Friday, 1 August 2014

The European Union Times

15 dead, over 220 injured as multiple gas explosions hit Taiwan city

Posted: 31 Jul 2014 03:20 PM PDT

Several blasts have ripped through Kaohsiung, a city in south-western Taiwan, killing 15, injuring over 220 and overturning the cars in the street, the Fire Agency said. The cause is thought to be gas leaks in the sewage system.
The number of those injured is expected to rise, the Fire Department said. Many were also taken to schools across the city to take shelter.
According to witnesses, gas leaks began at around 9:00 p.m. local time. The leaking gas formed a white fog, which then ignited leading to big explosions on several streets, China’s Central News Agency reported.
“I saw fire spurting, ripping off some covers of ditches. It was terrifying,” a witness told CNA.
Some witnesses told the agency they first thought some “poisonous gas” had leaked from the old railway and a construction site of Kaohsiung’s light rapid transit system.
Others reported that the whole street was strewn with bodies, as the sky turned red from the flames.
The blasts which hit Kaisuan Road and Ersheng Road were felt in at least four areas in the port-city of Kaohsiung, which is home to over 2.7 million people, most of them Chinese.
The previous major blast in Taiwan took place in April 201 4 people were killed and 18 injured after a string of explosives went off at a factory in northern Taipei city causing a huge fire ball. The factory was illegal and made fake paper money used in religious festivals.
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World’s largest telescope construction begins in Hawaii

Posted: 31 Jul 2014 03:13 PM PDT

The construction project of the world’s biggest telescope has officially begun at the summit of a mountain on the US island of Hawaii.
Several countries including Japan, China, Canada and India are slated to collaborate with the United Stated in the project.
The thirty Meter Telescope is going to be a reflecting one and will be built atop a 4,000 meter mountain, Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano.
A lens company in Utsunomiya City, north of Tokyo, is making hexagonal mirrors measuring 70 centimeters on each side. 500 of the mirrors will be put together to create the telescope’s 30 meter diameter mirror.
Japan has also shared one-quarter of the construction cost, or about 375 million dollars.
The telescope would be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the sun and provide the opportunity for astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed.
It should also help scientists see some 13 billion light years away for a glimpse into the early years of the universe.
Astronomers from around the world are to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony at the mountain-top site on October 7.
It is estimated the construction project will be completed in 2021.
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WikiLeaks Says Russia May Trade Snowden for Better Relations with U.S.

Posted: 31 Jul 2014 03:06 PM PDT

WikiLeaks is speculating the Russian government will trade NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for better relations with the United States.
Snowden is wanted on U.S. espionage and theft charges. He was granted a one year term of temporary asylum on August 1, 2013. He was holed up at the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow for more than a month prior to the Russian government granting asylum.
On Thursday Snowden’s asylum expired and he applied for an extension. His Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, said the Federal Migration Service is considering his application and will likely make a decision today or tomorrow.
Zalina Kornilova, a spokesperson for the Federal Migration Service, refused to confirm if the application will be approved.
Despite speculation by WikiLeaks the former NSA employee will be traded for better relations with the United States as the crisis in Ukraine escalates by the day, Bloomberg reports the extension is expected to be approved because, according Vladimir Volokh, the head of advisory council of migration service, Snowden is “still in danger.”
“None of his circumstances have changed — the United States have not dropped his prosecution, he has not been declared a national hero there,” Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina told Interfax. “Nothing has happened that could have persuaded our authorities to decline him an extension of asylum.”
Snowden had originally intended to seek asylum in South America. During a layover in Moscow last year, however, the U.S. revoked his passport.
“He was ticketed to fly to Latin America and had to go through the transit zone in Moscow during a layover and at that point the US revoked his passport, effectively stranding him there. So Moscow was not of his choosing,” another lawyer representing Snowden, Jesselyn Radack, said on Wednesday.
Source

Landslide kills 10, traps 200 in western India

Posted: 31 Jul 2014 02:52 PM PDT

A mudslide surrounds a building in Malin village in Pune district, the western Indian state of Maharashtra on July 30, 2014.

Indian authorities say at least 10 people have died and up to 200 others trapped following a massive landslide caused by monsoon rains in western India.
The Wednesday morning mudslide damaged a remote village in Pune district of Maharashtra State, emergency officials reported.
“Ten dead bodies have been recovered so far…Two persons alive have been rescued. According to the district officials 150-200 (are) feared trapped,” said Tripti Parule, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority.
About 50 houses are said to be damaged as a result of the landslide, confirmed Alok Avasthy, regional commandant at the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The incident marks the latest in a series of natural disasters to have hit India in recent years.
Last year in June, the death toll from devastating floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in northern India hit 5,000.
Indian media say many deadly floods are man-made, due to widespread construction, massive mining and power projects in the northern states.
The monsoon season, lasting from June to October, causes floods with widespread destruction.
Source

Israel and Hamas agree on unconditional 3 day ceasefire

Posted: 31 Jul 2014 02:43 PM PDT

Israel and Hamas have agreed to unconditionally begin a 72-hour ceasefire in the embattled Gaza Strip on Friday, the United States and United Nations said Thursday.
The ceasefire will begin at 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 1, US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in a joint statement. During the three-day cessation, forces on the ground will remain in place.
“We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian ceasefire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire,” Kerry and Ban said in the statement.
“This ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence. During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed humanitarian relief, and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured, and restocking food supplies,” they continued. “Overdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure could also continue during this period.”
Israeli and Palestinian delegations will begin negotiations in Cairo for a more permanent ceasefire mediated by the Egyptian government. “The parties will be able to raise all issues of concern in these negotiations,” the two international leaders said.
A representative of Hamas independently confirmed the ceasefire agreement.
“Acknowledging a call by the United Nations and in consideration of the situation of our people, resistance factions agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian and mutual calm that begins… on Friday as long as the other side abides by it,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
“All the Palestinian factions are united behind the issue in this regard,” Abu Zuhri said.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the IDF will complete the destruction of Hamas, no matter what.
“We are determined to complete this mission with or without a ceasefire,” Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv. “I won’t agree to any proposal that will not enable the Israeli military to complete this important task for the sake of Israel’s security.”
“Hamas has taken harsh blows from the IDF and ISA,” he said. “We have struck hard at thousands of terrorist targets: command centers, rocket arsenals, production facilities, launch areas and hundreds of terrorists have been killed.”
After 24 days of IDF’s mission, at least 1382 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are women and children, while more than 7800 others have been injured, Palestinian News Agency WAFA reports. At least 19 Palestinians, including children, a disabled female and two journalist were killed in a series of Israeli air and artillery attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday alone.
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