|
Hurricane Paloma weakened into a tropical storm over Cuba yesterday after flooding the southern coast. Early reports of damage were limited, but Cuban media said that the late-season storm toppled a major communications tower, interrupted electricity and phone services and sent sea water almost a mile inland near where Paloma made landfall as a category 4 hurricane. In the central-eastern province of Camaguey, more than 220,000 people were evacuated, while another 170,000 people were moved in the eastern province of Las Tunas. There were no reports of storm-related deaths.
Associated Press in Havana
Bombers bring terror to market and hospital
Bombings at a hospital and a market in Iraq yesterday killed five people and wounded at least 18 others, police and hospital officials said. A bomb hidden in rubbish exploded at a market in Khalis, some 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing two, while the town's mayor was touring the area, officials said. The second attack came when a female bomber blew herself up at a hospital in Amiriyat al-Falluja, in Anbar province, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, killing two women and a girl. A bombing on Saturday at a police checkpoint near Ramadi, also in Anbar, killed eight people and wounded 17.
Associated Press in Baghdad
Bruni calls for 'Obama' action against racism
The French first lady and other leading figures say France must stamp out racism and shake up its white political and social elite. A manifesto published yesterday, subtitled: "Oui, nous pouvons!" - the French translation of Obama's campaign slogan "Yes, we can!" - urges affirmative action policies to turn French ideals of equality into reality for millions of alienated minorities. "Our prejudices are insidious," Carla Bruni said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, which published the manifesto. She said she hoped the "Obama effect" would help to reshape French society.
|
