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World in brief

Cruise boat capsizes off Bahrain with 150 people on board

By wire services
Published March 31, 2006

MANAMA, Bahrain - A cruise boat carrying up to 150 people capsized Thursday night in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Bahrain, and at least 48 bodies were recovered, the country's coast guard chief said. American divers and a U.S. helicopter aided the rescue effort.

Coast guard chief Youssef al-Katem said at least 63 people survived. A passenger on board the boat calling from his cell phone was the first to alert officials that the ship was listing, he said.

The official Bahrain News Agency said al-Dana was on an evening cruise that was to last several hours. It overturned less than a mile off the coast, it said. TV footage showed the boat capsized but not sunk, with rescue workers walking on its brown hull.

U.S. helicopters and divers joined the rescue operation launched by Bahrain's coast guard. Bahrain, a tiny island nation on the western side of the Persian Gulf, is home to the Navy's 5th Fleet.

There was no indication of what caused the vessel to overturn in what appeared to be ideal weather. The government dismissed terrorism as a cause, and the news agency quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj. Mohammed Ben Dayna, calling it an accident.

The passengers were thought to be a mix of Bahrainis, nationals of other Gulf Arab nations and Westerners. Health Minister Nada Haffadh told al-Arabiya television that survivors who arrived at hospitals included nationals of India, South Africa, Singapore and Britain.

Information Minister Mohammed Abul-Ghafar, interviewed on al-Arabiya television, said the passengers included 25 Britons, 20 Filipinos, 10 South Africans and 10 Egyptians.

TEHRAN, Iran - A strong earthquake followed by several aftershocks jolted western Iran early today, killing at least 17 and injuring hundreds, state media reported.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 and was centered near Boroujerd and Doroud, two industrial cities in western Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The quake was followed by two weaker aftershocks, but a third tremor had a magnitude of 6.0, IRNA reported.

ANKARA, Turkey - Thousands of police and demonstrators clashed for a third day Thursday in the worst street violence to hit the country's restive Kurdish region in more than a decade.

At least three people have been killed and more than 200 people wounded in protests that erupted Tuesday in Diyarbakir during funeral ceremonies for members of the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party who died in fighting with the Turkish Army last weekend.

LONDON - A travel book written by a former Monty Python comedian will become required reading in high school geography classes, Britain's school minister said Thursday, as the government seeks to boost interest in geography.

Himalaya follows Michael Palin's 1,800-mile, six-month trek through India, Pakistan and China in 2003 and 2004.

Palin, 62, is famous for the cult British TV comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. He has also filmed seven travel documentaries.

The announcement by School Minister Lord Adonis follows the release of a report from the government's education watchdog that said geography was the worst taught subject in British schools.

FRANCE: France's Constitutional Council upheld a contested labor law Thursday making it easier to fire young workers, leaving President Jacques Chirac to decide whether he will sign it.

BELARUS: Russia's natural gas behemoth OAO Gazprom said Thursday that Belarus must pay European rates for its gas, putting the two nations on a potential collision course. Analysts in Belarus said the proposed price hike would cripple Belarus since its Soviet-style command economy relies on cheap Russian gas to keep its exports competitive. Pro-Moscow Belarus is the only former Soviet republic that did not get higher rates from Moscow last year.

[Last modified March 31, 2006, 01:10:06]