Asia news in brief - August 27, 2012
TOKYO - The strongest typhoon to hit Okinawa in several years lashed the southern Japanese island and surrounding areas, injuring four people and cutting off power to about 57,000 households. Residents were told to stay indoors and warned that the storm's powerful winds could overturn cars and cause waves of up to 12 metres. The centre of slow-moving Typhoon Bolaven was expected to pass over the island overnight, dumping as much as 500 millimetres of rain, weather officials said.
MUMBAI - Bollywood veteran and favourite character actor AK Hangal, dubbed the "grand old man" of Hindi cinema for his elderly roles, has died aged 95. He died in Asha Parekh hospital in Mumbai, where he was recently admitted after he slipped and injured his thigh and back. Hangal was born in Sialkot in now Pakistan, where he spent three years in jail for fighting against British rule. After partition, in 1949, he moved to Mumbai and joined a leftist theatre group. The former tailor entered Bollywood relatively late but went on to appear in more than 200 films. AFP
NEW DELHI - Indian police detained scores of anti-corruption activists who tried to march to the homes of top political leaders to protest a scandal over the government's sale of coal fields without competitive bidding. Hundreds of activists lay down on the road outside the homes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders in central New Delhi as police held them back with barricades. They later broke through police cordons at many places, and police responded by firing tear gas and using water cannons. AP
KABUL - A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan rejected reports the son of the founder of the Haqqani militant network has been killed, even as senior insurgents and the Pakistani government say they believe Badruddin Haqqani was dead. Zabiullah Mujahid said Haqqani was alive and in good health in Afghanistan. This conflicts with reports that a US drone strike in Pakistan killed Haqqani. AP
