Storms in China traps tourists, kill 69

AT least 100 tourists have been left trapped after a landslide cut off a road amid storms that have flooded rivers and triggered mudslides, killing at least 69 people in China.

The tourists became trapped on Friday night in the northwest province of Gansu after a landslide cut off traffic, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

They were en route to a nature reserve in Sichuan province, which has been hit hardest by the week-long series of storms, and road repair work was under way in an effort to free them.

Sichuan has reported at least 31 storm-related deaths.

A massive mudslide that struck a scenic resort outside the city of Dujiangyan in Sichuan killed 26 people and left 123 people missing, according to Xinhua.

An entire hillside collapsed onto clusters of holiday cottages where city dwellers escape summer heat, a survivor told the news agency.

Flooding in Sichuan was the worst in 50 years for some areas, with more than 220,000 people forced to evacuate.

Mudslides and flooding are common in China's mountainous areas, killing hundreds of people every year but in some areas the current floods are already the worst in half a century.

In the northwest province of Shaanxi, 23 people died in landslides or house collapses.

At least 12 workers were killed in the northern province of Shanxi when a violent rainstorm collapsed an unfinished coal mine workshop.

Another three people were drowned in a car in Hebei province outside Beijing.

AP j

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Two dead, 100 hurt as Soulik hits Taiwan

TYPHOON Soulik is battering Taiwan with torrential rain and powerful winds which have so far left two people dead and at least 100 injured.

Roofs have been ripped from homes, debris and fallen trees litter streets and some areas are submerged by flood waters.

One town in central Taiwan reported on Saturday widespread landslides and water levels a storey high.

Around 8000 people were evacuated from homes before the typhoon struck, with hundreds of soldiers deployed to high-risk areas and the whole island declared an "alert zone" by authorities.

In the capital Taipei, a 50-year-old police officer died after being hit by bricks loosened during the typhoon, the Central Emergency Operation Centre said.

A 54-year-old woman from central Miaoli county died after falling from the roof of her home.

In Taichung city, a man was missing after falling into a river.

104 people were reported injured, mostly by trees or flying debris, with the majority recorded in Taichung.

Soulik made landfall on the northeast coast around 3am local time on Saturday, packing winds of up to 190 kilometres an hour, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

Strong winds battered the island for much of the day but by late afternoon the CWB downgraded Soulik to a tropical storm and lifted the land warning as it churned towards mainland China.

Nine people were rescued from flooded homes in the Shiangshan area of Puli, a town in central Nantou county, which was also hit by landslides.

"The water came very fast, catching residents totally unprepared - in some areas, it was one-storey deep," township official Wu Yuan-ming told AFP.

The nine were rescued by firefighters in rubber boats after the river broke its banks, Wu said.

"Flooding and landslides were widespread in the town, especially in the areas near mountains," he added, calling the effects of the typhoon "more serious than we predicted".

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Russia awaits Snowden asylum request

RUSSIA is waiting on a promised request for asylum from fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden that risks straining relations with Washington.

Snowden on Friday dramatically summoned activists to the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport where he has been marooned without a passport for three weeks after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong.

But a day after saying he would immediately request asylum from Russia, officials in Moscow say they are not aware of any approach by the former National Security Agency contractor.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared on Saturday to want to distance himself from the controversy, insisting the government was "not contacting" Snowden and that he had found out about the details of his meeting with activists through the media.

"Russian laws specify a procedure for obtaining political asylum and the first step is approaching the Federal Migration Service," he added, quoted by Russian news agencies.

The United States has told Moscow Snowden must be extradited home to face justice over his leaking of sensational details about US surveillance activities, a demand President Vladimir Putin has rejected.

Snowden, 30, making his first publicised appearance since arriving in Moscow, told the activists he wanted to claim asylum in Russia until he could safely travel to Latin America for a permanent sanctuary.

He had said he would make the asylum request on Friday evening.

The head of Russia's Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovsky said on Saturday "there is for the moment no application from E. Snowden".

If one was made, it would be examined "according to normal legal procedures", he added.

Curiously, Snowden had last week withdrawn a request for asylum in Russia after Putin insisted he could stay only if he stopped releasing information that harmed the United States.

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No UK public inquiry into Litvinenko death

THE British government has refused to hold a public inquiry into the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, a coroner says, leaving the current proceedings on the verge of collapse.

Coroner Robert Owen had sought a full public inquiry to replace his lower-level inquest into the 2006 murder of the former spy in London as he is not authorised to investigate the possible involvement of the Russian state.

But he told a hearing at London's Royal Courts of Justice on Friday the British government had only about an hour earlier denied his request for a judge-led inquiry into the killing.

Litvinenko, 43, was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London hotel.

His widow Marina has claimed that her husband, a former KGB agent, was working for Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6 at the time of his slow and agonising death, and that he was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.

Her lawyer Ben Emmerson told Friday's hearing the British government had shown an "utter lack of professionalism" in the way it handled the request for a public inquiry.

"The repeated catalogue of broken promises is a sign of something gone awry," Emmerson told the court.

The current inquest into Litvinenko's death was thrown into doubt in May when Owen ruled that he could not hear evidence concerning Russia's alleged role, following an application by the British foreign ministry to keep it secret.

Owen had said he would be failing in his duty "to undertake a full, fair and fearless inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Litvinenko's death" if he was forced to disregard the evidence for national security reasons.

He suggested the death could instead be considered in a public inquiry in which the evidence alleging Russian state involvement "could be taken into account".

Under English law, evidence cannot be heard in secret as part of an inquest, but could be presented behind closed doors as part of a public inquiry.

Inquests, which are held to examine sudden or unexplained deaths, set out to determine the place and time of death as well as how the deceased came by their death, but they do not apportion blame.

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Suicides hit all-time high in Singapore

SUICIDES in Singapore hit an all-time high of 487 in 2012 as more young people bogged down by stress and relationship woes took their own lives, a charity group says.

The tally, a 29 per cent increase from the 2011 total, was boosted by an 80 per cent rise in the 20-29 age bracket, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) said in a statement.

"Common problems presented by this group of people involved stressful life events, and interpersonal relationship issues," said SOS, which aims to prevent suicides by providing emotional support through private counselling and a 24-hour telephone hotline.

"These include unemployment, stress with studies or work, financial worries, family life, and struggles with social interactions and feelings of loneliness."

Christine Wong, executive director of SOS, said young people under stress "tend to hide their pain behind a facade, not knowing where, how or who they can approach for help".

"People around them may not be aware of their distress and are hence unable to provide the support needed," she said in the statement.

Wong added the community should play an important role in "destigmatising" suicide by encouraging those under stress to talk about their struggles and suicidal feelings.

SOS received 39,994 calls on its telephone hotline in 2012, down from 40,025 in 2011.

Suicides cases have consistently hovered around two per cent of total deaths in Singapore, an affluent city-state of 5.3 million residents known for its pressure-laden school system.

Despite a virtually full employment rate, Singapore also has a highly competitive work environment.

Suicide is an offence in the compact island-state, and anyone who survives an attempt faces a jail term of up to a year, a fine or both.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) last year said one million people commit suicide every year worldwide, accounting for more deaths than wars and murders put together.

The number of suicide attempts is five times higher, WHO said, with five per cent of the people in the world having tried to kill themselves at least once during their lifetime.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies at 87

BROADCASTER Alan Whicker, whose distinguished TV career stretched nearly 60 years, has died at the age of 87 after suffering from bronchial pneumonia, his spokeswoman says.

Whicker was best known for his Whicker's World TV series and his global travels during a distinguished TV career.

The presenter and reporter died in the early hours of Friday at his home in Jersey.

The star, who had been with partner Valerie Kleeman for more than 40 years, regularly presented Whicker's World for a little over three decades.

The documentary programs famously brought a glimpse of the exotic jetset lifestyles of the rich and famous into UK homes.

In 2009, he returned to some of the locations and people who featured over the years for a BBC series, Alan Whicker's Journey Of A Lifetime.

His distinctive voice and delivery led to him regularly being parodied by, among others, the Monty Python team, and a jokey rap delivered Whicker-style, called Wikka Wrap, even made the top 20 in 1981. He once entered a Whicker soundalike contest and managed to finish in third place.

Egypt-born Whicker had also been a war correspondent and, during his own service in World War II, he was among the first group of Allied forces to enter Milan and he filmed footage of the body of Mussolini.

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Thousands evacuated as typhoon nears

THOUSANDS of people have been evacuated in Taiwan and the entire island declared an "alert zone" as Typhoon Soulik edges nearer.

More than 8000 people have been moved from their homes, many from southern areas prone to landslides, the Central Emergency Operation Centre says as the typhoon is expected to pound the country with powerful winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

"The whole country is now considered an alert zone," an official from the National Fire Agency told AFP.

Around 5000 of those who have been evacuated were from the landslide zones in the south - 3000 were moved out of Kaohsiung city and 2000 others from Pingtung county.

They have been taken to local government buildings which have been turned into shelters.

Offices and schools closed in Taipei and eight other cities, with residents advised to stay indoors as the typhoon churns towards the island.

Packing winds of up to 209km/h, Soulik is expected to make landfall on the northeast coast around 3am on Saturday (0500 AEST), the Central Weather Bureau said.

The bureau downgraded Soulik from a super typhoon to a moderate typhoon but warned residents across the island to prepare for "extreme torrential rain" - classified as 350mm within 24 hours - and rough seas.

In the north, more than 600 residents were evacuated from six low-lying riverside villages on Friday morning.

In Wuchieh, a township in the northeastern Yilan county - which is forecast to bear the brunt of Soulik - over 2000 sandbags were snatched up by residents and two amphibious military vehicles deployed for rescue.

Waves as high as 1.5 metres hit the shore in Yilan on Friday afternoon as coastguards patrolled the beach to warn visitors to stay away while hundreds of fishing boats sought shelter.

"Many farmers have harvested rice, fruits and vegetables early as the typhoon is expected to impact our area," said Huang Hai-tao, an official in Jiaosi, a popular tourist destination in Yilan.

"The typhoon has also caused some damage to tourism as more than 90 per cent bookings for this weekend have been cancelled."

President Ma Ying-jeou urged government units and the public "not to let their guards down" in a statement, after inspecting the central government's disaster response centre.

A coastal highway in Yilan where 20 Chinese tourists were killed by landslides caused by Typhoon Megi in 2010 was also closed.

More than 2000 tourists had already been evacuated from the remote Green Island, southeast of Taiwan, on Thursday.

The storm has disrupted air travel to and from Taiwan with 65 flights cancelled according to the transport authorities.

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China plans to further restrict car use

CHINA is planning to up the number of cities that restrict vehicle purchases, in a bid to fight pollution and congestion.

Four cities including Beijing and Shanghai already curb the purchase of vehicles for private use, for example by restricting sales to 20,000 per year through a lottery system.

On Thursday, state media quoted the deputy secretary general of the government-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers as saying eight more cities are likely to announce similar policies.

The eight include port city Tianjin, near Beijing, metropolis Chongqing in the southwest and industrial powerhouse Shenzhen, not far from Hong Kong.

With more than 13 million cars sold in China last year, motor vehicles and their emissions have emerged as the chief culprit for air pollution in large cities.

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Navy inducts new helicopter into fleet

THE Navy has officially welcomed its new helicopters, which have been described as the most advanced tactical troop transport helicopters of the 21st century.

The first of 46 MRH-90s, also known as Taipans, were formally commissioned in a ceremony attended by the Navy's top brass and the former heads of the squadron which has been re-inducted to fly them.

The Taipan was formally commissioned into the fleet at HMAS Albatross navy base.

808 Squadron, first formed in 1950 and whose personnel fought during the Korean War but were decommissioned in 1958, will fly the new craft.

Australian Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Tim Barrett said the Navy would use the new aircraft in the maritime support role previously performed by now retired Sea King helicopter.

In Army service, the Taipan will replace Black Hawks as a battlefield and special operations support helicopter.

"The commissioning of 808 Squadron is a significant milestone for the Navy," Rear Admiral Barrett said in a statement.

The European-designed helicopter is capable of transporting up to 30 personnel.

But it has encountered problems, with a number of performance shortfalls which are now being addressed. The Taipan was listed as a project of concern in 2011.

Rear Admiral Barrett said bringing a technologically advanced, new generation aircraft into service was no simple task.

"There are several nations around the world introducing variants of the MRH-90 Helicopter but 808 Squadron is leading the world in the level of capability being achieved with this new aircraft, particularly in its operations at sea."

The 808 Squadron will be based at HMAS Albatross and its helicopters will operate from support ships such as HMAS Success, HMAS Tobruk and HMAS Choules.

The Taipan will also operate from the new landing helicopter dock amphibious ships Canberra and Adelaide.

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China accuses GSK staff of corruption

Senior managers of drug firm GlaxoSmithKline in China are facing investigation for corruption. Source: AAP

SENIOR managers of British drug firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in China have confessed to bribery, "serious" business offences and tax crimes, police say.

"As a big multinational pharmaceutical company, GSK China in recent years rampantly bribed some government officials, a number of pharmaceutical industry groups and funds, hospitals and doctors," the ministry of public security said in a statement.

The firm did so in order to sell products or raise prices, it said, adding that benefits were provided "via travel agencies and other channels in the form of direct bribery or sponsorship".

GSK China also committed tax-related crimes, the statement said, following police investigations in the financial hub Shanghai and the central cities of Changsha and Zhengzhou.

"The case involves a large number of people, a long period of time, a huge value and its circumstances are vile," it added.

Some senior managers have confessed their wrongdoings in preliminary interrogation, the statement said, without specifying the suspects' nationalities.

The inquiry was continuing.

It is common practice in China for pharmaceutical firms to offer doctors and hospitals bribes to have their products used, industry insiders say.

GSK is one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical companies in China with total investment of more than $US500 million ($A544.72 million), according to its website.

Officials at GSK said they could not immediately comment when contacted by AFP.

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