Aftershock destroys 71,000 homes in China

May 26, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

CHENGDU, China — A powerful aftershock destroyed tens of thousands of homes in central China on Sunday, killing six people and straining recovery efforts from the country’s worst earthquake in three decades. More than 480 others were injured.

Meanwhile, soldiers rushed with explosives to unblock a debris-clogged river threatening to flood homeless quake survivors.

The fresh devastation came after a magnitude 6.0 aftershock — among the most powerful recorded since the initial May 12 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Some 71,000 homes that had survived the original quake were leveled, and another 200,000 were in danger of collapse.

Before the aftershock, the Cabinet said the confirmed death toll from the disaster had risen to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing.

Al-Qaida leaving Mosul

BAGHDAD — Al-Qaida fighters and other Sunni insurgents have largely scattered from the northern city of Mosul in the face of a U.S.-Iraqi sweep, fleeing to desert areas further south, an Iraqi commander said Sunday. He vowed the forces will not allow them to regroup.

The U.S. military said al-Qaida in Iraq was “off-balance and on the run” but remains a very lethal threat, tempering remarks by the U.S. ambassador a day earlier that the terror network was closer than ever to being defeated.

The comments came amid a flurry of attacks in Baghdad and other areas, most likely attributable to Sunni insurgents. A roadside bomb targeted a patrol of U.S.-allied Sunni Arab fighters near a mosque in northern Baghdad, killing one of the so-called Awakening Council members and wounding three others, a police official said.

Motorcyclists honor vets

WASHINGTON — Members of the Rolling Thunder motorcycling group roared into town for a White House visit Sunday, where they presented President Bush with his own cowhide vest jacket and pushed for increased veterans benefits.

For 21 years, Rolling Thunder has led a “Ride for Freedom” along the National Mall during Memorial Day weekend, a full-throttle demonstration in support of soldiers held captive or missing in action. On Sunday, riders began at the Pentagon, rode across the Memorial Bridge and gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Rolling Thunder members also revved their engines up to the White House’s driveway along with several of the president’s aides.

Wildfire burns 20 homes

GILROY, Calif. — Calmer, cooler weather helped firefighters get a handle Sunday on a destructive wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has brought a fierce start to the state’s fire season.

Easing winds and lower temperatures helped keep the blaze from spreading after flames charred nearly 6 square miles and destroyed at least 20 homes since Thursday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.

The fire was about 50 percent contained Sunday morning and was expected to be fully surrounded by early next week, fire officials said. The blaze still threatened 550 homes and 20 other buildings.

UNITE to merge with USW

LONDON — Britain’s largest union is merging with United Steelworkers, creating the first trans-Atlantic labor organization, the two labor groups said Sunday.

UNITE, which represents more than 2 million workers in Britain’s transportation, energy and public sectors, among others, is set to join United Steelworkers, which has some 850,000 members in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

UNITE spokesman Andrew Murray said “the finishing touches” were worked out at a meeting between UNITE and Steelworkers representatives last week.

The unions have joined forces because both have been left behind by globalization, Murray said.

‘Potter’ actor slain

LONDON — A British teenage actor playing a minor role in the upcoming “Harry Potter” film was stabbed to death during a brawl in London on Saturday, police said.

Rob Knox, 18, was stabbed after he got caught up in a fight outside a bar in southwest London early Saturday, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Knox plays Ravenclaw student Marcus Belby in the upcoming film “Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth installment of the popular series set for release in November.

Associated Press