World Information Thursday

Two killed in Lebanon
sectarian gunbattles
Agence France-Presse . Tripoli
Two people were killed and dozens wounded in street battles between rival sectarian camps armed with rockets, sniper rifles and grenades in the north Lebanese city of Tripoli on Wednesday.
Panicked residents were
fleeing the scene of the fighting which first erupted late on Tuesday in two districts in northeastern Tripoli, while several roads were blocked and local shops and schools were closed, an AFP correspondent said.
A security official said two people were killed and another 49 were wounded in the violence, which followed the eruption of similar battles two weeks ago in the port city that left nine people dead and dozens more injured.
The latest fighting comes amid continued efforts by the prime minister, Fuad Siniora, to form a national unity government which have been hampered by bickering between rival factions over cabinet posts.
Fighting was raging on a main road separating the areas of Bab al-Tebbaneh – where most residents are Sunni supporters of the Western-backed Siniora government – and Jabal Mohsen, which is dominated by members of the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam.
The security official said that the dead included a Palestinian nurse gunned down by sniper fire, adding: ‘The wounded belong to both the Sunni and Alawite rival camps.’
He said the Lebanese army has been ordered ‘to increase patrols and arrest anyone who threatens public security even if the use of force is necessary.’
The army could not be reached for comment, but was seen bolstering its presence in neighbouring areas without intervening directly to halt the shootings.
Sporadic fighting has erupted in Lebanon despite a powersharing deal between rival factions aimed at ending political crisis that boiled over into clashes that left 65 dead in May and raised fears of a return to all-out civil war.
The AFP correspondent said many people living in the areas of Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen have fled their homes, but that some people were wounded by sniper fire as they were trying to escape the violence.


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Firefighters tighten grip on California
blaze as heatwave looms
Agence France-Presse . Los Angeles
Firefighters took advantage of cool weather and calm winds to tighten their grip on wildfires in California as the prospect of a forecast heatwave loomed over the region on Tuesday.
A total of 323 fires remained active, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection figures on Tuesday, with more than 630,000 acres scorched since the firestorm erupted on June 20.
Around 18,400 personnel are deployed across the state, with fires near Santa Barbara, 103 miles north of Los Angeles, and Big Sur, 120 miles south of San Francisco, commanding most attention.
With a lull in temperatures and winds, firefighters have been able to make significant inroads into the two fires that have ripped through tinder-dry brush and chapparal in the Los Padres National Forest.
The Gap fire, near Santa Barbara, which has burnt 9,710 acres since July 1 and forced the evacuation of more than 1,700 homes at one stage, was now 50 per cent contained. Only 275 homes remained under evacuation orders on Tuesday.
Captain Eli Iskow of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said the weather had allowed crews to make steady progress as they sought to stop flames heading toward isolated canyon properties and homes.
‘We’re way ahead of the curve,’ Iskow told the Los Angeles Times. ‘With a lot of hard work, we may not let it get there.’
The fire near Big Sur, which was at 80,186 acres, was now 18 per cent contained. Official updates cautioned however that the potential for growth in both fires remained high if winds and temperatures rise.
On Monday around 36,000 homes in the region were left in darkness after fires knocked out power lines.
A heatwave is expected to arrive in the fire-stricken region on Wednesday, bringing temperatures of around 90-98 Fahrenheit
In Los Angeles County meanwhile, National Weather Service forecasters have issued an excessive heat warning for Tuesday over mountainous regions. The warning means a prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures will occur.


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UNESCO adds 27 new sites
World Heritage List
Agence France-Presse . Quebec City
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee added a whopping 27 new sites to its World Heritage List at its 32nd session this week, including French fortifications, a Hindu temple and a butterfly biosphere.
Nineteen cultural sites and eight natural sites were inscribed, said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation panel, meeting in this oldest of Canadian cities.
The total number of World Heritage sites now reaches 878 sites in 145 countries, it said.
In this latest bout, four countries – Papua New Guinea, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, and Vanuatu – entered the list for the first time.
The ancient Ottoman town of Berat in central Albania was added to a listing for Gjirokastra, inscribed in 2005, illustrating the ‘coexistence of various religious and cultural communities,’ the committee said in a statement.
It features a 13th century castle, many Byzantine churches and mosques built under Turkish occupation, as well as houses used by various religious communities – notably some used by Sufi brotherhoods in the 18th century.
The heritage committee also approved the extension of the Mountain Railways of India with the inscription of the Kalka Shimla Railway, a 96-kilometer long, single track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla.
Ten new sites from Europe made the prestigious list of architectural and natural wonders this year, including French fortifications that represent the ‘finest examples’ of the work of Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, a military engineer of King Louis XIV.
Vauban’s designs were said to have played a ‘major role’ in the history of fortification in Europe and as far away as the American continent, Russia and East Asia.
At the other end of history, German early 20th century low-income housing, which inspired modern apartment living around the world, also entered the list.
At the same time, the committee warned that the eastern German city of Dresden risked being de-listed next year if construction of a bridge across its Elbe Valley is not halted.
Several sites in Asia were honoured too, including two historic Malaysian trading towns and an early agricultural site in Papua New Guinea.


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Medvedev warns US on missile shield
Agence France-Presse . Toyako
The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, warned Wednesday that he would consider countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with a plan to build a missile defence shield in eastern Europe.
Medvedev said a deal on the missile plan signed this week between the United States and the Czech Republic ‘offends us greatly.’
‘Russia isn’t going to get hysterical but will be studying countermeasures,’ Medvedev told reporters after a summit of Group of Eight leaders including the US president, George W Bush, in the northern Japanese town of Toyako.
Washington says it needs to base interceptor missiles in former Soviet bloc states to form a shield to stop possible attacks by states like Iran or North Korea. But Russia has seen the move as an affront.


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Anti-Pope fashion parade
held in Australia
Agence France-Presse . Sydney
Australians protesting against Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Sydney took a creative turn on Wednesday, staging an ‘annoying’ fashion show of T-shirts displaying anti-Catholic slogans.
The show, a response to new laws against causing ‘annoyance’ to pilgrims attending Catholic World Youth day next week, came just a day after the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, called on all Australians to show the Pope respect.
‘They are not from Milan,’ acknowledged Rachel Evans, spokeswoman of the NoToPope group, as T-shirts featuring slogans such as ‘The Pope is wrong, put a condom on’ were displayed outside the New South Wales state parliament.
Other shirts, which are selling for 20 dollars, read ‘Pope go homo’, ‘There is no God’ and ‘Does the history of your church annoy you?’
Among the most graphic was one featuring Benedict XVI standing with arms outstretched but with pointed, red devil ears and a tail superimposed on the image under the slogan ‘Chief homophobe’.
NoToPope, a coalition including Christians, atheists and gay groups, was protesting at new regulations giving police power to stop conduct that ‘causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants’ in World Youth Day.