USA / California :. The San Bruno blast.[ 1791 ]

San Bruno blast: PG&E ordered to check pipes

Nanette Asimov, John Wildermuth,Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writers

San Francisco Chronicle September 12, 2010 09:39 PM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Brant Ward / The Chronicle

A view looking down Glenview Drive at the corner of Claremont in San Bruno. Some residents were allowed back in their homes Sunday, three days after the fatal gas line explosion.

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 San Bruno -- A state regulator on Sunday ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to check for leaks in all of its thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines, an effort to protect the public as federal investigators step up their probe into why a pipe in San Bruno ruptured and touched off a deadly blast.

The California Public Utilities Commission said it would direct PG&E to focus on high-pressure pipelines in heavily populated areas like the San Bruno neighborhood that erupted in flames on Thursday evening. The agency also told PG&E to detail how much it has spent to replace pipelines and ensure their safety since 2005.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/13/MNEP1FCNS9.DTL#ixzz0zQ8oWXcv

Tokyo : Can a Sumo Wrestler..be shacked ?.... [ 1790 ]

Sacked sumo wrestler Kotomitsuki asks court to nullify his dismissal

Sacked Ozeki Kotomitsuki is pictured in this photo taken in Nagoya on July 4. (Mainichi)

 (Mainichi Japan) September 13, 2010

Ozeki Kotomitsuki, who has been sacked for his involvement in illegal baseball gambling, has filed a provisional injunction with a court, demanding that his dismissal be nullified.

In his petition filed on Sept. 13, Kotomitsuki, 34, also asked the Tokyo District Court to order the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) to reinstate him and pay his wages.

"His dismissal was unreasonably severe compared with the punitive measures against other wrestlers. We don't understand why the association took such a stance against him," his lawyer said in the petition.

JSA Chairman Hanaregoma declined to comment on the petition, saying, "We've left the matter to our lawyer."

The JSA fired Kotomitsuki on July 4 for his involvement in an illegal baseball gambling scandal that rocked the sumo world.

Click here for the original Japanese story

Another Presidency for Putin ? ..[ 1789 ]

Putin Stunts Hint At Another Presidency Bid

8:14am UK, Monday September 13, 2010

Amanda Walker, Moscow correspondent

Russia's prime minister is dropping increasingly heavy hints that he will run for a third term as president in 2012.

His various hard-man displays such as tagging whales, extinguishing peat fires and riding motorbikes are being viewed as an attempt to remind the electorate of his power.

Ask most Russians who is really in charge of their country and they will say Mr Putin.
His iron grip on Russia is welcomed by many but dissent is also growing.
Not everyone is impressed by his macho ways, in fact many have had enough of what they call Mr Putin's regime.
The latest unsanctioned anti-Putin protest in central Moscow was roughly broken up by riot police.

Putin holds a crossbow as he fires tracking devices at whales

The violence was effectively endorsed by Mr Putin who had said a day earlier that protesters could expect a "whack on the bonce".
People gather on the 31st of each month to voice their anger at the right to freedom of assembly being quashed. At least 70 of them were detained.

Activism is not a dominant force in Russian society - but dissent is growing.
The Khimki Forest, otherwise known as Moscow's lungs, lies slap bang in the middle of a new highway linking Moscow and St Petersburg.
It is arguably one of the most divisive issues between Russia's leading figures.
Mr Putin wants the road to go ahead while Mr Medvedev has halted construction for an environmental investigation.

The Prime Minister rides a Harley Davidson trike in the Ukraine

That is seen as a substantial victory for people power but not without more rough treatment of protesters.
Yevgenia Chirikova has been detained three times for what she says was peaceful demonstration at the destruction of her family's environment.
She said: "Every time they use more and more force. Recently, I was detained by 20 policemen, I'm still shocked and distressed by this.

"Why would you use 20 policemen to arrest a typical middle-class person and mother of two? I think it was a show of force, to threaten others."
Mr Putin has yet to confirm that he will run for president in 2012 but all the signs are there.
If he does it is already becoming clear that very little will get in his way

Iraq holds up to 30,000 detainees..[ 1788 ]

Amnesty: Iraq holds up to 30,000 detainees without trial

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 13, 2010 -- Updated 1322 GMT (2122 HKT)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has previously disputed reports about torture in a secret prison.

(CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people are being held without charge in Iraq, sometimes suffering severe beatings in secret prisons, Amnesty International warned in a new report Monday.

Amnesty estimates there are 30,000 Iraqis being held without trial. Iraqi authorities "have failed to provide precise figures," the group said.

The human rights group issued its report on the heels of the transfer of up to 10,000 detainees from American custody to Iraqi control, following the official end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.

The Iraqi government had no immediate response Monday.

But the U.S. military in Iraq said detainees in the Iraqi judicial system are not "likely to face torture and ill-treatment."

"The detainee facilities are inspected frequently and abide by the rule of law and international standards for detainee care and management," Lt. Col. Bob Owen said Monday.

"The Ministry of Justice is serving a valuable role here in Iraq. Detainees are fed, clothed, provided medicine and able to meet with family members. The U.S. is not violating any international agreements in Iraq in respect to detainees."

In April, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki disputed reports alleging that Iraq is torturing and abusing people in a secret prison.

"There are no secret prisons in Iraq at all," al-Maliki said in an April 26 interview with state-run Al-Iraqiya TV.

Allegations of torture and abuse at the prison, named Muthanna, were first reported by the Los Angeles Times on April 19. Amnesty International then urged Iraqi officials to investigate the allegations.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh in Baghdad, Iraq, contributed to this report

London: Rush-hour Tube train wrong way ..[ 1787 ]

Human error blamed for sending rush-hour Tube train wrong way

Dick Murray, Transport Correspondent
Standard Co.Uk., 13.09.10

Human error was to blame for a Tube train being switched into the path of another, investigators believe.

The west-bound Hammersmith & City line train was sent down the east-bound track at rush hour because an electrical relay switch was incorrectly wired, they suspect.

The blunder meant the signal was allowed to “reset” and turn to green, with points in the wrong position.

The train left Plaistow heading into London after getting a green signal at 8.20am last Wednesday. Seconds later the driver hit the brakes after realising she was on the wrong track and facing an incoming train.

The alarm was raised and signals in the area were turned to red — holding the head-on incoming train at West Ham, just along the track.

No blame was attached to either the driver or the signalman but Tube bosses and the Office of Rail Regulation launched a major inquiry amid fears it could happen again elsewhere on the network — used by more than three million people each day.

Points at the London end of the Plaistow platforms were found to work normally and investigations are focusing on the controlling electrical system. Engineering work was carried out in the immediate area just days before the incident.

Investigators are studying wiring to the relay switch — a control box — to establish if it was incorrectly wired.

This could have allowed the end-of-platform signal, which gave the go-ahead for the train to leave, to reset itself and turn green before the points had switched to the correct direction.

A senior Tube source said: “A signal fault like this has all the potential for a major disaster. The real fear is that it could happen again.”

The ORR said that after the alert, all signals turned red to prevent a collision. A spokesman said: “Our initial inquiries show the signalling system worked correctly and prevented a collision.” Tube records show the train was halted automatically just before the driver hit the cab brakes.

A Transport for London spokesman said today: “The driver, following LU's stringent safety procedures, stopped the train immediately and our signalling system prevented any east-bound trains from moving towards the stationary train.

“The nearest east-bound train was stationary at red signals almost a kilometre away at West Ham.”

The investigation is due to be concluded early next month.