Typhoon kills 38 in Philippines

Afp, Manila
Millions of people in the Philippines endured a second sweltering day without power yesterday after a ferocious typhoon paralysed the capital and wrecked flimsy rural homes, claiming at least 38 lives. Rammasun, a Thai word for "Thunder God", swept in off the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night, then brought wind gusts of up to 160 kilometres an hour (100 miles) across land to Manila and other heavily populated northern regions.

Australia abolishes divisive carbon tax

Afp, Sydney
Australia yesterday axed a divisive carbon tax after years of vexed political debate, in a move criticised as regressive and out of step with the rest of the world. Under the carbon tax, the country's biggest polluters, including mining, energy and aviation companies, paid for the emissions they produced, giving them an incentive to reduce them.

Floods, landslides kill dozens in China

Afp, Beijing
Dozens of people have died in the past week as torrential rain batters swathes of China, with at least six killed by lightning, thousands of homes destroyed and more than 300,000 evacuated, state media said. Meanwhile, Typhoon Rammasun is expected to make landfall in China's southern province of Hainan today, forecasters said, packing winds of 140 kph.

Chopper crash kills 5 in S Korea

Afp, Seoul
A helicopter that had been searching for victims of South Korea's ferry disaster crashed yesterday in a residential district of Gwangju city, killing all five people on board, officials said. There were no reported fatalities on the ground, but one high school student was injured by flying debris when the helicopter crashed shortly before 11:00am, narrowly missing nearby apartment blocks in the southern city.

Actress gets 18 years for Obama ricin plot

Afp, Washington
A US actress who tried to blame her husband for sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama, then-New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and a gun control activist got 18 years in prison Wednesday. US District Judge Michael Schneider sentenced Shannon Guess Richardson to 216 months in federal prison on a biological weapons charge and ordered her to pay $367,222.29 in restitution.