D Wednesday, January 27, 2010 News 11worlddigest THAILAND: Tigers face extinction in the Greater Mekong region, experts warn. Their numbers have fallen from nearly 1,200 in 1998 to 350 in the region that includes Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. The decline has been fuelled by poaching and habitat destruction, revealed a report by wildlife group WWF. There is a potential for tiger populations to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022, if we dont step up actions to protect them, said Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong Tiger Programme. Mekong tigers on brink of extinction MexiCo: Paraguay football star Salvador Cabanas was critical but stable last night after being shot in the head at a nightclub in Mexico City. The striker (pictured) had surgery but doctors were unable to remove the bullet. Cabanas, 29, was expected to lead his team at the World Cup in June. His life is not out of danger, said a doctor. World Cup striker shot in the head SRi LANKA: Two former allies who led the country to victory in a 25- year civil war went head-to- head at the ballot box yesterday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa (pictured) and Gen Sarath Fonseka are the rivals in a close contest for the countrys first peacetime presidential vote in nearly three decades. The result is expected today. Former war allies in ballot box battle ISRAEL: Twenty-one ultra-orthodox rabbis are demanding a boycott of their community websites because they spread gossip, slander, filth and abominations. in a letter published in orthodox newspapers they wrote: We must vilify these sites and purge them from our midst. its the latest flashpoint in a long battle by haredi rabbis to preserve their influence over 250,000 followers as the internets influence grows. Haredim, Hebrew for God fearing, live in isolated enclaves and many ban television from their homes. Strict Jews want ban on websites and finally... GERMANY: An entrepreneur has come up with a cool idea selling snow in a plastic bag on eBay. Nico Hopp, 30, sold his first load to a bargain hunter for 130 plus 4 for shipping. Mr Hopp, from the south-western city of Wiesbaden, wrote in his advert: Fresh snow collected 14 January hardly used. HONDURAS: The son of Tegucigalpas mayor Ricardo Alvarez sleeps as his father is sworn in for a second mandate. incoming Honduran leader Porfirio Lobo, who attended the ceremony, is due to take office today. Picture: AFP/Getty Haiti leader says hell rough it along with 1m countrymen By Aidan RadnedgeHAITIS president has said he will live in a tent in the grounds of his quake-hit palace in solidarity with the 1million people left homeless by the disaster. Rene Preval also pleaded for at least 200,000 more tents to be rushed into the country, as ministers admitted relief ef- forts so far had not been good enough. Only about 10,000 16sqm khaki tents have arrived on the island, courtesy of the International Organisation for Mi- gration. And with just another 30,000 on the way the aid group admitted its sup- plies were unlikely to address the exten- sive shelter needs. Violent fights over what temporary shelters are available have broken out across over-crowded relief camps. Louis Lucke, the US ambassador to Haiti, said: The immediate thing is for us to provide temporary shelter. The rains havent started yet, fortunately, but its not going to be that case forever, so we have to help. At least 150,000 people are believed to have been killed by the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck on January 12 and an- other 250,000 injured. The Haitian government has asked the international community to allocate 2.11billion for reconstruction but a global summit on Monday stopped short of agreeing a figure. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton Travolta flies in with aid JOHN TRAVOLTA has flown life- saving supplies to Haiti in his own Boeing 707. The 55-year-old actor (pictured) piloted the jet from his own Florida airstrip carrying six tonnes of military rations and medical supplies, along with ministers and doctors from the Church of Scientology, while the UN said 800 relief planes are on a waiting list because the countrys airport can only handle 130 flights a day. 9 said the Haitian government would have to be in the lead of recovery efforts. Meanwhile, the Irish public has donat- ed more than 5million online since the start of the Haitian disaster. Online payment service Realex said within 24 hours of the quake, the volumes of payments processed for charities increased by 1,110 per cent with the average daily online donation of 85,000 jumping to 443,000 from January 13. Home- less: Preval index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html