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From the VOA news center in Washington, I am FA.
The leaders of Thailand’s military coup have sworn-in a retired army chief as the country’s new prime minister. General Surayud Chulanont took the oath of office this evening in Bangkok, he’ll replace Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted last month. Mr. Surayud says he’ll name his cabinet next week.
Typhoon Xangsane has slammed into Vietnam as state news agency says at least 10 people have died. The typhoon hit the central city of Danang this morning battering the heavily populated area with strong wind and heavy rains. The storm toppled trains and power lines, at least 130 people were injured and more than 5,000 homes have been destroyed.
Relatives and friends of those killed in suicide bombings on Bali one year ago have gathered on the Indonesian island to mark the anniversary of the attacks and pay tributes to the victims. Chad Busharb reports from Jakarta.
More than 100 mourners gathered at Jimbaran Bay on Bali Sunday for the ceremony, they read the names of the victims, laid wreaths and scattered flowers on the beach. Security was tight across the island as people remembered the 15 Indonesians, 4 Australians and one Japanese killed in triple suicide bombings last year. Adam Frost, an Australian doctor was holiday in Bali when the bombs ripped through two busy restaurants. Frost lost 3 friends in the blasts and one of his sons was wounded. “More than one was injured, he was sitting next a table, he was , that’s …” Hundreds of mourners also gathers Sunday in the Australian city of Newcastle, the hometown of three of the four Australian victims to mark the anniversary. 4 Islamist militants have received prison sentences of between 8 and 18 years for their involvement in the bombings, but the alleged mastermind of the attack Noordin Mohammad remains at large. Chad Busharb for VOA news Jakarta.
Israel says it has pulled its remaining troops from Lebanon under a UN resolution that ended the Jewish state’s war with Hezebollah. Israeli officials say the last military units returned home early today. On Saturday Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz gave the OK for the several hundred remaining troops to leave Lebanon by the start of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur this evening.
Meanwhile the man in charge of the UN inquiry into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is asking for a greater international help in the probe. VOA’s Peter Heilein is following a story from the United Nations.
Chief investigator Serge Brammertz says his inquiry is making progress and uncovering who was behind a string of 15 political assassinations in Lebanon. Chief among them was the suicide bomb attack in Beirut that killed Rafik Hariri and 22 others in February 2005. Early stages of the investigation turned up evidence of official Syrian involvement in the Hariri killing, Brammertz’s latest report to the council adds few concrete details but outlines a complex assassination plot that was months in the planning and execution. “It’s an extremely sophisticated crime where you really find all the complex, parameters of any international criminal investigation.” Brammertz described Syria’s cooperation with the investigation as generally satisfactory. The Belgian prosecutor also said he was working closely with Lebanese authorities. Peter Heilein VOA news the United Nations.
NATO says it will take command in a few days of up to 12,000 troops to be under authority of the US military in eastern Afghanistan. A NATO spokesman said today that the consolidation would be complete (would rather complete) the expansion of the international security assistance force in Afghanistan. A spokesman says the overall American force level in the country will not change.
40 people are feared dead after a dam collapse in northern Nigeria, officials have yet to verify the death toll. Authorities say heavy rainfall causes water in a visible overflow collapsing the dam on Saturday near the city of Gusau in the capital of Zamfara state. Some 500 houses were swept away.
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I am FL in Washington, you are listening to VOA news.