Manila - A newborn baby boy was found Sunday in a rubbish bag removed from a plane that landed in the Philippines from the Middle East, airport officials said.
The baby was wrapped in tissue and still covered in blood when cleaners found him, said Doctor Maria Teresa Agores, a medical officer at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The garbage bag came from one of the toilets of the Gulf Air flight that arrive in Manila from Bahrain.
Airport security officer Tristan Dimaano said he noticed something moving inside the garbage bag.
"I was surprised the baby was alive," he said. "He wasn't crying at all."
The airport's medical team quickly checked the baby while airport personnel bought clothes and milk for him.
"The baby is healthy and in good condition," Agores said, adding that airport personnel had decided to name the boy "George Francis" based on Gulf Air's airline code of GF.
Authorities said efforts were being taken to find the baby's mother, who could face criminal charges for abandoning her son.
Two protesters die in Afghan anti-Koran-burning protest
Posted : Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:37:12 GMT
Kabul - Two people protesting against desecration of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, died after clashes with Afghan security forces Sunday, according to witnesses.
A group of about 500 people converged on the headquarters of Afghanistan's Baraki Barak district Sunday morning chanting anti- American slogans, apparently prompted by the plans, now canceled, of a US pastor who had wanted to burn Korans on Saturday to protest Islam.
The crowd chanted slogans like "Death to America" and "Death to puppet government," throwing stones at US tanks and Afghan forces.
Some Afghan soldiers were injured by the stones, prompting others to fire into the crowd, killing two and injuring five, reported a witness who lives near the headquarters.
The plans by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor, to burn a Koran as part of his self-proclaimed International Burn a Koran Day prompted outrage throughout most of the world, which was only barely quelled by his last-minute decision to not burn a Koran after all.
Chinese officials meet with Nepalese leaders amid political strife
Posted : Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:11:43 GMT
Kathmandu - A high-level Chinese delegation met separately with the Nepalese president and prime minister on Sunday, as it urged for consensus at a time of deepening political turmoil in Nepal.
"The Chinese delegation said they support Nepal's effort to form a consensus government," said Rajan Bhattarai, foreign affairs advisor to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. "They said they support the peace process in Nepal and constitution drafting, in the capacity of a good neighbour."
Nepal has been under a caretaker government since June, when the premier resigned under Maoist pressure. Seven rounds of parliamentary voting have failed to produce a leader.
The Chinese delegation met with, among others, the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninists, Jhalnath Khanal. The election hinges in part on the party's votes, but it has abstained from voting, saying a majority government is not the solution to the nation's problems.
"The team has urged Nepalese politicians to put aside their differences and forge an alliance to resolve existing problems," Khanal said.
Nepal's one-China policy and bilateral ties have also been talking points during the Chinese visit.
The delegation additionally invited President Ram Baran Yadav to attend the October closing ceremony of the Shanghai Expo in China.
The 21-member Chinese team arrived in the Nepalese capital early Saturday for a week-long visit. It is headed by He Yong, secretary at the Secretariat of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
