Greece : truckers vote to continue strike..[ 1557 ]

Greece orders military to step in as truckers vote to continue strike

Truck drivers holding Greek flags march to the Greek Parliament on July 30, 2010 in Athens. They said they would maintain a strike that has caused severe fuel shortages across the country.

By the CNN Wire Staff

July 31, 2010 -- Updated 0718 GMT (1518 HKT)

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- The Greek government ordered the country's armed forces to help deliver fuel as truck drivers voted to continue a contentious strike, state media reported.
Officials said Friday that military vehicles would be used to ensure the supply of fuel to airports, power plants and hospitals, and navy boats could help carry tanker trucks to islands, according to official news agency ANA.
Greece's 33,000 licensed truck drivers went on strike this week to protest government plans to open up their industry and issue new licenses.
The government is required to make the changes under the terms of loan packages from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Gas stations on several Greek islands have been dry for days, and shortages of fruits and vegetables have begun, according to the news agency.
Talks between truck drivers and government officials ended in deadlock, the news agency said.
The strike has sparked tension in the Greek capital, where striking workers threw rocks and plastic bottles at the gates of the transport ministry Thursday, and police used tear gas to disperse the angry crowd.
The government issued a rare emergency order to the owners and drivers of the trucks to return to work Thursday, saying they face severe penalties -- including having their licenses revoked -- if they don't.
On Friday, the government said the truckers' refusal to comply with the order was "a grievous insult to law and order that harms society as a whole," the news agency reported.

But truckers' union president Georgios Tzortzatos has said that truck owners, who marched in the center of Athens after Friday's meeting, were not prepared to give up their licences and were determined to defend their rights.

Journalist Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report.

The Russian bombers..again ! ..[ 1556 ]

Russian bombers attempt to probe Canadian airspace

Master Corporal Andrew Collins/DND

File photo of a CF-18 Jet. Earlier this week Russian bombers were intercepted by CF-18s when they flew too close to Canadian airspace.

Amy Minsky, Postmedia News · Friday, Jul. 30, 2010

Canadian fighter jets were launched this week when Russian bombers came close to probing Canadian airspace.

Canadian Forces are always prepared to “protect Canadian sovereignty” any time an aircraft approaches Canadian airspace, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Friday.

Mr. MacKay said the Russian planes, which he identified as Tu-95s — or “Bear bombers” do fly near Canadian space on occasion. But it is the “unidentified appearance” of the planes that caused concern, prompting the dispatch of Canadian CF-18 fighter jets from CFB Bagotville in Quebec.

Also, Russian planes typically fly from the west coast, near Alaska, he said. The planes that tried to probe Canadian airspace this week were flying in from the east coast.
“This was a message clearly to them that we’ll have CF-18 fighter planes there to greet them every time,” the minister said.

Mr. MacKay told CTV News that Ottawa has asked countries for notice when they plan to have planes or ships near Canadian territory.
“We ask for ample notice to avoid any confusion or any possibility that there will be a misunderstanding,” he said.

the Potters Bar rail crash ..[ 1555 ]

Charges considered over Potters Bar

Points that may have failed causing the Potters Bar rail crash

 

 

The London Evening Standard.,31.07.10

Prosecutors are considering whether criminal charges could be brought over the Potters Bar rail crash after an inquest concluded that a points failure lay behind the disaster.

Rail regulators were reconsidering the case after the jurors highlighted the fact that failures to inspect or maintain the points led to the disaster, which caused the deaths of seven people.

The Crown Prosecution Service initially ruled out launching criminal proceedings, in 2005, but now said it is considering whether any new information came to light during the seven-week inquest.

It is thought either manslaughter charges, or a criminal case under health and safety laws, could be brought if sufficient new evidence was available.

Judge Michael Findlay Baker QC, sitting as a coroner, also promised to file a report expressing his concern about the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.

Six passengers - Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Jonael Schickler, Alexander Ogunwusi, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu - were killed in the crash in Hertfordshire on May 10, 2002.

The seventh victim, Agnes Quinlivan, who was walking nearby, died after she was hit by debris.

More than 70 people were also injured when the 12.45pm King's Cross to King's Lynn train crashed as it reached the station of Potters Bar, where it was not due to stop, at around 1pm.

Judge Baker apologised to the bereaved families for the fact it took eight years for the inquest to be held as it concluded yesterday in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.

Following the inquest, an Office of Rail Regulation spokesman said: "We will now proceed to determine whether any criminal proceedings for health and safety offences should be brought in accordance with the Work Related Deaths Protocol."

Netherlands heads for minority government..[ 1554 ]

Netherlands heads for first postwar minority government

 

The Netherlands' center-right Liberal Party, led by Mark Rutte, shown in this file photo casting his ballot in general elections June 9, 2010, is in talks to forge a coalition for a three-party government with Maxime Verhagen's Christian Democratic Appeal, backed by the outside support of Geert Wilders's anti-Islam Freedom Party. (AP Photo/Evert-Jan Daniels)

By Benjamin Birnbaum - The Washington Times

5:48 p.m., Friday, July 30, 2010

 

Wilders

The Netherlands appears on track to have its first minority government since World War II, Dutch party leaders announced Friday.

The arrangement would see Mark Rutte's victorious Liberal Party forge a coalition with Maxime Verhagen's Christian Democratic Appeal, backed by the outside support of Geert Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom Party. The news comes after a week of informal talks among the men that explored the possibility of a formal majority coalition comprising their three right-wing parties.

Dutch voters went to the polls June 8 and delivered the most fractious outcome in decades.

The Liberals won 31 out of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, up from 22 seats in 2006. The Labor Party won 30 seats, and the Freedom Party won 24 seats, up from nine seats in 2006. The ruling Christian Democrats, then led by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende--who resigned as party leader after the vote--won 21 seats, down from 41 seats in 2006. Six other parties split the remaining 44 seats.

After the Christian Democrats initially ruled out any cooperation with the Freedom Party--which favors a ban on the Quran, a headscarf tax, and other anti-Islam measures--Mr. Rutte sought to team up with Labor, led by former Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen, and two smaller left-wing parties. But those talks collapsed after more than two weeks over wide disagreements on budget cuts. The austerity-minded Mr. Rutte had pledged during the campaign to balance the Dutch budget within four years.

The previous government, headed by the Christian Democrats and Labor collapsed in February after Labor resigned when Mr. Balkenende -- at the behest of President Obama and NATO -- sought to renege on his promise of withdrawing the country's 1,950-strong contingent from Afghanistan before September. The last troops are now slated to leave Sunday. 

A 5.6 mag. earthquake struck northeastern Iran..[ 1553 ]

Earthquake hits northeastern Iran, injuring more than 100

By the CNN Wire Staff

July 30, 2010 -- Updated 2205 GMT (0605 HKT)

Tehran, Iran (CNN) --  

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Iran on Friday, injuring at least 110 people, according to state-run media.

The quake hit 715 kilometers (445 miles) east of Tehran and was centered 26.1 kilometers (16.2 miles) deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The city of Torbat-e Heydarieh, at the epicenter, was rocked for about 10 seconds, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Torbat-e Heydarieh Gov. Mojtaba Sadeqian said 110 people were injured and at least one person was in critical condition, according to the official Press TV.

"There were no immediate reports of any mortalities in the earthquake. However, it is widely believed that a large number of people are trapped under the rubble, and the casualties are expected to be high," he said.

Iran lies on a series of seismic fault lines and has experienced devastating earthquakes -- most notably in December 2003, when a 6.6-magnitude quake devastated the ancient city of Bam in southeast Iran, killing at least 30,000 people.

Last year, an earthquake struck Hormozgan province in southern Iran, injuring about 700 people in the port city of Bandar Abbas, state-run media reported.

In 2008, a strong earthquake measuring 6.1 in magnitude struck in Hormozgan, demolishing nearly 200 villages and killing at least six people.