TOP 100 NEWS SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| China executes Briton despite UK, family pleas URUMQI, China (AP) -- China brushed aside international appeals Tuesday and executed by lethal injection a British drug smuggler who relatives say was mentally unstable and unwittingly lured into crime.... hosted.ap.org |
Democrats face midterm elections exodus Democratic senator and governor say they will not seek re-election, and two more set to follow, amid fears of backlashThe potential election blow facing Barack Obama and the Democratic party was brought into focus today by a sudden string of announcements from senators and governors that they will not be seeking new terms in November.The decisions reflect Democratic fears that political fortunes are changing and the party faces a public backlash, encouraging a Republican revival.Democratic senator Byron Dorgan disclosed last night that he would not be standing in November, and his colleague Chris Dodd is expected to make a similar announcement today. A Democratic governor also said yesterday he would not seek a new term, and another is expected to follow suit today.All 435 House of Representative seats are up for election in November, and one-third of the 100-member Senate. The Democrats have 258 seats in the House and already anticipate losses of 20 to 30. Thirty-nine governorships are to be contested.The loss of the 60-seat majority in the Senate would make it difficult for Obama to put through legislation in the remainder of his term. The 60 seats allowed the Democrats to override any Republican blocking tactics.Even with that majority, Obama has struggled to get his healthcare reform bill passed. Two of the 60 include independents who have sought major changes to the bill in return for their support. The bill is on course finally to pass this month.Dodd, 65, the Democratic senator for Connecticut, was among the party's early presidential election hopefuls in 2008 but his run failed to gain any momentum. He has been in the Senate for 35 years and is chairman of the Senate banking committee.He is standing down in part because of internal political challenges in Connecticut and poor poll figures. One bright spot for the Democrats is that his standing down allows them time to try to find a candidate who might have more appeal in the state.Dorgan, the senator from North Dakota, insisted he was not standing down because of fears he would not win in November, but because he wanted to pursue other interests.Ominously for the Democrats, the apparent revival in Republican support comes at a time when that party is still in disarray, torn about whether to shift to the right or centre. No obvious contender to take on Obama in the next presidential election, in 2012, has yet emerged.The Republican party chairman, Michael Steele, responding to Dorgan's decision but before news about Dodd broke, said: "Today's announcement … highlights just how vulnerable both Senate and House Democrats have become since deciding to walk in lockstep with President Obama's government-run policies."DemocratsUS politicsObama administrationUnited StatesEwen MacAskillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Highest airport in the world set for Tibet Chinese plan terminal in Tibet at 4,436 metres above sea levelChina is to build the world's highest airport, at an altitude of 4,436 metres (14,500ft), in Tibet. The construction, at Nagqu, is likely to be a daunting task given the altitude and climate, with average temperatures staying below zero throughout the year.The airport will be just 764 metres lower than the Mount Everest base camp on the Chinese side, which is located 5,200 metres above sea level.Nagqu is in the centre of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, about 186 miles from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, with a population of 400,000. The airport will be the sixth in Tibet, and its addition means there will be one airport in each prefecture."The airport construction is planned for 2011 with a construction period of three years," said Xu Jian, director of the Nagqu committee of development and reform. "It is expected to cost 1.8bn yuan [£160m] and cover an area of 233-266 hectares."China announced in 2008 that it would build 97 new airports by 2020, so that four-fifths of the population would be within a 90-minute drive of an airport."With the airport, Nagqu, which is also on the Qinghai-Tibet railway line, is expected to become the centre of an economic hub in the plateau region," said Tan Yongshou, commissioner of the prefecture.Xu Bo, director of the Tibetan branch of the China civil aviation administration, added: " The objective for the next stage of development is to open direct air routes from Tibet to south Asian countries."The new airport will beat the current altitude record holder – Bamda airport in Bangda, Qamdo, which, also in Tibet, sits at an elevation of 4,334 metres. That airport overtook the one at Lhasa, which has been built at a mere 3,600 metres.The plans underline the astonishing speed with which China is unrolling Âambitious infrastructure projects, often under challenging conditions, and, in particular, highlights the rapid development occurring in Tibet.An extraordinary railway line connecting Tibet to the rest of China opened four years ago, and the government is constructing six new rail lines in and around the vast region, which is rich in natural resources.Beijing argues that such changes are needed to boost growth and raise living standards.But opponents claim that the developments are eroding the Tibetan way of life and damaging a fragile environment. They also believe that the economic benefits of the changes have been overstated.There is particular concern about increased Han migration, made possible by the Qinghai-Tibet railway.But the railway itself has been a feat of engineering. At its highest point, the Qinghai-Tibet line hits 5,072 metres – a height that is above the peak of any European mountain.TibetTibetAir transportChinaFlightsTania Braniganguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Haiti quake: Aid workers' diaries Aid workers involved in relief work in Haiti share their accounts with the BBC News website news.bbc.co.uk |
Bin Laden Takes Credit for Jet Bomb Plot Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden issued a new audio message claiming responsibility for the Christmas day bombing attempt and vowed further attacks. online.wsj.com |