Attacks on NATO-Afgan convoys in Pakistan..[ 1843 ]

Nato says Afghan campaign 'unimpeded' by Pakistan row

 

Attacks on Nato convoys have risen dramatically since a key crossing was shut

BBC.,7 October 2010 Last updated at 07:26 GMT 

Nato says its war effort in Afghanistan has not been impeded by its supply problems in Pakistan.

Attacks on convoys have soared since Pakistan shut a key border-crossing because of a Nato air-strike which killed at least two soldiers.
The US has now apologised for the attack.
Nato says it expects the problem to be resolved soon.

But relations with Islamabad have been placed in further doubt by a White House report that has questioned Pakistan's willingness to curb militants.

Tanker attacks

In the latest attacks blamed on militants, at least 40 tankers carrying fuel for Nato were destroyed on Wednesday.
Brigadier-General Josef Blotz, a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told the Reuters news agency operations were "not impeded at all by these incidents".
He added the publication of a joint inquiry into last week's Nato helicopter attack could help bring about the reopening of the border route through the Khyber Pass.

Analysis

Paul Adams BBC News, Washington

---

The latest White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan suggests the Pakistani military's reluctance to take on the Taliban or al-Qaeda on its side of the border is as much a political choice as a reflection of an under-resourced military choosing what it can or cannot do.

This summer's devastating floods clearly gave the Pakistani authorities yet another headache, but the White House assessment paints a picture of a military that stays close to main roads, disrupting and displacing militants but not willing or able to stabilise areas afterwards.

The report also criticises Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, for travelling to Europe after the August flooding, saying this had damaged his image at home and abroad, as well as exacerbating inter-party tensions and civil-military relations.

Confidence in the civilian government, it says, has dropped steeply throughout the year, although confidence in the military has actually climbed.

"We do expect that with the closure of the assessment... we are closer to a resolution of all the problems," he said.

The American apology to the dead and injured in the air strike came in a statement from US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson who paid tribute to Pakistan's "brave security forces".

Nato's Gen David Petraeus also apologised and vowed to work to stop similar incidents happening in the future.

However, a White House report to the US Congress questioned Pakistan's willingness to tackle militants operating in the tribal areas of North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border.

The report said Pakistan's military stayed close to the main roads, avoiding "military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda forces in North Waziristan".

This was "as much a political choice" as a question of military ability, the report said.

Although it said operations against insurgents had continued in South Waziristan, soldiers had stayed close to roads and progress was slow.

Khyber crossing

Pakistan said three of its soldiers were killed in the helicopter strike on 30 September and responded by closing the Torkham crossing, seen as vital for supplying the US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
More than 100 tankers destined for Afghanistan have since been destroyed.
The Chaman crossing in Balochistan remains open, but this is not as convenient for supplies bound for Kabul.
Supplies can also be brought into northern Afghanistan via Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

NASA Image of the Oct 6th..[ 1842 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Soyuz Rolls to the Pad

The Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. 

 

The TMA-01M is a new modified Soyuz vehicle that features upgraded avionics and a digital cockpit display. 

 

The launch of three new Expedition 25 crew members--Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri, NASA Flight Engineer Scott Kelly and Russian Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka--is scheduled to launch on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. EDT. 

 

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

Τετάρτη, 6 Οκτώβριος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

NASA Image of the Oct 5th..[ 1841 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Spiral Extraordinaire

Scientists have yet to discover what caused the strange spiral structure. Nor do they know why it glows. The glow may be caused by light reflected from nearby stars. 

 

As for the spiral itself, current supposition is that this is the result of a star in a binary star system entering the planetary nebula phase, when its outer atmosphere is ejected. 

 

Given the expansion rate of the spiral gas, a new layer must appear about every 800 years, a close match to the time it takes for the two stars to orbit each other. 

The above image was taken in near-infrared light by the Hubble Space Telescope. 

 

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, R. Sahai (JPL)

Τρίτη, 5 Οκτώβριος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Hungary: Toxic sludge flood ..[ 1840 ]

Crews struggle to clear toxic Hungary sludge flood

By PABLO GORONDI

The Associated Press.,06-10-2010

KOLONTAR, Hungary — Emergency workers and construction crews on Wednesday swept through the Hungarian towns hardest hit by a flood of toxic sludge, trying to clear roads and homes of acres (hectares) of deep red mud and caustic water.

A Hungarian woman cries in front of her toxic mud flooded home in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

A Hungarian soldier wearing a chemical protection gear walks through a street flooded by toxic in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Tunde Erdelyi is seen in her yard flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Tunde Erdelyi, left, saves her cat while Janos Kis, right, walks into their yard flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Hundreds of people were evacuated after the disaster Monday, when a gigantic sludge reservoir burst its banks at metals plant in Ajka, a town 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest, the capital. The torrent inundated homes, swept cars off roads and damaged bridges, disgorging an estimated 1 million cubic meters (35.3 million cubic feet) of toxic waste onto several nearby towns.

Hungarian officials have declared a state of emergency, calling the spill "an ecological disaster" that could threaten the Danube River, one of Europe's great waterways. At least four people have been killed by the sludge, three were still missing and 120 injured, many with burns.

In Kolontar, the town nearest to the plant, mayor Karoly Tily said Wednesday he cannot give a "reassuring answer" to residents who feared a repeat of Monday's calamity.

A military construction crew was in Kolontar on Wednesday, trying to assemble a pontoon bridge across a toxic stream so residents could briefly return to their homes and rescue belongings.

Emergency workers wearing masks and chemical protection gear also rushed to pour 1,000 tons of plaster into the Marcal River in an attempt to bind the sludge and keep it from flowing on to the Danube, 45 miles (72 kilometers) away.

Workers in full hazmat gear including respirators contrasted sharply with residents, who used snow shovels to clear the thick red mud and salvaged possessions with little more than rubber gloves as protection.

Named for its bright red color, the material is a waste product in aluminum production that contains heavy metals and is toxic if ingested.

Erzsebet Veingartner was in her kitchen when the 12-foot (3.6-meter)-high wave of red slurry hit, sweeping away everything in its path.

"I looked outside and all I saw was the stream swelling like a huge wave," the 61-year-old widow said Tuesday as she surveyed her backyard, still under 6 feet (1.8 meters) of noxious muck.

"I lost all my chickens, my ducks, my Rottweiler, and my potato patch. My late husband's tools and machinery were in the shed and it's all gone," sobbed the woman, who gets by on a $350 monthly pension. "I have a winter's worth of firewood in the basement and it's all useless now."

Dozens of villagers were burned when the caustic material seeped through their clothing. Two women, a young man and a 3-year-old child were killed.

Officials were also quite concerned about the sludge contaminating the Danube, a 1,775-mile (2,850-kilometer)-long river that passes through some of the continent's most pristine vistas from its origin in Germany to its end point emptying into the Black Sea.

The river flows through four former communist nations — Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. One of the continent's greatest treasuries of wildlife, it has been the focus of a multibillion dollar post-communist cleanup.

Still, high-risk industries such as Hungary's Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina plant are still producing waste near some of its tributaries, posing a threat to the waterway.

Environmental Affairs State Secretary Zoltan Illes called the spill an "ecological catastrophe," and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban acknowledged that authorities were caught off guard by the disaster. Orban said the alumina plant and reservoir had been inspected only two weeks earlier and no irregularities had been found.

Red sludge is a byproduct of the refining of bauxite into alumina, the basic material for manufacturing aluminum. It is common to store treated sludge in ponds where the water eventually evaporates, leaving behind a dried red clay-like soil, industry representatives in the U.S. and London said.

They could not explain why the Hungarian victims were burned by the material, saying if it is properly treated it is not hazardous. But Hungarian environmentalist Gergely Simon said this sludge had been accumulating in the reservoir for decades and was extremely alkaline, with a pH value of about 13 — nearly equivalent to lye — which is what caused the burns.

MAL Rt., the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade Company that owns the Ajkai plant, said that according to European Union standards, red sludge is not considered hazardous waste.

The company also denied that it should have taken more precautions to shore up the reservoir, a huge structure more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) long and 500 yards (450 meters) wide.

Clearly angered by the company's suggestions that the substance was not hazardous, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter, snapped: "They should take a swim in it and then they'll see."

Attack in Sanaa, Yemen ..[ 1839 ]

Attack near British Embassy in Yemen

By the CNN Wire Staff

October 6, 2010 -- Updated 1000 GMT (1800 HKT)

Concrete barriers sit in front of the main entrance of the British Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen.

(CNN) -- The British Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, said there was an attack Wednesday involving one of its vehicles, but there were no casualties among its staff.

Also Wednesday morning, a gunman opened fire at the Sanaa office of OMV, an Austrian oil and gas company, leaving two people wounded, the company said.

There were conflicting reports on the number of civilians wounded in the attack on the embassy vehicle. Eyewitnesses said a local woman and her child were wounded and taken away by ambulance. An embassy spokeswoman said there was "one minor casualty" and security forces said three people were wounded, but not seriously.

The incident is under investigation and security officials were at the scene, Gen. Yahya Saleh, director of Yemen's Counterterror Unit, told CNN.

The attack happened in the eastern part of the city, close to where the British ambassador's convoy was attacked earlier this year.

Security forces in the area told local journalists at the scene there were four staff members in the car and none of them was hurt.

The attack at OMV's office happened when a security guard opened fire, seriously wounding an employee of a contractor company and slightly wounding another, also a contractor employee, the company said.

Local security sources told CNN that one French national was hurt.

The gunman was apprehended and the injured were taken to hospitals, the company said. Police are investigating.

In April, the British ambassador to Yemen survived an apparent suicide bomb attack on his convoy in Sanaa. The British Foreign Office said there was a small explosion next to the ambassador's car but neither he nor other embassy staff were hurt.

The alleged suicide bomber was killed, the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said at the time.

CNN's Eileen Hsieh, Mohammed Jamjoom, Mila Sanina and Caroline Faraj contributed to this report.