TOP 100 NEWS SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Hungary workers race to build dam as reservoir crack widens Reservoir cracks threaten to unleash second torrent of toxic sludge on village of Kolontar in HungaryWorkers are racing to build an emergency dam in western Hungary on Sunday as cracks in a reservoir widen, threatening to unleash a second torrent of toxic sludge on the village of Kolontar and nearby rivers.About one million cubic metres of the waste material leaked out of the alumina plant reservoir into villages and waterways earlier this week, killing seven people, injuring 123 and fouling rivers including a local branch of the Danube.Kolontar was evacuated yesterday after cracks appeared in the northern wall of the reservoir.News agency MTI cited environment state secretary Zoltan Illes as saying a 25-metre crack in the weakened wall had widened slightly by this morning.Tibor Dobson, spokesman for disaster crews at the scene, said workers had laid the groundwork of a new dam in Kolontar to ward off any fresh flood of the sludge, which tore through neighbouring areas last Monday, toppling cars and wreaking havoc in houses.Dobson said the number of people evacuated from Kolontar, which lies closest to the reservoir, had increased to about 1,000 overnight.Prime minister Viktor Orban has said the torrent of sludge is the worst ecological catastrophe Hungary has suffered.The nearby town of Devecser, home to 5,400 people, remained on alert. The military has sent 319 soldiers and 127 transport vehicles into the town and five trains are ready in case it has to be evacuated.Dobson said 400-500 people had decided to leave the town voluntarily and at this stage an evacuation was unlikely. Orban will inform parliament about the findings of an investigation tomorrow and promised "the toughest possible consequences" to ensure such a disaster does not recur.The interior ministry said on its website that samples taken early today showed that alkalinity levels in smaller rivers affected by Monday's spill, and in the Danube, had returned to normal.HungaryPollutionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
World rejoices as 33 Chilean miners safe • Luis Urzúa is last miner to be brought to the surface • Men 'anxious and want to talk to families', says health minister• Follow live updates of the rescue aftermathLuis Urzúa, whose calm leadership guided his colleagues through their darkest hours, became the last of the 33 trapped Chilean miners to be freed early this morning, rising to the surface of the Atacama desert as the epic, 22-hour rescue operation drew to a close.The 54-year-old foreman ascended smoothly through nearly 700m (2,260ft) of rock in the Fenix 2 rescue capsule to tell the Chilean president, SebastÃan Piñera, and a crowd of 2,000 jubilant onlookers: "We have done what the entire world was waiting for. The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."The quick and flawlessly executed rescue operation exceeded expectations at every step. Officials first said it might be four months before they could get the men out; it turned out to be 69 days and about eight hours.Once the escape tunnel was finished, they estimated it would take 36 to 48 hours to get all the miners to the surface. Speed picked up as the operation went along, and all the miners were safely above ground in 22 hours, 37 minutes.Manuel González, the last of six rescue workers who talked the men through the final hours, was hoisted to the surface at 12:32 am on Thursday local time (4.32am UK time) to hugs from his comrades and Piñera.The crowd in Camp Hope, down the hill from the escape shaft, tossed confetti, released balloons and sprayed champagne as Urzúa's capsule surfaced, joining in a rousing miners' cheer.In nearby Copiapó, about 3,000 people gathered in the town square, where a huge screen broadcast live footage of the rescue. The exuberant crowd waved Chilean flags of all sizes and blew on red vuvuzelas as cars drove around the plaza, their drivers honking horns and yelling, "Viva Chile!".And in the Chilean capital, Santiago, hundreds gathered in Plaza Italia, waving flags and chanting victory slogans in the miners' honour.Piñera told Urzúa that he had become an inspiration to all Chileans. "You are not the same, and the country is not the same after this," he said, adding: "Go hug your wife and your daughter."The president later tweeted: "We've lived through a magical day of deep emotion and overflowing joy that we will never forget."The Chilean mining minister also took to Twitter to reflect on events. "The last rescuer is out," wrote Laurence Golborne. "Now we can say it: the rescue team, together with the country, rescued our 33 miners in 70 days. We did it!"The US president, Barack Obama, said the rescue had "inspired the world".Although the rescue operation – estimated to have cost at least $22m (£14m) – has ended, the miners' ordeal is far from over.The men are all recovering and undergoing exhaustive tests in Copiapó hospital. But the psychological consequences of their experience could prove harder to diagnose.The health minister, Jaime Mañalich, said some of the miners could be discharged later today – 48 hours earlier than expected – but many were anxious, had been unable to sleep, and wanted to talk to their families. One of the miners was treated for pneumonia, and two needed dental work. Mañalich is due to give a statement on their condition later today.As the miners recover, further questions are likely be asked about conditions in the Chilean mining industry, which provides 40% of state earnings. Piñera has ordered an overhaul of safety regulations in the wake of the accident.ChileMiningSam Jonesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Japan Calls for Currency Cooperation Japan's finance minister Yoshihiko Noda showed renewed concerns over the yen's strength Tuesday, again declaring the government's readiness to intervene in the currency market. online.wsj.com |
Turkey Arraigns al Qaeda Suspect A Turkish court arraigned an al Qaeda suspect found with software designed to help shoot down Heron drones operating in Afghanistan. online.wsj.com |
US embassy cables: Beijing's lost patience leaves Pyongyang with little to lose | Isabel Hilton The revelation that China might accept the idea of reunification under South Korea could make an unstable situation worseA Chinese foreign affairs expert earlier this year, asked what China's best option was in North Korea, pulled a despairing face. "Status quo," he answered. As WikiLeaks has revealed, China may have been hoping for the best, but it has been actively planning for a quite different outcome.The "spoilt child" is increasingly out of Chinese control. The North Korean regime this year has sunk a South Korean warship, resumed its nuclear enrichment programme, and shelled a South Korean island. China has been calling for calm. The question in Beijing today is, what effect will the release of documents have on North Korea's regime, now that the degree of Chinese exasperation with its problematic neighbour is public knowledge?The Chinese government has ordered domestic media not to report on the WikiLeaks documents, and the website is blocked – as is the Guardian's data download site. But though Beijing may temporarily prevent its citizens accessing the details, the utility of China's friendship with Pyongyang was already heavily questioned in Beijing, not only in discreet foreign policy and security circles, but also in the public media.After the shelling episode last week, one of China's leading business magazines, Caixin, said: "A large question looming in the minds of many is how much [Chinese] taxpayers' money has been spent on North Korean assistance … Bearing this in mind, the only question to ask is one of principle. Why does China continue to aid North Korea?"The figures are classified but, according to some analysts, North Korea swallows nearly 40% of China's total foreign aid budget, and Beijing supplies Pyongyang with 50,000 tonnes of oil a month – this to maintain a buffer state against Japan, South Korea and the United States. But in today's post-Maoist China, as Caixin pointed out, these are no longer China's enemies. Trade and investment flows with the three are worth billions, while North Korea is an expensive and increasingly unruly embarrassment.North Korea's 2006 nuclear test was seen in Beijing as a gesture of defiance not only to the US and Japan, but also to China. Beijing had made it clear to Pyongyang that it disapproved. China publicly condemned the test in unprecedentedly strong terms and, unusually, supported UN sanctions in response.It is a sign of how far the Chinese government has moved away from its cold war ideology that the country's officials should speak so frankly to both US and South Korean diplomats. Beijing's foreign policy goals are to maintain a peaceful international environment and to secure sufficient resources for China to continue to grow, for fear that any slackening could threaten domestic stability. Any residual value in provoking the US by proxy is outweighed by the damage the relationship is doing to China's carefully cultivated image of a peaceful member of the family of nations.The confrontation on the Korean peninsula is the last hangover from the cold war, an unstable situation that seems to have outstripped China's power to manage it. It has been a test of Beijing's willingness to show a leadership commensurate with its growing economic weight and, so far, it has failed.Beijing has proved unequal to the task of keeping North Korea in line, or, as yet, of persuading it to follow China's transition to a market economy. China is regarded as the last country that has influence in Pyongyang, but the leaked cables confirm how limited that influence is.Beijing has been unwilling to put real muscle into its persuasion, pointing to North Korea's desire to talk on equal terms with the US. China has facilitated the now stalled six-party talks, but has shied away from enforcing responsible behaviour or allowing the regime to collapse. The US, in turn, is reluctant to concede North Korea's demands for recognition and pleads with China to get its junior ally under control. Now the WikiLeaks revelation that China is beginning to accept the once unthinkable alternative – a reunification under South Korean control – may make an unstable situation worse.China's contingency plans reveal a new pragmatism: a willingness to appeal to the UN for support in the event of regime collapse, but a readiness to act unilaterally if necessary; a willingness to work with the US to secure nuclear materials and, provided Chinese business interests are protected and no US troops were stationed north of the DMZ, an acceptance that a South Korean dominated peninsula would make a better neighbour.That does not mean, however, that China is ready to precipitate North Korea's collapse and the crisis that would result. The question now is whether the Pyongyang regime will be brought to sobriety by the realisation of just how thin China's patience has worn, or whether it will decide that it has nothing to lose by further, and more desperate, provocation.North KoreaSouth KoreaUnited StatesWikiLeaksThe US embassy cablesChinaIsabel Hiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |