Canadians board Tamil asylum boat

Canadian officials have boarded a cargo ship thought to be carrying about 500 Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka.

The authorities intercepted the MV Sun Sea off British Columbia. They say the migrants will now be vetted amid fears that some are Tamil Tiger rebels - banned by Canada as a terrorist group.

The ship reportedly crossed the Pacific after Australia turned it away.

The Tamil Tigers were routed last year by the government, which has been widely accused of rights abuses.

Sri Lanka's high commissioner to Canada, Chitranganee Wagiswara, has urged Canada to refuse their asylum claims.

She says the ship is part of a people-trafficking operation linked to the Tamil Tigers.

BBC

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Pakistan Floods

Two 'major peaks' due on Indus river

$460 MILLION AID: Pakistani flood survivors evacuate a flooded area of Bassera village yesterday. Struggling aid agencies urged donor nations to rush through 460 million dollars in aid for Pakistan's devastating flood, warning of a potential "second wave" of deaths due to disease.Photo: AFPBbc Online

Flood levels in Pakistan are expected to surge even higher along parts of the already dangerously swollen Indus river.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said "major peaks" were expected on Friday and next week in Punjab and Sindh provinces.

The region's worst flooding in 80 years has affected 14 million people and killed 1,600, according to the UN.

Doctors say that malaria, diarrhoea and gastroenteritis are growing threats.

On yesterday, President Asif Ali Zardari said he would go ahead with a visit to Russia next week, but would stay only a few hours instead of the scheduled two days. It comes after he was heavily criticised for failing to cut short a visit to Europe last week, amid his country's worsening crisis.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's PM has promised aid distribution will be transparent, after criticism of the government's handling of the two-week-old crisis.

DISEASE FEARS

NDMA spokesman Ahmed Kamal said: "There can be further devastation as we are expecting two major peaks in the Indus system."

He said places downstream of the Kotri barrage - a flood barrier in Sindh - and areas on either side of the Taunsa barrage in Punjab were likely to take the brunt of this surge.

President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani are reported to have held an emergency meeting on Thursday night to review the government's much-criticised response.

Mr Zardari made his first visit to the disaster zone on Thursday in an effort to defuse public anger over his handling of the flooding. He toured a relief camp at Sukkur in Sindh.

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