Sudan war...[ 2814 ]

Fears grow of widening Sudan war

 

Violence in and around the Heglig oilfields has sparked international alarm

- 

BBC., 11 April 2012 Last updated at 20:42 GMT

- 

A second day of fighting between Sudan and South Sudan in their disputed border regions has prompted international concern that the conflict might develop into outright war. 

-

The African Union says it is deeply alarmed by the clashes over oilfields, and called on both sides to exercise the utmost restraint.

Sudan has pulled out of negotiations with South Sudan.

The fighting is the worst since South Sudan seceded in July last year.

South Sudan has seized the town of Heglig, which is internationally recognised as Sudanese territory, though South Sudan disputes this.

-

Sudan has complained to the United Nations and the AU about South Sudan's "aggression". The parliament in Khartoum called for a "mobilisation and alert" of the people.

After talking to President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had suggested an immediate summit between the two countries to build confidence and reaffirm that dialogue was the only solution.

UN Security Council members and the AU urged the Southern forces to withdraw immediately from the disputed oilfields.

The US condemned South Sudan's seizure of Heglig, saying it was "an act which goes beyond self-defence and has increased tensions between Sudan and South Sudan to dangerous levels".

'Destruction'

Sudan relies on the Heglig oilfields for a sizeable part of its budget, and has vowed to use "all legitimate means" to retake them, warning of "destruction" in the South.

“Start Quote

If they want peace, they have to pull their forces from the territory of Sudan”

Ibrahim Ghandour Sudanese official

Rahmatullah Mohamed Osman, the under-secretary at Sudan's foreign ministry, acknowledged that it would not be possible to continue pumping oil as long as South Sudan controls Heglig.

Mr Osman said there would be an economic impact on Sudan, but not necessarily in the short term. The country does have other oilfields.

The BBC's James Copnall, in Khartoum, says many of the underlying problems between the two countries have not been resolved, with little progress in negotiations over the border, citizenship and oil - despite the optimism at the time of South Sudan's independence nine months ago.

A presidential summit, which was to have been held in South Sudan's capital, Juba, at the beginning of April, has been postponed indefinitely because of the recent violence.

A senior Sudanese official, Ibrahim Ghandour, says South Sudan's actions mean reconciliation efforts are now off the agenda.

"We cannot talk about peace while there is an aggression," he said. "If they want peace, they have to pull their forces from the territory of Sudan."

'Self-defence'

But South Sudan's military spokesman, Col Philip Aguer, says his forces are simply acting in self-defence.

"We pursued them up to Heglig," he said. "We think this is our right.

"We have never aggressed anybody. We have never crossed into the territories of the Republic of Sudan."

He accused Sudan of carrying out air raids.

In a statement, the African Union called upon both countries to resolve this and all other outstanding issues "in a peaceful way in accordance with the overriding principle of establishing two viable states in Sudan and South Sudan".

Correspondents say Sudan, having lost most of its oil when the south seceded, will not tolerate losing any more.

Peru's trapped miners...[ 2813 ]

Peru's president says rescue of miners could be Wednesday

By the CNN Wire Staff

April 11, 2012 -- Updated 0928 GMT (1728 HKT)

(CNN) -- Peru's president asked a group of miners trapped in a mine in southern Peru to stay patient and try to be in good spirits as workers feverishly tried to rescue them Wednesday morning.

Talking through a hose placed in the collapsed cavern, President Ollanta Humala tried to assure the nine trapped men that they could be free in several hours, Peru's state-run Andina news agency reported.

The miners have been stuck since Thursday in the wildcat Cabeza de Negro mine in southern Peru.

A cave-in over the weekend slowed progress.

El rescate de los mineros

Perú: Rescate de mineros

"It's very complicated work. We're taking into account all the necessary security measures to avoid risks among the rescuers themselves," said Cesar Chonate, a regional head of Peru's civil defense agency, Andina reported.

Video from state-run TV Peru showed workers, wearing hard hats and headlamps, loading rocks into a pushcart by hand.

It was not clear what caused the initial collapse.

The miners have been getting oxygen, food and water through a tube, which has also allowed them to stay in contact with people above ground, Andina reported.

Peruvian Mining Minister Jorge Merino was also in the area and appealed to mining companies for their expertise, according to a statement from his office.

Mining is big business in Peru, which is a major world producer of copper, silver, gold and other minerals.

"The important thing is that the nine people are alive. We won't abandon them," Merino said.

The ordeal stirred memories of a 2010 Chilean mine collapse in which 33 men were trapped underground for 69 days. All those miners were rescued, pulled one by one from hundreds of meters beneath the Earth's surface with a specially designed capsul

Chinese asylum-seekers...[ 2812 ]

Chinese boatpeople decide to stay in Australia to have refugee claims assessed

• by: LANAI VASEK
• From: The Australian
• April 11, 2012 3:48PM

A man from the group of Chinese asylum-seekers which has landed in Darwin has now decided to stay in Australia. Picture: Daniel Hartley Allen Source: Northern Territory News

- 

TEN Chinese nationals who wanted to seek asylum New Zealand have decided to remain in Australia to have their refugee claims assessed.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen this afternoon confirmed the group, which includes a six-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, decided not to make the perilous journey from Darwin to New Zealand and had formally requested asylum in Australia.

"A short time ago the ten asylum-seekers became asylum-seekers when they indicated they wished to claim asylum in Australia," Mr Bowen told ABC News 24.

"I obviously think that is a good outcome in that it means they won't be undertaking yet another dangerous boat journey to a third country and we will now process them in the normal way."

-

Mr Bowen said the group, who arrived in Darwin last week and have been camping at the Cullen Bay ferry wharf on temporary visas, would not be transferred to Christmas Island for processing.

They would be placed in a mainland detention centre while the initial health, security and identity checks were carried out, he said.

Mr Bowen said eight of the group had passports which would mean their processing could occur quickly.

-

"The process will begin in Darwin and then obviously we will talk to them about where best they can be accommodated across the network," Mr Bowen said.

The group of Falun Gong members, who originally met in Malaysia last month before deciding to sail for New Zealand, had changed their minds about continuing their journey after the dangers of the voyage were explained, he said.

-

Immigration officials arrived at the ferry terminal about 7.30am Darwin time (8am AEST) and spoke with the adults in the group with help from what appeared to be an over-the-phone interpreter.

"We explained to them what would happen to them if they were processed in Australia and what would happen if they were processed in New Zealand," Mr Bowen said.

"They've come to their own decision. We did not enter into any special arrangements with them."

-

The group were picked up on their yacht by Australian authorities last week after it experienced mechanical difficulties. They told The Australian they were at sea for 27 days.

Last night they were in intense deliberations as to if they would continue their journey to New Zealand.

They were fearful about the prospect of detention in Australia and about the possibility of being separated from each other.

-

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison today stood by his accusations yesterday that the group of 10 Chinese nationals were "country shopping".

"I think what this circumstance highlights is that we have occasions now where people coming on boats are in the business of country shopping when it comes to where they may seek to make their claim," Mr Morrison said.

-

"That's not what I think was intended by the refugee convention, it was designed for those in a place of persecution going across a border and seeking asylum. What we have now is an industry that takes people halfway around the world, on planes, puts them on busses, puts them on hotels then puts them on boats on route to Australia."

He said ultimately the decision to travel to New Zealand was one for the Chinese group.

"What they do is a matter for them. If they seek to make a claim for asylum in Australia there is a process for them to go through so that is a matter of their own decision," Mr Morrison said.

-

"Obviously they have been told about the very real risks of that sea journey and the matter will rest with them and their own decision."

The group includes three generations from one family - a young brother and sister, their parents and their grandfather. The Australian has been told nobody from the group has been in China since 2009.

-

The immigration department keeps family groups together in places of alternative detention such as community housing but single adult males are usually detained in immigration detention centres.

The aircraft, known as an SCA,...[ 2811 ]

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Arrives at Kennedy

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft glides down the runway of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

The aircraft, known as an SCA, arrived at 5:35 p.m. EDT to prepare for shuttle Discovery’s ferry flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va., on April 17. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, originally manufactured for commercial use. 

One of two SCAs employed over the course of the Space Shuttle Program, NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 911 was decommissioned at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California in February. 

Discovery will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Image Credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

China, and North Korea...[ 2810 ]

China, between a rocket and a hard place on North Korea

By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING | Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:04am EDT
- 

(Reuters) - A joke circulating among officials in Beijing pretty much underlines the bind China is in over North Korea's plans to send a satellite into space.

North Korea's young ruler Kim Jong-un phones a Chinese leader to tell him about timing of the planned rocket launch. "When will it be?" asks the Chinese leader.

Kim replies: "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four..."

-

Beijing has received more notice than that - the launch is likely later this week - but a source close to China's top leadership and a Western diplomat have both said it nevertheless has little influence over Pyongyang and is in no position to block the event.

The United States, which has said the launch will give the unpredictable state an opportunity to test ballistic missile technology, wants Beijing to use its influence to halt the lift-off.

-

"China has pressured North Korea to abandon (the launch) because it adds new variables and gives the United States an excuse to return to Asia," the source with ties to the leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions.

-

"China does not want to see this because Beijing and Shanghai are within range" of North Korean ballistic missiles, he said, referring to China's political and financial capitals and providing further evidence that Beijing does not have fully warm and friendly ties with its unpredictable neighbor.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For video from N.Korea, click tinyurl.com/c6tnbav

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Read more

• China, between a rocket and a hard place on North Korea