World leaders bid farewell to Kofi Annan
Accra, Sep 13: World leaders bid farewell to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at his funeral in his home country of Ghana on Thursday.
On Monday, Annan's body was transferred to the West African nation from Switzerland, where he died on August 18 at the age of 80. However, it wasn't immediately clear why the process took so long.
Among those who attended the state funeral of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the International Conference Centre in the Ghanaian capital were UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo, senior government and military officials as well as dignitaries from across the world, Efe news reported.
"Kofi Annan brought considerable renown to Ghana as UN Secretary-General and by his conduct and comportment in the global arena," Akufo-Addo posted to Twitter.
"He gave his life to making peace where there was conflict, to defending the voiceless who were powerless, to promoting virtue where there was evil."
Speaking at the funeral, Guterres said Annan was an exceptional leader who saw the UN as a force for good. "As we face the headwinds of our troubled and turbulent times, let us always be inspired by the legacy of Kofi Annan," he said.
"Our world needs it now more than ever."
There were hymns and a performance by soprano and human rights campaigner Barbara Hendricks, the BBC reported. Annan's nephew Kojo Amoo-Gottfried read a eulogy, describing how he had led a hunger strike in his secondary school to protest against the quality of food in the dining hall.
There were also a moving tribute by his wife, Swedish lawyer and artist Nane Maria Annan. She thanked Ghana for giving the world such an extraordinary man and said her husband had an irresistible aura of radiant warmth.
"His legacy would live on through his foundation and through all of us," she said.
The former queen of the Netherlands, Princess Beatrix, and her daughter-in-law Princess Mabel, who were close friends of Annan, were among the mourners.
Annan started his career at the UN in 1962 and 35 years later became the first person from sub-Saharan Africa to be appointed Secretary General.
His 1997-2006 term at the helm of the UN was marked by his programme to reform the institution and his efforts to draw support from the international community in Africa as well as leading the fight against AIDS.
In 2001, Annan and the UN were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "their work for a better organised and more peaceful world".
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Central Myanmar shaken by new quake in one of biggest aftershocks since March 28 temblor
Bangkok, Apr 13 (AP): A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck on Sunday morning near Meiktila, a small city in central Myanmar, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quake came as Myanmar is engaged in relief efforts following a massive 7.7 magnitude temblor that also hit the country's central region on March 28.
The epicentre of the latest quake was roughly hallway between Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, which suffered enormous damage and casualties in last month's earthquake, and Naypyitaw, the capital, where several government offices were then damaged.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties caused by the new quake, one of the strongest of hundreds of aftershocks from the March 28 temblor. As of Friday, the death toll from that quake was 3,649, with 5,018 injured, according to Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for Myanmar's military government.
Myanmar's Meteorological Department said Sunday's quake occurred in the area of Wundwin township, 97 kilometers (60 miles) south of Mandalay, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles). The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the depth at 7.7 km (4.8 miles).
Two Wundwin residents told The Associated Press by phone the quake was so strong that people rushed out of buildings and that ceilings in some dwellings were damaged. A resident of Naypyitaw also reached by phone said he did not feel the latest quake. Those contacted asked not to be named for fear of angering the military government, which prefers to closely control information.
The United Nations last week warned that damage caused by the March 28 quake will worsen the existing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, where a civil war had already displaced more than 3 million people.
It said the quake severely disrupted agricultural production and that a health emergency loomed because many medical facilities in the quake zone were damaged or destroyed.
Sunday's quake occurred on the morning of the first day of the country's three-day Thingyan holiday, which celebrates the traditional New Year. Public festivities for the holiday had already been cancelled.
