Even as official celebrations were on to mark the golden jubilee of the first ascent of Mt Dhaulagiri, a Chinese climber was killed and two of his fellow climbers missing on the slopes of the seventh highest peak in the world, authorities said.
Liyang Zao, a 35-year-old climber who was part of a nine-member expedition to the peak, fell to his death on Saturday due to bad weather, Nepal’s tourism and civil aviation ministry said.
Two more climbers who were part of the same expedition are still missing despite a hunt for them. The chances of survival have been receding due to the freezing cold, bad weathe.
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Black actor is beaten to death in Russia
Saint Petersburg, May 17: A black actor who appeared in popular Soviet films has died in the northern Russian city of Saint Petersburg after being brutally beaten in a suspected racist attack, officials said on Monday.
“Tito Romalio, 59, died on May 11 in Alexandrovskaya hospital after being beaten by a 43-year-old Russian in a street in the north of the city following a conflict. The suspect was arrested,” a local police said. The spokesman did not give other details, but Russian media outlets, citing anonymous police sou-rces, reported that the atta-cker, identified as Khamzya Yenikeyev, beat the actor out of racist hatred. Romalio, who was of Brazilian descent, started his acting career as a child. —AFP
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Pakistan bars Danish journo after cartoons
Copenhagen, May 17: The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten said on Sunday that Pakistan had refused to renew the visa of its correspondent following a row over its publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed.
On its website, it said the Pakistani authorities have informed Puk Damsgaard Andersen that his visa will not be renewed, saying they can no longer guarantee his security. However, according to the Pakistani daily the Nation, authorities in Islamabad believe Mr Andersen carried out secret and illicit activities and distributed the controversial drawings in Pakistan, an accusation that Mr Andersen denies. “Pakistan cannot guarantee security and it is always an excuse they use to expel people,” Mr Andersen said. —AFP
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Filipino guv & 3 others killed in copter crash
Manila, May 17: At least four people including a provincial governor were killed when a helicopter crashed in the Philippines on Monday, the police said.
The helicopter, carrying governor Rafael Nantes, two security escorts and a pilot went down in a residential area of Lucena city just moments after taking off, said local police director chief inspector Bing Baasis. Mr Baasis said all four aboard were killed.
Nantes, governor of Quezon province, was taking the chartered helicopter to a meeting in Manila about 100 km away when the incident occurred, Rizza Salvana, an aide of the governor, told AFP.
The cause of the crash was still not known, the police said. —AFP