US moves warships closer to Libya, freezes assets

The United States began moving warships and aircraft closer to Libya yesterday and froze US$30 billion (RM90.15 billion) in Libyan assets, ramping up pressure on leader Muammar Gaddafi after calling on him to step aside.

Gaddafi is “slaughtering his own people,” unfit to lead and “disconnected from reality,” the US envoy to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said at the White House in the hardest-hitting US denunciation yet of the Libyan leader.

News of the military preparations and the tougher US rhetoric follow days of criticism of the Obama administration by Republican lawmakers, conservative commentators and others for its initially cautious response to the turmoil in Libya.

The administration has defended its response, saying it had been reluctant to take any steps that could endanger US citizens in the North African country. Washington imposed sanctions on Libya on Friday just hours after a plane carrying some of the last Americans flew out of the capital Tripoli.

In addition to repositioning military units and freezing Gaddafi’s assets, Washington was also working with allies on imposing a possible “no-fly” zone over the country.

Clinton: US reaching out to Libyans amid uprising

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday the United States was reaching out to Libyan opposition groups seeking to oust longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Clinton spoke shortly before leaving for Geneva, where she will meet with European allies and envoys from Arab and African countries in hopes of agreeing on a common response to the rebellion that threatens to end Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks about her meeting with Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota at the State Department in Washington, February 23, 2011.

Obama welcomes Bahrain cabinet reshuffle

US President Barack Obama toasts before a dinner for the National Governor’s Association at the White House in Washington, February 27, 2011.

President Barack Obama welcomed yesterday a move by Bahrain’s government to reshuffle its cabinet and urged it to respect human rights.

“I welcome the announcement by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa about making important changes to the cabinet and restating his commitment to reform,” Obama said in a statement.

The king reshuffled the cabinet in a further attempt to appease the Shi’ite opposition that has staged days of protests against the Sunni-led government, government sources said.

Now even Gaddafi's 'voluptuous' nurse deserts him as world turns up the diplomatic pressure

* Libyan leader forfeits his right to govern because of human rights abuses, claims Hillary Clinton
* Tyrant's son seen on video urging supporters to fight 'until the last bullet'
* Rebels parade captured mercenaries at gunpoint
* British Prime Minister David Cameron threatens UK military action within in Libya if killings continue
* Defiant or 'delusional'? Gaddafi insists 'All my people love me'

A nurse who has been at Moammar Gaddafi’s side for nine years is planning to flee Libya - as the nation descends further into violence and world leader call for him to relinquish power immediately.

The tyrant is said to be deeply attached to Halyna Kolotnytska, a 38-year-old Ukrainian he describes as ‘voluptuous’.

She travels everywhere with him, as only she ‘knows his routine’. There is even some suggestion that the pair are lovers.

Preparing to flee: Halyna Kolotnytska, seen in an undated photo with Moammar Gaddaf, is a 38-year-old Ukrainian he describes as 'voluptuous'

Unusual claims: Gaddafi has said he is protected by a 200-strong team of 'virgin bodyguards', and told BBC's Jeremy Bowen and Sunday times' Christine Amanpour at the weekend that 'All my people are with me'

Loyal companion: Ms Kolotnytska has been Gaddafi's nurse for nine years. The dictator claims she is the only one who knows his routine - and there have been suggestions that they are lovers

Thailand to further probe killing of Reuters journalist

Thai investigators said today they were still trying to establish who killed Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto last year after reversing preliminary findings that a soldier probably fired the fatal bullet.

Muramoto (picture), a 43-year-old Japanese national, was killed by a high-velocity bullet wound to the chest while covering clashes between anti-government “red shirt” protesters and troops in Bangkok’s old quarter on April 10 last year.

Gaddafi's son 'caught on video urging loyalists to sacrifice themselves until the last bullet'

Colonel Gaddafi's son has been caught on video brandishing a semi-automatic rifle in the air and urging paramilitaries to sacrifice themselves until 'the last bullet'.

The chilling footage, shot in Tripoli at the weekend, makes a mockery of London School of Economics-educated Saif Al-Islam's claims he can reform Libya following 42 years of rule by his tyrant father.

Rather than looking like a moderate reformer, the 38-year-old looks like a 'rabble-rousing gangster', according to a pro-democracy protester who leaked the video after recording it on his mobile phone.

 Defiant: Video footage apparently shows Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam brandishing a rifle and calling on supporters to fight 'to the last bull

 'Gangster': The footage, filmed secretly on a mobile phone, was taken near Green Square in Tripoli

'Moderate': Saif has claimed Tripoli was peaceful in TV interviews and the scale of the violence was exaggerated

Libya: more bloodshed in battle for Misrata-Libya: fighting continues in key towns -Britain urges Libya to end violence - Sanctions to hit Libya include asset freeze, passport ban and no arms sales

World raises pressure on Libya, battles for key towns

Anti-government rebels carry ammunition in a base for training and recruiting rebels for the army in Benghazi on February 28, 2011

Foreign powers accelerated efforts to help oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi yesterday as rebels fought government forces trying to take back strategic coastal cities on either side of the capital Tripoli.

Gaddafi’s forces have been trying for days to push back a revolt that has won over large parts of the military, ended his control over eastern Libya and is fending off government assaults in western cities near Tripoli.

It is difficult for reporters to move around western Libya and reports of fighting were hard to verify independently.

World govts send planes, ships for Libya evacuation

Governments around the world scrambled today to send planes and ships to evacuate their citizens from turmoil in Libya, whose leader Muammar Gaddafi has vowed to crush a revolt against his 41-year rule.

Fears for the safety of foreigners were heightened after a Turkish worker was shot dead as he climbed a crane at a building site near the capital Tripoli, according to Turkish officials.

Turkey, with 25,000 citizens in Libya, is mounting the biggest evacuation operation in its history, and 21 other governments have asked Ankara for help getting their nationals out, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference.

European Union states are evacuating some 10,000 EU citizens from Libya, a spokesman for the EU executive said during a European Commission news briefing.

Obama breaks silence, condemns Libya crackdown

Obama speaks about Libya while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens in the White House in Washington yesterday, February 23, 201


US President Barack Obama yesterday condemned the “unacceptable” bloodshed in Libya and said he would work with other countries to hold Muammar Gaddafi’s government accountable.

In his first public comments on Gaddafi’s efforts to crush a popular revolt that erupted alongside uprisings elsewhere in the region, Obama said his administration was looking at “the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis.”

“The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable,” he said. “This violence must stop.”

While Obama did not say what actions Washington might take against the oil-producing North African country, US officials said earlier that sanctions and freezing assets, including those belonging to Gaddafi, were possible.

Still, analysts say US options to influence events in Libya are limited, unlike in Egypt and Bahrain where Washington was able to bring pressure as a long-time ally and benefactor.

Obama, the first US president to shake hands with Gaddafi, has faced criticism in some quarters for not speaking out sooner. But officials say the US response has been tempered to ensure Americans in Libya can be safely evacuated.

Foreign rescue teams join search for NZ quake survivors

Members of the Japan Disaster Relief Team for New Zealand Earthquake line up as they board their flight to New Zealand by government aircraft at Narita international airport in Narita, east of Tokyo, February 23, 2011

Hundreds of foreign rescuers will join exhausted New Zealand teams tomorrow in an increasingly desperate search of quake-shattered buildings in central Christchurch as time runs out to find survivors buried under rubble.

Officials have abandoned hope of finding anyone alive in the collapsed Canterbury Television (CTV) building in the city centre, including foreign students at a third-floor language school, with a grader moving in to clear debris.

Saudi king back home, orders US$37b in handouts

Saudi King Abdullah returned home today after a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth some US$37 billion (RM112.80 billion) in an apparent bid to insulate the world’s top oil exporter from an Arab protest wave.

The king (picture), who had been convalescing in Morocco after back surgery in New York in November, stood as he descended from the plane in a special lift. He then took to a wheelchair.

Hopes of finding Kiwi quake survivors fade

Rescue workers prepare a stretcher to retrieve a body from the rubble of CTV building today, February 24, 2011

International rescuers intensified their search for earthquake survivors in New Zealand today despite fading hopes of finding any more people alive and fears that a damaged 26-storey tower could collapse nearby at any time.

Specialist teams from quake-prone countries such as Japan and the United States used sniffer dogs and listening devices to search for signs of life, two days after a strong tremor struck the tourist city of Christchurch, killing at least 76 people in the country’s deadliest natural disaster for 80 years.

Rescue teams rushed today to a small church after it was believed that a woman’s voice had been heard — apparently the first sign in more than 15 hours that people might still be alive — but it turned out to be another false hope.

“Right now we do not have any active contact with any person or any indication of signs of life at any location we are working at,” fire rescue co-ordinator Jim Stuart Black said.

“We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.”

World grapples for response as battles divide Libya

Protesters chant anti-government slogans while holding a Libyan flag in a square in Benghazi yesterday, February 23, 2011

World leaders condemned Mummar Gaddafi’s bloody crackdown on a revolt that has split Libya, but took little action to halt the bloodshed from the latest upheaval reshaping the Arab world.

US President Barack Obama made his first public comments, condemning as “outrageous” and “unacceptable” attacks on protesters that have killed hundreds in 10 days and helped drive oil prices to levels that threaten global economic recovery.

Yet, there seemed little cohesion and urgency in a global response, even as Washington and Brussels spoke of possible sanctions against a man whose 41 years in power have been marked by idiosyncratic defiance of the West.

“It is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice,” Obama said. “The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous.”

Despair in New Zealand as earthquake death toll is expected to hit nearly 400

* Death toll at 75 but hope is fading fast for 300 missing
* Search called off at TV station and school showing 'no signs of life'
* Race against time to free people trapped in the rubble
* Briton and Irish citizen confirmed killed in the disaster
* Deadliest New Zealand natural disaster for 80 years

Hope is fading fast for hundreds of people who are still missing, feared dead in Christchurch as searches in the city are called off.

Families, friends and colleagues are being told to prepare for the worst as they are told the chances of finding their loved ones alive are extremely low.

A few experienced joy and relief as people were pulled from the wreckage with bleary eyes but barely a scratch on them, but those scenes are not expected to be repeated as time goes by.

At least 75 people have now known to have died but there are still around 300 people missing under deep piles of rubble and huge chunks of concrete.

Razed to the ground: The Canterbury TV building today, where police now say there is no hope

Rubble: An aerial of the site where the Canterbury TV building has collapsed

Libya Revolt Spreads, Gadhafi Hold Whittled Away - Libyan pilot refuses orders to bomb city -More Libyan officials abandon Gaddafi -Gaddafi: 'mad dog of the Middle East'

Fear stalks Tripoli, celebrations in Libya’s east

Anti-government protesters make victory signs as they stand on an army tank near a square in Benghazi yesterday, February 23, 2011. Thousands of Libyans celebrated the liberation of Benghazi from the rule of Gaddafi.


Thousands of Libyans celebrated the liberation of the eastern city of Benghazi from the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who was reported to have sent a plane to bomb them yesterday as he clung to power.

The crew bailed out of the aircraft after it took off from the capital Tripoli. It then came down southwest of Benghazi, Libya’s Quryna newspaper cited a military source as saying, averting a fresh bloodshed in almost a week of violence.

Tripoli, along with western Libya, is still under Gaddafi’s control and people there said they were too afraid of pro-government militia to go out after Gaddafi threatened violence against protesters in a speech on Tuesday night.

New Zealand quake death toll rises to 92

The death toll from the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand’s second biggest city, stands at about 92 and could rise substantially, Prime Minister John Key told Sky News television today.

“The indications we’re getting from the police ... is that the loss of life could be more substantial than anyone of us had ever dreamed of,” Key said.

“They’ve been in touch with a couple of hundred families who have clearly indicated that they have a loved one missing and police have every reason to believe those people may be fatalities.”

Wrecked buses are seen in rubble on Colombo Street, the main street of Christchurch, today, February 24, 2011

Gaddafi gives 15-second "speech" on state TV - Libya teeters on the brink - Libya : "This is a mess, a complete mess" - First Egypt, Now Libya

Iran naval ships enter Suez Canal, says official

An Iranian naval ship travels through the Suez Canal near Ismailia, some 120km north of Cairo February 22, 2011. Two Iranian naval ships entered the Suez Canal today and were heading toward the Mediterranean, a canal official said, a move certain to anger Israel.


Two Iranian ships entered the Suez Canal today and were heading towards the Mediterranean, a canal official said.

“They entered the canal at 5.45am,” the official said. No other details were immediately available.

Israel had said it takes a “grave view” of the passage of the ships – the first Iranian naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Four Americans 'killed by Somali pirates'

Four Americans taken from their yacht in the Indian Ocean by Somali pirates have been shot dead, the US military has said. US naval forces on the way to try to rescue the Americans heard gunshots and on arrival found the four hostages had been killed.

'I'll die here as a martyr': Defiant Gaddafi still in Libra.

EVACUATIONS: THE COUNTRIES PULLING OUT OF LIBYA

GERMANY
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said all Germans remaining in Libya should leave the country. The Foreign Ministry would assist their repatriation where necessary.
GREECE
Greece is watching the developments in Libya and is ready to repatriate Greeks who will officially request it, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
ITALY
Italy plans to send a flight to Tripoli on Tuesday to bring back Italians who want to leave Libya, a Foreign Ministry source said.
NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is planning to evacuate its citizens from Libya on Tuesday with a military plane, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Uri Rosenthal said on Dutch television.
TURKEY
Nearly 600 Turks were evacuated at the weekend from Benghazi where many Turkish firms are active. Anatolian news agency reported another 250 Turks were being taken by bus from eastern Libya to the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
UNITED STATES
The United States has ordered all non-emergency personnel to leave Libya. The U.S. State Department, also warning embassy family members to leave the country, said protests, violence and looting were possible during the next several days.
YEMEN
Yemeni Television said on Monday President Ali Abdullah Saleh had instructed the national airline to send flights to Libya to bring home Yemenis and Yemeni students.


'WE'LL MEET YOUR SLAVES WITH GUNS': PROTESTERS DEFIANT IN EASTERN LIBYA

An anti-government protester who crossed into Egypt to escape the media blackout told how demonstrators had taken control of eastern Libya.

Suleiman al-Zugeilil said 'everything is calm' in the east and claimed protesters stood firm in the face of attacks by the Khamis Brigade, a special forces unit named after one of Gaddadfi's sons.

Mr al-Zugeilil provided The Times with video footage of protesters in al-Baida hanging the almost naked body of one of the Khamis Brigade from a bridge and said Tobruk had meet taken with little resistance by anti-regime demonstrators.

'After the massacres in Benghazi, the armoured brigade, which has tanks, joined the protesters in sypathy with the people,' he claimed.

'We want freedom, democracy and a peaceful transition of power. And we want a constitution. Every state has a constitution except Libya.'

In Tobruk, locals burnt the regime's HQ and chanted: 'Gaddafi you are a coward, send your slaves, we'll meet them with guns', in reference to the dictator's use of foreign mercenaries to quell unrest.

SUNNI CLERIC: ARMY SHOULD KILL GADDAFI

Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa on Monday that any Libyan soldier who can shoot dead embattled leader Gaddafi should do so 'to rid Libya of him'.

'Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so,' Mr Qaradawi told Al-Jazeera television.

He also told Libyan soldiers 'not to obey orders to strike at your own people', and urged Libyan ambassadors around the world to dissociate themselves from Kadhafi's regime.

Famous in the Middle East for his at times controversial fatwas, or religious edicts, the octogenarian Qaradawi has celebrity status in the Arab world thanks to his religious broadcasts on Al-Jazeera.

Defiant Gaddafi blames world leaders for violence in rambling TV address

* Gaddafi appears on state TV as violence continues
* Reports had said Libyan dictator was planning devolve power
* Streets of Tripoli 'littered with bodies' as Gaddafi forces shoot protesters
* Libyan ambassador to U.S. says he no longer works for the leader
* Around 450 dead after 'massacre' in Tripoli
* Benghazi airport destroyed, says Egypt's foreign minister
* Muslim cleric urges army to shoot Gaddafi to 'rid Libya of him'

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has attacked the international community and said he has no plans to step down after hundreds were killed when his supporters opened fire on anti-government protesters in Tripoli.

Less than a day after a bizarre appearance in which he insisted he had remained in the Libyan capital, after reports he had fled, Gaddafi addressed a crowd in Green Square and said other nations were trying to 'disfigure' the image of Libya.

The head of state had launched a brutal crackdown as his 41-year reign came under threat as thousands of Libyans took to the streets to call for change, with foreign mercenaries brought in to indiscriminately attack demonstrators and reports of war planes strafing cities.

'I'm staying': Colonel Gaddafi was interviewed sitting in the front seat of van. He insisted he was still in Tripoli

Defiant: Gaddafi declared it was his country and he had no intention of stepping down

Terror in New Zealand as huge earthquake kills at least 65 with fears that toll may hit 300

* PM John Key: 'It's heartbreaking'
* Up to 100 feared trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings
* Second quake in five months struck closer to the surface - and during busy lunchtime period
* Famous Christchurch Cathedral destroyed
* The Queen sends message of support

Rescuers are continuing their desperate search for survivors throughout the night amid the ruins of the New Zealand city of Christchurch after a massive earthquake that killed at least 65 people.

It was the second major shock to hit the city of 350,000 in five months, although it caused far more destruction than the first.

More than 100 people are thought to still be trapped in the rubble today.

'It is just a scene of utter devastation,' said Prime Minister John Key, who arrived in the city within hours of the quake.

He said the death toll may rise, and added: 'We may well be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day.'

Gaddafi defies revolt with tanks, warplanes

A Libyan Airforce pilot (5th R) walks next to his Mirage F1 fighter jet after landing at Malta International Airport outside Valletta February 21, 2011. Two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots defected on Monday and flew their jets to Malta where they told authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.


Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to fight a growing revolt, witnesses said today, as the veteran leader scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power.

Warplanes bombed portions of the capital Tripoli today in new attacks in the Mediterranean coastal city, and mercenaries fired on civilians, Al Jazeera reported.

In the eastern town of Al Bayda, resident Marai Al Mahry said by telephone that 26 people including his brother Ahmed had been shot dead overnight by Gaddafi loyalists.

Gaddafi son Saif has western connections.

Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif wagged his finger repeatedly at the cameras during his rambling state address on Libyan television on Sunday night. It was a habit borne of the belief that he would one day take over from his tyrannical father to continue Libya’s brutally repressive rule.

But there was no doubting the desperation in his voice as he warned that ‘rivers of blood’ would run through the country and it would be plunged into civil war unless the uprising was crushed.

He blamed drug addicts, drunks and foreign agents for fomenting the violence now coursing through the land where he and his family once had an iron grip. There was no hint of contrition. Not once did he apologise for the countless deaths inflicted by the soldiers and henchman of his father’s bloody regime.

No pussycat: Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif, long seen as the dictator's most likely heir, keeps pet tigers at his Tripoli villa.'Rivers of blood': Saif warned opponents of violent retribution earlier this week

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s widow denies zoo is facing closure due to debt

The zoo run by the late Steve Irwin is not facing closure despite claims it is crippled by debt, his widow has stressed.

Irwin took over the running of the Australia Zoo in Queensland from his parents and managed the zoo with his wife Terri while rising to global fame as a risk-taking wildlife expert.

It was claimed this week that just five years after the Crocodile Hunter’s death at the hands of a sting ray, the zoo was on the brink of being closed down due to financial problems but Terri Irwin has insisted the tourist attraction is comfortable.

Animal lovers: Steve and Terri Irwin ran the zoo after he inherited the centre from his parents

In trouble? Former employees have said Australia Zoo has massive debt but Steve Irwin's widow claims the attraction's future is secure

Gaddafi plays hardball with his people - Gaddafi's son warns of civil war as protests widen - Mideast Unrest Spreads in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya

Fears of many deaths as New Zealand is rocked by ANOTHER huge earthquake

* People trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings
* City evacuated amid fears of fires and more devastation
* Second huge shock follows initial quake
* Famous Christchurch Cathedral destroyed

Scores of people are feared dead after a major earthquake brought down buildings in the centre of Christchurch, New Zealand, during the busy lunchtime today.

Local residents, office workers and tourists from around the world are among the casualties who have either been killed or seriously injured as buildings crashed down.

As the first evidence came of bodies being removed from wrecked buildings, police confirmed that there had been 'multiple deaths' .

 Devastation: Police said 'multiple fatalities' were expected and many people were trapped under the rubble after buildings and homes collapsed in Christchurch city center

 Little hope: A bus was crushed by falling debris in the quake which measured 6.3 on the Richter Scale

Toppled: The four-storey Pyne Gould Corporation building lies in ruins after the earthquake. One local reporter said it felt like a bomb had gone off....And after: An aerial view shows the damage to the cathedral's spire following the quake. 'We just don't know if there are people under this rubble,' said a priest, standing outside

Stripped, punched and whipped with flag poles: Full horror of Lara Logan's attack emerges

More details have emerged of Lara Logan's terrifying ordeal at the hands of a frenzied mob.

The 39-year-old foreign correspondent for CBS News show 60 Minutes was separated from her film crew in Cairo on February 11 and surrounded by as many as 200 men in Tahrir Square at the height of the anti-Mubarak demonstrations.

According to one source, reported in The Sunday Times newspaper, sensitive parts of her body were covered in red marks that were originally thought to have been bite marks.

 Vow to return: Despite her ordeal, Miss Logan intends to return to work, as well as the Middle East

Moments before attack: Lara Logan is seen surrounded by demonstrators in Tahrir Square on the night of her 'brutal and sustained assault'

S. Korea spies break into Indonesians’ hotel room: ReportS. Korea spies break into Indonesians’ hotel room: Report

Three agents for South Korea’s spy agency broke into a downtown Seoul hotel room occupied by a delegation of Indonesian presidential envoys last week, apparently seeking secrets about bids for a defence contract, a newspaper said today.

The three left after being confronted by a member of the Indonesian delegation, led by a senior Cabinet minister. They had been discovered looking at files on a laptop computer, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.

“National Intelligence Service employees were looking to identify the Indonesian delegation’s negotiating strategy with a view on our national interest,” a senior South Korean official was quoted as saying by the Chosun Ilbo.

The National Intelligence Service denied the report.

Libyan leader Gaddafi says he is still in Tripoli

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi speaks on state television in this February 22, 2011, image taken from video footage

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appeared on state television today and signalled his defiance over a mounting revolt against his 41-year rule.

“I want to show that I’m in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs,” Gaddafi told Libyan state TV, which said he was speaking outside his house.

Gaddafi, in his first televised appearance since protests to topple him started last week, was holding an umbrella in the rain and leaning out of a van.

“I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it’s a good thing,” Gaddafi said in a 22-second appearance.

State TV reported earlier that pro-government demonstrations were taking place in Green Square in central Tripoli.

Deadly quake rocks New Zealand, topples buildings

A strong quake killed and trapped people beneath rubble and sparked fires and toppled buildings in New Zealand’s second-biggest city of Christchurch today.

It was the second quake to hit the city in five months.

Local TV showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city centre, though it was unclear whether any of them were alive. But police reported multiple fatalities after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck during the busy lunchtime.

“I was in the square right outside the cathedral — the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there,” said John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the city centre when the quake hit. “There were people inside as well.”

Authorities ordered major hospitals up and down the country to make room for quake victims but there was no word on how many might have been killed or were trapped beneath collapsed buildings. There were reports of a shortage of ambulances.

A fissure in the road in this February 22, 2011, image taken from video footage.
People helping to evacuate the injured from the rubble of the earthquake in Christchurch, February 22, 2011, in this image taken from video footage

Michael Jackson's estate earns stellar $310million

Even after his death, Michael Jackson's legacy as a pop star hasn't yet waned, as evidenced by the $310million generated for his estate in revenues from album sales, a film, merchandising and other products.

When the Thriller singer died in 2009, he had debts amounting to more than $400million, but court papers filed in the U.S. on Thursday show that his estate's administrators have used $159 million to pay down some of his debt.

'Although there remain unresolved creditor claims, pending litigation and additional challenging business, tax and legal issues, and the estate is not yet in a condition to be closed, the executors have made substantial progress in reducing the estate's debt,' the documents state.

 When Michael Jackson died he had debts amounting to more than $400m, but his estate has since earned $310m from sales of albums and other merchandising