Stampede

A stampede broke out at a Hindu temple in northern India on Thursday as thousands of people jostled one another to get free clothes and food, leaving at least 63 people dead and dozens more injured, officials said. Most of the victims were women and children, officials said. The force of the stampede was so great that it knocked down a gate at the temple compound in Kunda, a small town 110 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. About 44 worshippers were injured in the crush of people at a temple belonging to a popular local religious leader, said Ashok Kumar, a senior government official. Thousands of farmers and villagers had gathered at the temple around noon to receive free goods to mark the anniversary of the death of the wife of the religious leader, Kripalu Maharaj, said Brij Lal, a local police official. By late afternoon police had cleared the compound and started the process of identifying the bodies, Kumar said. Hundreds of people gathered at a nearby hospital for news of their family members. She had just wandered in to see what was happening, said Gudal, a 38-year-old farmer whose 7-year-old daughter, Ranjana, was killed. Gudal, who uses only one name, wept as she spoke. Leelawati, 32, cried as she waited to see the body of her 11-year-old daughter, Lakshmi, who also died in the stampede. Deadly stampedes are a relatively common occurrence at temples in India, where large crowds  sometimes hundreds of thousands of people  congregate in small areas lacking facilities to control big gatherings. In 2008, more than 145 people died in a stampede at a remote Hindu temple at the foothill of the Himalayas. Associated Press reporter Biswajeet Banerjee contributed to this story from Lucknow.

Tsunami in Chile

SANTIAGO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Three strong aftershocks jolted Chile Wednesday four days after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake, sparking panic in the south American country. An aftershock measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck late Wednesday following two aftershocks measuring 6.0 and 5.9 respectively earlier in the day. In the southern-central town of Concepcion, one of the hardest-hit cities in Saturday's quake, sirens were heard and hundreds of people rushed out their shelters to higher ground. Chilean authorities issued a tsunami warning after the two earlier aftershocks, but later lifted the alert. However, most of the people in the affected areas said they would still choose to stay outside during the following days, out of fear of more aftershocks. Saturday's 8.8-magnitude earthquake has killed 802 people, Chilean Vice Interior Minister Patricio Rosende said Wednesday, adding the death toll could rise as rescue work is ongoing. According to the National Office of Emergency, the number of affected people was probably 2 million. As Chile saw a flurry of aftershocks, President Michelle Bachelet called on the people to remain calm and urged them "to work together on the recovery of Chile." She said Chile is ready to recover from the disaster. "We are in conditions to stand up again. This is a moment when we cannot be defeated by the adversity," she said. The president said the reconstruction of the country "is everybody's work" and at this moment her government's main task is to restore basic services as soon as possible in the most affected zones. Bachelet also reaffirmed her objection to looting in the last days in the quake-hit areas. The Chilean government on Tuesday extended an 8:00 p.m.-to-noon curfew to begin at 6:00 p.m. to crack down on looting in Concepcion. Authorities also added three towns -- Talca, Cauquenes and Constitucion -- to the curfew list to suppress looting in those areas. Chile has increased deployment of troops to 14,000 across quake-hit areas in an attempt to quell clashes and restore order. Meanwhile, international aid has been pouring into the quake-ravaged country. Food, water, tents, blankets and medical equipment are arriving at Santiago international airport as operation at the airport began to restore after terminals were damaged in the quake, disrupting incoming and outgoing flights. Chile's neighboring countries also felt Saturday's mega quake, such as Peru. To learn a lesson from this disaster, Peruvian President Alan Garcia on Wednesday unveiled a national seismic prevention plan, since the country has a history of strong earthquakes. The program aims to prepare residents who live in urban areas for possible consequences of an earthquake of great magnitude, Garcia said. Apart from causing tsunamis worldwide, the massive earthquake might have changed entire Earth's rotation and shifted the Earth's axis, according to scientists at NASA of the United States. They said the quake should have moved Earth's figure axis by about 3 inches (8 cm or 27 milliarcseconds) so that it might have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds. Related: Chilean president calls for reconstruction, urges calm as more aftershocks recorded SANTIAGO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday called on the people to remain calm and urged them "to work together on the recovering of Chile," which saw a flurry of aftershocks. "We cannot be defeated by the adversity, we are in conditions to stand up again," Bachelet said after a meeting with directors of the Production and Commerce Confederation (CPC). Full story Int'l community provides aid to quake-hit Chile SANTIAGO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- International aid has been pouring into Chile that was hit hard in a 8.8-magnitude earthquake, which to the moment has killed 799 people and caused massive damage and property loses in the South American country. Full story Chile's incoming gov't faces post-quake challenges SANTIAGO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chile's President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who is to take office in nine days, faces broader challenges posed by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the nation a week ago. Governance is a major concern with looting taking place and curfew imposed in some cities. Reconstruction is another one as Pinera said it may cost as much as 30 billion U.S. dollars. Full story

Chile Earthquake

After the massive earthquake of Chile, Chile Earthquake Earths Axis is being discussed every here and there. As per the latest reports the jerks and are still on their way. The earthquake, in fact did start from the Chile only, it has its traces before the earthquake of Chile even. Haiti was the first target of earthquake in the month of January, when a very massive and destructive earthquake hit the Port au Prince  capital of Haiti. Thereafter, a 7.0 quake hit Japan on Friday last. And the latest attack of quake is the 8.8 magnitude in Chile. According to the present reports of Chile Earthquake Earths Axis, the present quake of Chile moved the earth of it axis by approximately 3 inches. This way Chile Earthquake Earths Axis prompted to shorten the day by about 1.26 mega seconds. The quake also had a series of the shocks and these shocks are still coming on. After the Chile Earthquake Earths Axis, San Jose also faced the earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake has been measured at 3.2. Though the earthquake was on the smaller scale, yet it was an earthquake. Fortunately, the earthquake of San Jose did not cause the human or property loss. Though the small quakes were expected in California, but the big earthquake of Chile was never expected. The quake of Chile also resulted in a tsunami. The warnings about tsunami were already given by the concerned officials of the departments of the Government, and the experts. These warnings for the first proved to be true and the tsunami also hit the area. A very large number of people were dislocated as a result of the earthquake and about 800 died during this massive quake. The monetary loss may be measured in billions of dollars.

Derek Morris

The Boston Bruins opened the final day before the trade deadline tied with the New York Rangers with 65 points for the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference, and general manager Peter Chiarelli has already been busy Wednesday morning, making a pair of deals to help get his team back into the postseason. After sending Derek Morris to the Phoenix Coyotes -- for a 2011 fourth-round draft pick -- in a cap clearing move, the Bruins dealt Byron Bitz, Craig Weller and a second-round pick to the Florida Panthers for shot-blocking defenseman Dennis Seidenberg (pictured) and Matt Bartkowski. The 28-year-old Seidenberg is one of the league's best shot blockers, leading the NHL with 179 -- 26 more than the No. 2 player on the list, Andy Sutton. While he's probably an upgrade over Morris on the blue line, this trade does little to remedy Boston's biggest issue: goal-scoring. The Bruins are the lowest-scoring team in the NHL with just 150 goals. Swapping Morris for Seidenberg does leave Boston with some extra salary cap room, and with still over three hours before the deadline there's still time to add something up front. For the Panthers, it's yet another draft pick thrown into the pool, while they also get Bitz, a hulking 25-year-old forward who's not afraid to throw his weight around or drop the gloves. Florida has acquired three second-round picks over the past three weeks, and with Seidenberg and Jordan Leopold already shipped out, all eyes are now on goaltender Tomas Vokoun. The other team in this mix is Phoenix, which acquired Morris for, let's be honest, next-to-nothing. Considering the going rate for rent-a-vets leading up to the deadline, a fourth-round pick in 2011 is a pretty sweet deal for a team that nobody pictured as a buyer at the start of the season. Morris has previously spent parts of five seasons with the Coyotes and was traded to the Rangers at last year's deadline for Dmitri Kalanin, Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

Eri Yoshida

It's been said Eri Yoshida grew up watching videos of Tim Wakefield's knuckleball to perfect her craft, and now she may be headed to the men's pro leagues. Yoshida, an 18-year-old knuckleball professional pitcher from Japan, has been extended an offer to play for the Chico Outlaws of the Independent Golden Baseball League, the Japan Times reports. She could be the first Japanese woman to play professional baseball in a men's league in the United States, according to the report. Yoshida came to Florida this week to finally meet Wakefield. "I never thought I could ever feel this happy," Yoshida said of the meeting. Some are already asking if Eri Yoshida could be the next Tim Wakefield.
Eighteen-year-old knuckleballer Eri Yoshida, the first woman drafted by a Japanese team, was in Fort Myers today to meet the man who inspired her to pitch.

Back in November 2008, Tim Wakefield said he hoped to see her pitch one day. Today, after Yoshida watched his side session, he returned the favour:

She spun a couple, but for the most part, it was very good. She was able to take the spin out of a lot of them and they had quite a lot of movement on them. ... I had seen film of her and I was pretty impressed at the film. But to see her in person and to actually see her throw, I was very impressed with how she threw and the knowledge she had on the knuckleball, because she told me she was self-taught. This is the first time she's actually ever had coaching throwing a knuckleball. I kind of know where she's at, because I was there when I first started throwing -- nobody knew what to do.

Yoshida:

I never thought I could ever feel this happy.

Yoshida spent the winter pitching for the Yuma Scorpions of the Arizona Winter League. In her second start, on February 11, shethrew five shutout innings against Team Canada.

nissan recall

Despite no reported accidents or injuries, here's everything you need to know about the big Nissan recall announced today. 540,000 cars have been recalled by Nissan Motor over faulty brake pedal issues that may also affect the fuel gauge. As the AFP reports this morning, the recall covers "the Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56 built from 2005 to 2008, and the Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra produced between January and March 2006 and between October 2007 and January 2008." The brake pedals could have faulty components that can cause the pedals to wobble, AFP reported. The WSJ notes that the move comes on the heels of Nissan recalling more than 70,00 vehicles in Japan over engine electric cables. The vast majority of vehicles, some 418,865, are U.S. models. Here's more from the AFP: "Vehicles at higher mileage levels may have fuel gauges which incorrectly indicate the amount of fuel in the tank. This may result in the vehicle running out of fuel while the gauge reads greater than empty." Nissan said the problem were caused by its suppliers.

Lisa Ellis

The star performer behind the classic band The Fugees found himself in hot waters when his wife Marie Claudinette discovered a photo of his manager on his phone. The photo in question was a black and white nude that a photographer has taken of Lisa Ellis, the manager for Wyclef Jean. Lisa Ellis was affronted by the notion that Marie might have read too much into the picture she found on Wyclefs cell phone. Lisa Ellis told reporters that the picture that was taken of her nude with her hands covering her privates has somehow found its way into the wrong hands and that the picture was on Wyclefs phone had nothing to do with what Marie might be concluding. Marie has asked Wyclef to fire Lisa Ellis and there seemed to be no hesitation from Lisa in resigning from her position either. Lisa Ellis was of the view that she was thinking about resignation in any case since Wyclef wasnt very good at following her advice. When asked how Lisa felt about the whole fiasco her friend said that she was mortified since she already had a boyfriend and this whole scene might complicate matters between the two. Lisa Ellis resigned from her managing position around three weeks ago. The pop star Wyclef who has been busy with his own agenda of reviving Haitis devastated state married his wife Marie some sixteen years ago in the year 1994. Wyclef who is now thirty-seven years of age renewed his wedding vows last year in August and has a daughter with Marie who is a fashion designer.