An oil tanker and a bulk carrier collided in waters between Malaysia and Singapore on Tuesday morning, spilling an estimated 2,000 tonnes of oil, but traffic in Asia’s busiest shipping lane remained unaffected.
The Malaysian flagged MT Bunga Kelana was carrying about 62,000 tonnes of light crude oil, the country’s Coast Guard said. Singapore port authorities said they had activated oil-spill response companies and a clean-up operation was being put in place. There were no reports of injuries among the 50 crew members. The incident happened in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait, 13 kilometres from the southeastern tip of the island nation, the city-state’s Maritime and Port Authority said.
The spill, equivalent to less than 15,000 barrels, is dwarfed by the about 175,000 barrels of oil that has poured into the Gulf of Mexico since the deadly April 20 offshore explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon rig.
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Number of missing kids is increasing in Italy
Rome, May 25: A growing number of children in Italy are disappearing from their homes and are at risk of sexual exploitation, according to a leading child welfare group. Telefono Azzurro said 222 children disappeared between January and March this year. The welfare group released a report entitled, “The disappearance and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents: what are the strategies and interventions?” on Tuesday. The report, released to coincide with International Children’s Day, said the police figures showed that 1,033 Italian and foreign minors had been reported missing during 2009.
By arrangement with AKI
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Gunmen rob gold shops, kill 15 in Iraq
Baghdad, May 25: Mask-ed gunmen shot up a gold jewellery market in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 15 people before they fled with a large quantity of gold in their arms, the police and hospital officials said.
The attack was the latest in a crime wave in the capital that has swelled over the past year as sectarian violence in Iraq has ebbed. Many of those involved are believed to be battle-hardened former insurgents unable to find legitimate work. After the attacks in the southwestern neighbourhood of Baiyaa, a dead body that the police and witnesses said was one of the assailants was covered with a cloth on the bloodstained sidewalk amid shattered glass of the shop windows. —AP
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16 Russian tourists die in Turkey
Ankara, May 25: A bus carrying Russian tourists skidded off a highway in southern Turkey and fell off a bridge Tuesday, killing 16 passengers and injuring 25 others, officials and news reports said.
The bus flipped over and fell about 20 feet onto a river bed, NTV television footage showed. Deputy governor Mehmet Seyman of the Mediterranean province of Antalya said rescue workers struggled to pull the bodies and injured from the wreckage. Sources said the driver was sleeping. Each year, thousands are killed in traffic accidents on Turkey’s roads because of careless driving or poor road conditions. Many of the roads consist of just two lanes, are badly lit and poorly patrolled by the police. —AP