theSun | WEDNESDAY APRIL 22 2009
news without borders
US marks Columbine’s
tenth anniversary
LITTLETON (Colorado): Flags
flew at half-mast across Colorado
on Monday as America remem-
bered the Columbine High School
massacre, 10 years after the trag-
edy that left 13 people dead and 23
others wounded.
Relatives of victims and com-
munity leaders gathered to reflect
on the horrors of April 20, 1999,
when heavily armed teenagers
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
went on a bloody rampage
through the halls of their high
school.
A somber day of reflection
got underway on the steps of
Colorado’s state Capitol in Den-
ver, where family members and
survivors gathered as lawmakers
passed a resolution in honor of
the victims.
A single bell rang after
every name as a roll-call of the
Columbine victims was read
out as a circle of 13 volunteers
symbolising each of the victims
laid down on the ground in front
of the Capitol.
A ceremony was taking place
in Littleton on Monday to mark
the anniversary of a tragedy
that left deep scars on America’s
national psyche.
briefs
Cops transferred over
Asian summit chaos
BANGKOK: Thailand’s national
police chief has transferred two
high-ranking officers held responsi-
ble for failed security at a key Asian
summit a week ago, an official order
revealed late on Monday. Police
chief General Patcharawat Wongsu-
wan also launched an investigation
into the two men’s inability to stop
thousands of anti-government
protesters overrunning the April
11 meetings, forcing their abrupt
closure. Pattaya city commander
Assawin Narongphan and Chonburi
provincial commander Bandid Khun-
chak will move to new positions at
the national police headquarters in
Bangkok, the order said. – AFP
Toes lead to
arrest of train thief
BANGKOK: Thai police have ar-
rested a suspected thief who left
his toes at the scene of the crime,
media reports said yesterday.
Atthapol Maenkrathok, 42, was
arrested over the weekend at
a hospital in Uttaradit province
where he was being treated for a
severed foot. Police said Atthapol
was charged with robbing a
woman of her cash and a US$1,000
(RM3,600) gold necklace on the
overnight train from Chiang Mai
to Bangkok on April 7, the Bang-
kok Post reported. Investigators
linked Atthapol to the theft after
finding five of his severed toes on
the train track in Uttaradit, 380km
north of Bangkok. Atthapol told
police he had snagged his foot
under the wheels while jumping
off the train in Uttaradit. – dpa
5.5 million
Americans paralysed
WASHINGTON: Nearly 2% of the
US population, more than 5.5 million
people, have some kind of paralysis,
according to a survey published on
9
The massacre was one of the
first mass-shootings ever to unfold
on live television, with haunting
images beamed around the world
of injured students scrambling
from windows as heavily armed
police SWAT teams moved in.
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter,
who on Friday ordered flags on
all public buildings across the
state to fly at half-mast, said the
massacre “will continue to live
in our memories.
“People to this day remember
exactly where they were when
they first heard about the tragedy
unfolding in Jefferson County,”
Ritter said.
The killings of 12 students
and their teacher marked a
“tremendous loss of innocence
in America, and their memories
must not be forgotten” he added.
As it has done on every April
20 since the massacre, Colum-
bine High School was closed on
Monday.
The school’s long-serving
principal, Frank DeAngelis, who
has vowed to remain in the job
until every student who was in
kindergarten on the day of the
attack has graduated, attended
Monday’s service. - AFP
yesterday. The largest group, 29%,
were paralysed or partly paralysed
by stroke, according to the survey
by Anthony Cahill of the University
of New Mexico and colleagues. Spi-
nal cord injuries affected 23%, the
telephone survey of 33,000 people
found. “Thirty-sex percent of those
who reported being paralysed
said they had ‘a lot of difficulty’ in
moving, while 16% said they were
completely unable to move,” the
researchers wrote. – Reuters
Somali pirates
free tanker, crew
MANILA: Somali pirates freed a
Philippine chemical tanker and its
23 Filipino crew members yesterday
after five months in captivity, the
Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The Stolt Strength “is now under
the command of Captain Abelardo
Pacheco and proceeding to safer
waters,” the department said in a
statement. “The Philippine govern-
ment conveys its appreciation to
all parties that helped facilitate the
release of the vessel and the regain-
ing of freedom for its long-suffering
crew and their families,” it added.
Pirates hijacked the Stolt Strength
on Nov 10 in the Gulf of Aden while
it was carrying a cargo of phosphoric
acid from Senegal to India. – dpa
Declaration adopted
to calm UN race meet
GENEVA: Delegates at a United
Nations conference shunned by
the United States adopted yes-
terday an anti-racism declaration
as they sought to shake off the
impact of a walk-out triggered
by remarks from Iran. The text,
which “reaffirms” a contentious
2001 document that refers six
times to Israel and the Middle
East, was adopted by consensus
and without debate at a public
session, well before the end of
the week-long meeting. The early
endorsement of the text, which
was negotiated over several
months in preparatory talks in
Geneva, should help steady the
troubled conference. – Reuters