11 killed in stampede

RABAT: Thousands of spectators stampeded out of a concert in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, causing a fence to collapse. Eleven people were killed and about 30 injured. Those killed were two children, five women and four men. Most of the injured were treated and released, while seven people remain hospitalised, the report said. The stampede took place shortly after midnight on Saturday at Hay Nahda stadium, where as many as 70,000 people had been attending a concert by local star Abdelaziz Stati. The concert was part of Mawazine music festival, which also included shows by international stars like Kylie Minogue and Alicia Keys. — AP

Atlantis fails to land

CAPE CANAVERAL: Stormy weather prevented space shuttle Atlantis from landing on its first try on Sunday, and NASA directed the astronauts to take an extra swing around the world before coming down, quite possibly to California. It was the third day in a row thunderstorms thwarted NASA’s plans to bring the astronauts home and end their exalted Hubble Space Telescope repair mission. “The weather is looking good,” Mission Control radioed. “But not good enough for us to get comfortable.” NASA still hoped for a lucky break in the weather, but the chance for thunderstorms at Kennedy Space Center was expected to increase as the morning wore on. At Edwards Air Force Base in California, the backup landing site, conditions were considered ideal. — AP

SP expels Azam Khan

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday expelled its leader Azam Khan for six years. This comes shortly after Azam Khan’s resignation from the post of the deputy leader of Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh Assembly. “This should have been done much earlier. I think this decision is better late than never but had it been taken earlier he could not have damaged our performance,” Azam Khan said. His relations with the party had deteriorated just before the elections, especially with Amar Singh when he had allegedly campaigned against Jaya Prada — the SP candidate from Rampur. He had resigned as general secretary a few days ago. — Agencies