastika' cause uproar in Sweden..[ 1630 ]

'Swastika' and 'Crematorium' mountains cause uproar in Sweden

A series of mountain crags called "Swastika" and "Himmler" have caused outrage in Sweden after a climber publicised the Nazi-inspired names given to the popular climbing area.

'Swastika' and 'Crematorium' mountains cause uproar in Sweden.Photo: REUTERS

Telegraph cp.uk.,,By Allan Hall in Berlin
Published: 4:24PM BST 13 Aug 2010

Following accepted climbing practice, the first person to tackle a route has the right to name it.

However, concerns have been raised after it was revealed that routes in the popular Järfälla climbing area outside Stockholm had been given names inspired by the Third Reich.

Between 1987 and 2001, climbers christened new routes "Kristallnacht", "Crematorium" and "Little Hitler".
Another was named "Zyklon B", after the cyanide gas the Nazis used to murder the Jews.
"I thought it rather unpleasant to climb through the 'Crematorium' or say that 'now I am going to do 'Kristallnacht'," Cordelia Hess, a climber, told Stockholm's Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
Christofer Urby, of the Swedish Climbing Association, said he was aware of the controversial names, but said his body could not authorise changes.
"It is the first climber who sets out a route and makes it available to others, who has the right to name it," he explained.
"It becomes a kind of footprint, but I personally think it is childish and disrespectful to put this type of name."
The routes on the range near the Swedish capital were named at various times and it is unclear whether the mountaineers who christened the rocky outcrops were politically-motivated.
Mikael Widerberg, a climber who named "Little Hitler" in 2001 dismissed the controversy, saying the names should be interpreted as an "internal thing between climbers", adding "there are other mountains around called worse things".
John Perwer, an official with the Swedish Forum for Living History, says that the names should be changed.
"A crag called 'Negro' near Karlstad was changed after a dark-skinned person said he was offended. To use loaded terms like that is simply rude," he said.