October 29th, 1999
Two hundred fishermen were reported missing after a giant super cyclone
slammed into India's eastern coast Friday in the second deadly cyclone
to
hit the area in a dozen days.
Two people were killed and at least 30 were injured, according to
the
United News of India. By midday, the storm had kicked up 248 km/h
(155 mph)
winds as it hit along 480 kilometers (300 miles) of coastline in
the states
of Orissa and West Bengal.
Russian warplanes hit a convoy of Chechen civilians attempting to
flee the
rebel region, Deputy Chechen Prime Minister Kazbek Makhashev told
Interfax
news agency Friday.
"There were many dead, many wounded," one woman, still in a state
of
shock, told Reuters after Russian troops had allowed her and a small
group
of mostly wounded refugees to enter Ingushetia.
The United States says it will begin giving military training to
opponents
of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein next week.
The 10-week course is part of a $97 million US initiative to help
opposition groups
unite against the Iraqi leader and prepare them to rule the country
if he is
ousted.
Armenia's Defense Ministry is in uproar and demanding the sacking
of top law
enforcement officials. President Kocharyan declared three days of
nationwide
mourning as the assassination of Prime Minister Vazgen Sarksyan
begins to
sink in.
October 30th, 1999
The death toll in a giant cyclone that tore across eastern India
could run
into thousands, the chief minister of the coastal state of Orissa
said on
Saturday.
"It could be thousands," Giridhar Gamang said in the state capital
Bhubaneshwar. Seawater up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) deep has inundated
the
coast as far as 15 kilometers (9 miles) inland from the port of
Paradwip.
A day after the cyclone roared in from the Bay of Bengal, the area
was still
inaccessible and all communications were severed.
Rescuers won't be able to reach the hardest-hit areas until Sunday.
Air
force helicopters and ground troops, loaded with food packets, were
waiting
for a break in the weather.
At least 54 people, many of them teen-agers, are confirmed dead and
another
71 injured in a blaze in Inchon, South Korea, that broke out in
a shopping
complex on Saturday.
The death toll from the fire in this port city 30 miles west of
Seoul could
go higher because many of the injured are in critical condition,
officials said. The blaze started in the underground floor of a
four-story
building that housed karaoke rooms, shops, and billiard
rooms. It was crowded with weekend shoppers, diners, and singers.
Warplanes roared over the deserted streets of Chechnya's capital
Saturday as
Russia's jets and heavy artillery pummeled cities and villages in
a
continued onslaught against the breakaway province.
Russian artillery units shelled the outskirts of the capital, Grozny,
from
positions in the hills about six miles northwest of the city. To
the east,
Russian forces were closing in on Gudermes, Chechnya's second-largest
city,
and in the western mountains they were shelling guerrilla stronghold
of
Bamut.
Russian warplanes had flown about 50 sorties in the past 24 hours,
hitting
rebel positions throughout Chechnya and killing up to 100 military
said
Saturday. They destroyed 15 cars and six fuel depots
Thank You
Tia