UN chief calls for more Pakistan aid

August 16, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday he has never seen anything like the flood disaster in Pakistan after surveying the devastation and urged foreign donors to speed up assistance to the 20 million people affected.

Ban’s comments reflect the concern of the international community about the unfolding disaster in Pakistan, which is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants, has a weak and unpopular government and an anemic economy propped up by international assistance.

The floods that began more than two weeks ago in Pakistan’s mountainous northwest have now hit about one-quarter of the country, especially its agricultural heartland. Though the death toll of 1,500 is relatively small, the scale of the flooding and number of people whose lives have been disrupted is staggering.

Wrong diagnosis

WASHINGTON

At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely dismissed hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests.

Under pressure from Congress and the public, the Army later acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of soldiers given the designation. But advocates for veterans say an unknown number of troops still unfairly bear the stigma of a personality disorder, making them ineligible for military health care and other benefits.

Migrant dies at sea

VANCOUVER, British Columbia

A man died and was buried at sea last month as hundreds of ethnic Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka spent a grueling several months at sea in a cramped, rusting cargo ship, officials said Sunday.

At least 450 migrants from Sri Lanka arrived in Canada’s Pacific coast province of British Columbia Friday aboard the Thai-flagged MV Sun Sea.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Michael McLaughlin confirmed a 37-year-old Sri Lankan man died onboard about three weeks ago. The man died of an illness, and there was nothing to indicate criminal action.

Post office burns

HEALDSBURG, Calif.

Federal agents are investigating a fire that roared through a post office in Northern California.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the downtown Healdsburg post office Sunday, leading the investigation into Saturday evening’s four-alarm fire.

The blaze sent black smoke pouring into the air. Firefighters were able to put the fire out by midnight but remained on the scene overnight.

Survivor released

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

An Anchorage hospital has released one of the four people who survived a plane crash that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and four others.

A Providence Alaska Medical Center spokeswoman says 13-year-old Willy Phillips Jr. has been released. He is the son of lobbyist Bill Phillips, who died in the Aug. 9 crash north of Dillingham.

Spokeswoman Kirsten Schultz said lobbyist Jim Morhard remains hospitalized in fair condition, and the family of the other two survivors — NASA head Sean O’Keefe and his son, Kevin O’Keefe — has asked that their conditions not be released.

1 killed in collision

FORT THOMAS, Ky.

A train collision with a car in northern Kentucky has fatally injured a Cincinnati woman.

The Kentucky Enquirer reports that the crash Saturday night killed 50-year-old Amy Schmidlin.

She and her husband were leaving a marina on Mary Ingles Highway about 9 p.m. Fort Thomas Police say the couple’s four-door Honda hit the train at an unmarked railroad crossing.

Associated Press