BANGKOK: Rescue workers reinforced make-shift walls and sand-bags around Bangkok on Saturday as the worst floods in half-a-century threatened Thailand’s low-lying capital after swamping entire provinces in the north.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra sought to reassure Bangkok’s 12 million people they would largely escape floods that have swept over a third of Thailand since July, killing at least 297 people, causing about 3 billion dollar in damage and turning villages and industrial parks into lakes.

The north, northeast and centre of Thailand have been worst hit and Bangkok — much of it only two metres (6.5 ft) above sea level — is at risk as water overflows from reservoirs in the north, swelling the Chao Phraya river that winds through the densely populated city.

Yingluck said Bangkok is well fortified after authorities raised embankments at the three outer areas.

Despite official assurances, residents stocked up on bottled water, instant noodles, rice and canned goods, emptying shelves in some major markets. Many parked their cars in elevated garages, or piled sand-bags in front of shop-houses and homes.

”If we are not prepared for the floods, it is hard to imagine what will happen if the government cannot help us in time,” said Sompong Pinmaninsab, a bank worker in Ta Prachan, a Bangkok district known for its markets next to the Chao Phraya river. ”Anything can happen.”

Water released from several dams should reduce the chance of floods, Yingluck said, as northern run-off water approaches Bangkok over the weekend, coinciding with high estuary tides that hamper the flow of water into the sea.

”We will protect strategic areas and the heart of the economy such as industrial zones, the central part of all provinces and the Thai capital as well as Suvarnabhumi Airport, industrial estates and evacuation centres,” she said, referring to Bangkok’s main international airport.

The United States dispatched a C-130 military transport aircraft with 1,000 sand-bags and 10 Marines in a humanitarian mission, US embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler said in a statement.

Twenty-five of Thailand’s 77 provinces are flooded with 4 million acres (1.62 million hectares) of farmland under water — about 16 times the size of Hong Kong. Nearly 800,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged. Thousands of people huddled in evacuation centres.

Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Nakhon Sawan provinces north of Bangkok have been devastated. Floods have swallowed up homes, swamped streets and destroyed industrial parks, partly a result of desperate measures to shield the capital.

To protect the Bangkok, authorities have reinforced its last defences — a 4 km flood barrier along a canal and a sluice gate in Pathum Thani province north of the city, where offices, shops and restaurants have been submerged in chest-high water and many residents now get around in boats.

Bangkok, known for historic temples, bustling markets and raucous nightlife, is on edge amid bickering between the government and the city’s governor. The two are on either side of a political divide that sparked violent protests last year.

Bangkok, the business heart of Thailand, accounts for 41 percent of its economy. In comparison, the badly flooded central region accounts for 8 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia’s second largest.

Parts of the central province of Ayutthaya, home to an ancient Siamese capital founded in the 14th century, are deep under water, forcing at least three big industrial estates to shut temporarily. Several spectacular monuments and temples have been flooded for days.

Cresting water breached the flood-walls at the Bang Pa-In industrial estate on Saturday in Ayutthaya, about 60 km north of Bangkok, forcing authorities to evacuate plant workers, Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa told Reuters. (Reuters)

”We tried hard but could not stop it,” Yutthasak said.

There are 84 companies in the estate including foreign firms from Japan, Taiwan and Germany along with Thai-Japanese and Thai-US joint ventures, according to information on its website.

On Friday, Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co Ltd shut its Ayutthaya plant that accounts for 4.7 per cent of its global output. It will stay closed until October 21.

Thailand is Southeast Asia’s biggest auto-manufacturing hub with most factories located in the east, which has been little affected by the flooding. But their operations could still suffer because car parts firms have been hit.

Thai media said floods had almost completely isolated Samkok, a district in Pathum Thani province, making it inaccessible by car and stranding locals.

London: Philip Hammond, hitherto in charge of the transport department, has replaced Liam Fox as UK’s defence secretary after the latter resigned over a series of allegations about his close friend Adam Werritty and his involvement with the ministry.

55-year-old Hammond, who was the transport minister in the Conservative-led coalition, has been pushed into the key cabinet post with Justine Greening replacing him in the transport department. Werritty, who posed as an adviser to Fox and accompanied the latter to official meetings and foreign tours, was at the centre of the controversy that dogged Fox at every public engagement in the last week.

In his resignation letter, Fox admitted that he had “mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred.”

New revelations indicated on Friday that financial backers linked to Israel and a private intelligence company helped fund the travels of Werritty. According to The Times, financial backers from Israel and a private intelligence company helped put in 147,000 pounds in a company set up by Werritty.

Responding to Fox’s resignation, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I understand your reasons for deciding to resign as defence secretary, although I am very sorry to see you go”.

“We have worked closely for these last six years, and you have been a key member of my team throughout that time,” he was quoted as saying by BBC. (PTI)

Beijing: China has launched a probe after an oil spill was detected in Bohai Sea off its northern coast.

It was discovered Friday near an oil field in Liaodong Bay by the China National Offshore Oil Corp., Xinhua reported.

The company said that an underwater pipe, damaged by the anchors of ships, has resulted in the spill.

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) has launched a probe to assess any possible damage to the maritime environment.

The accident comes after another oil spill wreaked havoc in Bohai Bay in June, affecting tourism and aquatic farming.

The Bohai Sea is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea and comprises Laizhou Bay, Liaodong Bay and Bohai Bay. (IANS)

Washington: While keeping the option of targeted raids on top Haqqani leaders on the table, US administration has opened a new more aggressive approach towards the Afghan insurgent group, it asserts is supported by Pakistan government.

The part of the new strategy is to carry out more dense missile attacks near the Haqqani headquarters in the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah, a city rarely targeted in the past by American drones, Washington Post reported quoting senior Obama Administration officials.

The opening salvos of the new approach have already been launched in the form of intensified drone strikes over North Waziristan.

The US drones have struck the area four time in three days, claiming a toll of 19 Haqqani insurgents, including a ranking member Janbaz Zadran alias Jamil.

Zadran was a lieutenant of Badruddin Haqqani, the brother of network chief Sirajuddin Haqqani and was in-charge of communications and logistics for the Haqqani network.

The decision to strike Miran Shah was made at a National Security Council meeting chaired by President Barack Obama two weeks ago and was intended to “send a signal” that the United States would no longer tolerate a safe haven for the most lethal enemy of US forces in Afghanistan, or Pakistan’s backing for it, the post said quoting several US officials. (PTI)

MILAN: Protesters worldwide geared up for a cry of rage on Saturday against bankers, financiers and politicians they accuse of ruining global economies and condemning millions to poverty and hardship through greed.

Galvanised by the past month’s Occupy Wall Street movement, the global protest began on a sunny spring day in New Zealand and is due to ripple round the world to Alaska via Frankfurt, London, Washington and New York.

Riot police prepared for any trouble — cities such as London and Athens have seen violent confrontations this year — but it was impossible to say how many people would actually turn out despite a rallying call across social media websites.

New Zealand and Australia got the ball rolling while most of traditionally reserved Asia was quiet. Several hundred people marched up the main street in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, joining a rally in the city square where about 3,000 chanted and banged drums, denouncing corporate greed.

About 200 gathered in the capital Wellington and 50 in a park in the earthquake-hit southern city of Christchurch.

In Sydney, about 2,000 people, including representatives of Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists, protested outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia.

”I think people want real democracy,” said Nick Carson, a spokesman for OccupyMelbourne.Org, as about 1,000 gathered in the Australian city.

Hundreds marched in Tokyo, including anti-nuclear protesters. Dozens in Manila, capital of the Philippines, marched on the US Embassy waving banners reading: ”Down with US imperialism” and ”Philippines not for sale”.

In Taiwan, over 100 people gathered at the Taipei 101 skyscraper, home to the stock exchange, chanting ”we are Taiwan’s 99 percent”, saying economic growth had only benefited companies while middle-class salaries barely covered soaring housing, education and healthcare costs.

They found support from a top businessmen, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) Chairman Morris Chang, who told reporters in the northern city of Hsinchu that Taiwan’s income gap was a serious issue. (UNI)

Islamabad: The Pakistan Army and the Royal Saudi Land Forces have concluded their three-week-long joint military exercise in the eastern part of the country, a media report said Saturday.

Besides familiarizing and sharing information in real time, the exercise, which concluded Friday, also included procedures in low intensity conflict operations, Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations said in a statement.

Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Commander of Saudi Land Forces Prince Khalid Bin Bandar also witnessed the exercise on Oct 6, Daily Times reported. Military aircraft also participated in the exercise near Jhelum. (IANS)