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The protesters accuse Prem of instigating the coup against Thaksin, and have called for him to resign his post. About 200 police officers and 70 protesters were hurt, most with minor injuries. Some officials have blamed Sunday's violence on Thaksin, who has been accused of financing the anti-coup movement. (AP)

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Monday, August 06, 2007

Tornado Kills Two Children in Southwestern Burma

A tornado lashed a town in Burma, killing two school children and destroying dozens of buildings, a state-run newspaper reported Monday. The storm cut a destructive swathe Saturday through Laputta township in Burma's Irrawaddy delta, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Rangoon, destroying around 60 houses, school buildings and offices and knocking down walls, the New Light of Myanmar reported. Four students were injured when a school building collapsed, the report said. Two later succumbed to their injuries while the other two were being treated at a hospital, the newspaper said. Heavy rains also caused flooding in many parts of the country, inundating houses, disrupting traffic and forcing more than 800 households to evacuate, it said. The report said relief measures were provided to flood victims across the country. (AP)

Vietnam Tropical Storm Kills Nine

Flash floods triggered by a tropical storm in central Vietnam killed eight people, while a falling tree killed a teenage boy, disaster relief officials said Monday. Fourteen others were reported missing. Four people were killed in the Central Highland province of Daklak, where 14 others, including a family of five whose house was washed away by a storm-swollen stream, were missing.Heavy rains triggered by the storm dumped up to 62 centimeters (24 inches) of water on Daklak over the past four days, forcing about 5,000 residents from their homes, Hien said. No rain was reported in the area Monday. In neighboring Lam Dong province, four people were washed away and confirmed killed by floods, while a 13-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree. (AP)

East Timor Designates First National Park

East Timor has designated its first national park as part of efforts to protect threatened bird species and rich marine life, some of which can not be found anywhere else in the world, wildlife officials said. The 123,600-hectare (305,415 acres) Nino Konis Santana National Park is home to the critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoo Cacatua sulphurea, the endangered green-pigeon Treron psittaceus, and nearly two dozen other bird species unique to the country and neighboring islands. It also spans 55,600 hectares (137,387 acres) of the 'Coral Triangle,' which boasts some of the richest biodiversity of coral and reef fish. Mike Rands, chief executive of the international conservation group, BirdLife, praised the government's decision to designate the area a national park as "incredibly forward-thinking" and "all the more spectacular by the fact that this is such a young nation." (AP)

Philippine Left-wing Protesters Rally for Missing Activist

Left-wing protesters marched through a downpour in downtown Manila on Monday to demand the release of an activist who they believe was abducted by security forces 100 days ago. The Supreme Court has ordered the military, police and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo—as the commander in chief—to produce Jonas Burgos in court, after his family and supporters mounted a nationwide campaign accusing security forces of kidnapping him on April 28. Military officials and government lawyers told the Court of Appeals on July 27 they had nothing to do with Burgos' disappearance and could not find him. The court set another hearing next week. Witnesses said they saw Burgos being dragged by six armed men and a woman who identified themselves as police officers from a suburban mall to a waiting car. The license plate was later traced to a vehicle impounded at the army's 56th Infantry Battalion camp in northern Bulacan province.

Several dozen members of the Peasants' Movement of the Philippines, a group Burgos belonged to, marched in the capital Monday to mark the 100th day of his disappearance. They carried streamers that read "Free Jonas Burgos." Many of them wore masks printed with his picture. "This is to show that not only Jonas is missing," his mother, Edita, told Manila's QTV station. "Jonas is just the face of the missing." (AP)

350 Burmese Arrested in Malaysia

More than 350 illegal Burmese migrants were arrested by the Malaysia Immigration Department on Sunday.