Sunday, July 24, 2011

DTN News - CHINA NEWS: Workers Search For Survivors After China Train Crash Kills 35

DTN News - CHINA NEWS: Workers Search For Survivors After China Train Crash Kills 35
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / WENZHOU, China - July 24, 2011: Rescue workers on Sunday dug through the tangled wreckage of two trains that crashed in eastern China, killing at least 35 and injuring 210 in China's deadliest train disaster since 2008.
A high-speed train on Saturday smashed into a stalled train near the city of Wenzhou, some 860 miles south of Beijing, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing rail network.
The accident occurred on a bridge near Wenzhou in Zhejiang province after the first train lost power due to a lightning strike and a bullet train following behind crashed into it, state television said.
Two foreigners also died in the accident, state news agency Xinhua said on Sunday, citing the provincial emergency office. China News Service, a semi-official news agency, said one of them was a female in her 20s. The government of Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, was not available for comment.
Rescuers said they were still looking for survivors, trying to reach the broken carriages lying under the bridge.
"The task for us now is to clear the debris and also to check for survivors in those areas that we have not gone to," said 35-year-old rescue worker Wang Jun.
"Right now, we still don't know whether there are any more survivors. That's is our main task now. Also, we are trying to get the railway line to be operational again."
Dozens of rescue workers and firefighters used excavators to move the wreckage of the two trains as they believe more bodies were in one of the carriages that was dangling beside the bridge. It was unclear how many were on the trains at the time of the accident.
Rail remains the most popular method of long-distance transport in China and trains are usually extremely crowded, with long-distance trains carrying as many as 1,000 passengers.
The reliability of China's railways has been called into question recently after the series of power outages on the flagship Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, which has left passengers stranded on stuffy trains for hours at least three times since opening a month ago.
Chinese authorities suspended 21 trains after the collision, state news agency Xinhua said.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang is rushing to the scene to help out in the relief work and investigation, Xinhua added. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao also called for all-out efforts to rescue passengers and ordered to make rescue work a priority, according to a government statement.
"FLYING INTO THE AIR"
One train was heading from Beijing to the coastal city of Fuzhou, the other was running from Hangzhou, also to Fuzhou.
The total power failure on Saturday rendered useless an electronic safety system designed to warn following trains of stalled trains on the tracks up ahead, and automatically halt them before a collision can occur.
The force of the collision sent "the head of the train flying into the air," said Cai Qi, a 30-year-old villager who witnessed the accident and rescued five children, four women and one man. "Some of them had their hands or legs broken. Some were crushed inside debris and we pushed and carried them out."
Survivors took refuge at a middle school on Saturday night, which served as an emergency and information center for relatives looking for their missing kin. Some cried as they went through the list of injured. Many survivors looked shaken.
"Suddenly, there was a loud bang," said 32-year-old survivor Yin Caohui. "After that, the train broke. It was all dark and we could not see anything. Then there were a few loud sounds again."
A 31-year-old survivor, who gave his last name as Yu, said the train stopped suddenly and the lights immediately went off, adding that the passengers "didn't think it was so serious."
"Only when we got down, did we see that there were so many train carriages that had fallen down," Yu said.
China's last major train disaster was in 2008, when an express train traveling from Beijing to the eastern coastal city of Qingdao derailed and collided with another train, killing 72 and injuring 416 people.
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DTN News - U.S. FINANCIAL CRISIS: Congress Scrambles For Debt Deal

DTN News - U.S. FINANCIAL CRISIS: Congress Scrambles For Debt Deal
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / WASHINGTON, USA - July 24, 2011: Congress will struggle Sunday to hammer out a deficit deal and assure investors before Asian markets open that America can avert a catastrophic default and hold onto its prized credit rating.
Congressional staff planned to work through the night after President Barack Obama told lawmakers in an emergency White House meeting to find a way to lift the $14.3 trillion limit on U.S. borrowing that would allow the world's largest economy to pay its bills past next year's November election.
But new acrimony flared late Saturday on Capitol Hill over that timetable, adding to the difficulties facing negotiators who have been at impasse for weeks over the role of taxes in any deficit reduction plan.
An aide to Republican leaders said lawmakers were working on a plan for $3 trillion to $4 trillion in savings over 10 years, but another high-ranking Republican official said no numbers had been set.
It was not clear if this package contained additional tax revenue alongside cuts in government spending, as Obama has demanded.
Republican leaders want "to show progress" by 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) Sunday, before financial market trading gets under way in Asia, and have legislation to unveil Monday.
"Congressional leaders are working in good faith with the goal of having something to present to their members on Monday," a second Republican aide said.
The United States will run out of funds to service its debt on August 2 if Congress does not approve additional borrowing. Republicans have insisted the White House agree to deep spending cuts for long-term deficit reduction before they approve any increase in America's debt burden.
Negotiations toward that agreement have whipsawed for weeks, finally hitting a brick wall over taxes, one of the most ideologically divisive issues in U.S. politics.
A Democratic aide said Republicans were pushing a package that raised the debt limit and cut spending in two steps, while Democrats want a single deal to cover borrowing through 2012.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said that "a two-step process is inevitable."
Disagreement on that issue prompted Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to express new disappointment with the process, saying Republican "intransigence" was "pushing us to the brink of a default."
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House chief of staff Bill Daley were scheduled to speak on several Sunday television news shows to hammer home Obama's argument that a deal must include more revenue from taxes.
TAX DISPUTE
The frantic drive toward a deal over the weekend began after closed-door talks between Obama and Boehner collapsed on Friday.
Those talks broke down as Republican leaders balked at a White House plan to raise revenues by $3.5 trillion to $4 trillion over 10 years, complaining it contained $400 billion more in additional tax revenue than they could stomach.
Obama, angry at the collapse of negotiations, chided Republicans and warned time had run out to lift the debt limit. The White House kept up the pressure Saturday, urging Congress not to play "reckless political games" and warning against stop-gap measures that fail to tackle the deficit.
Boehner must overcome stout resistance from Tea Party movement conservatives in his own party, who adamantly oppose any steps to raise tax revenue.
Rating agencies say they will cut America's Triple-A credit rating if the United States fails to meet debt payments, likely triggering global market turmoil. Even if the United States does not default, its rating will be under pressure if Congress fails to tackle long-term deficit reduction.
Financial markets are growing more edgy and U.S. banks and businesses are making contingency plans for the possibility of a debt default that would drive up interest rates, sink the dollar and ripple through economies around the world.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Laura MacInnis, Matt Spetalnick, Andy Sullivan and Donna Smith; Editing by Kristin Roberts and John Crawley)
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Alister Bull - Reuter
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Saturday, July 23, 2011

DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: Norway Shooting, Explosion ~ 91 Killed, Suspect Charged

DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: Norway Shooting, Explosion ~ 91 Killed, Suspect Charged
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 23, 2011:
 People in Norway are in shock today after a man dressed as a police officer is suspected of shooting and killing at least 84 at a summer youth camp Friday, just hours after setting off an explosion in nearby Oslo that killed seven.
Officials initially reported that at least 10 people were killed at the youth camp on the island of Utoya but later increased the death toll after more bodies were found, according to the Associated Press.
Officials said that the death toll could still rise.
Norwegian police have arrested a Norwegian man for the attacks.
Police would not confirm the identity of the suspect but said they have charged him with acts of terrorism.
The man is believed to be responsible for both attacks.
TV2, Norway's largest broadcaster, was among several local media outlets that identified the suspect as Anders Behring Breivik, 32.
Breivik is described as a member of "right-wing extremist groups in eastern Norway."
PHOTO: Medics and emergency workers escort an injured person from a camp site on the island of Utoya, Norway Saturday July 23, 2011. A Norwegian dressed as a police officer gunned down at least 84 people at an island retreat, police said Saturday.
Morten Edvardsen/Scanpix/AP Photo
Medics and emergency workers escort an... View Full Size
Oslo, Norway, Bombing and Camp Shooting Watch Video
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Police said the investigation is still open and they are trying to determine an exact motive and whether he was working with anyone.

"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters early today.

Just hours before the shooting at a summer youth camp run by Norway's ruling party on the island of Utoya, explosions ripped through a government building in the capital city of Oslo and left at least seven people dead.

The suspect had been seen in Oslo earlier in the day, according to media reports.

Youth Camp Shooting

After blasts rocked Oslo, the shore of a once idyllic lake at Utoya became a horrific triage area.

"The guy was dressed as a policeman and he was trying to ensure that he was helping us and he said, 'come here,'" said witness Jorgen Benone. "He had a rifle or a sniper which he was using to shoot at us. It was total chaos."

Many tried to swim to safety but the gunman armed with several weapons was able to shoot them as they swam.

Bodies after bodies were pulled from the lake.

The boats and helicopters couldn't move the dead and injured fast enough.

"People were jumping out of windows and running everywhere in all directions - terrified for their lives," said Benone. "Most people ran towards the water hiding behind stones and small hills."
Adrian Pracon, a 21-year-old district secretary, says shooting victims were falling on top of him on the island.
He said he played dead in order to save his own life.
"I feel his breath, I could feel his boots, I could the warmth from the barrel but I didn't move and that's what saved my life," said Pracon.
ABC News' Brian Ross, Mark Schone, Josh Haskell, Robin Respaut and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: At least 87 Dead In Norway Shooting, Bomb Attack

DTN News - NORWAY BOMB BLASTS NEWS: At least 87 Dead In Norway Shooting, Bomb Attack
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / OSLO, Norway - July 23, 2011:
 A gunman dressed in police uniform opened fire at a youth camp of Norway's ruling political party on Friday, killing at least 80 people, hours after a bomb killed seven in the government district in the capital Oslo.

Witnesses said the gunman, identified by police as a 32-year-old Norwegian, moved across the small, wooded Utoeya holiday island firing at random as young people scattered in fear. Norwegian television TV2 said the gunman detained by police was described as tall and blond and had links to right-wing extremism.

"We had all gathered in the main house to talk about what had happened in Oslo. Suddenly we heard shots. First we thought it was nonsense. Then everyone started running," a survivor, 16-year-old called Hana told Norway's Aftenposten.

"I saw a policeman stand there with earplugs. He said 'I'd like to gather everyone'. Then he ran in and started shooting at people. We ran down toward the beach and began to swim." Hana said the gunman fired at people in the water.

Many sought shelter in buildings as shots echoed across the island, ran into the woods or tried to swim to safety. Boats searched for survivors into the night, searchlights sweeping the coast. Rescue helicopters flew overhead.

The bomb, which shook the city center in mid-afternoon, blew out the windows of the prime minister's building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was not in the building at the time, will give a press conference at 0600 GMT on Saturday.

EXPLOSIVES FOUND ON ISLAND

There were no immediate reports of other suspects. But acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim said authorities were working on the hypothesis that several people may have been involved.

Police seized the gunman, named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik, and later found undetonated explosives on the island, a pine-clad strip of land about 500 meters long, to the northwest of Oslo.

Breivik's Facebook page appeared to have been blocked by late evening. Earlier it had listed interests including bodybuilding, conservative politics and freemasonry.

Norwegian media said he had set up a Twitter account a few days ago and posted a single message on July 17 saying: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

About 10 police officers were outside the address registered to his name in a four-story red brick building in west Oslo.

The Norwegian daily Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying

he became a right-wing extremist in his late 20s. It said he expressed strong nationalistic views in online debates and had been a strong opponent of the idea that people of different cultural backgrounds can live alongside each other.

With police advising people to evacuate central Oslo, and some soldiers taking up positions on the streets, the usually sleepy capital was gripped by fear of fresh attacks. Streets were strewn with shattered masonry, glass and twisted steel.

Norwegians reacted with horror to television images of the bodies of young men and women strewn around the island.

"I just saw people jumping into the water, about 50 people swimming toward the shore. People were crying, shaking, they were terrified," said Anita Lien, 42, who lives by Tyrifjord lake, a few hundred meters (yards) from Utoeya island, northwest of Oslo.

"They were so young, between 14 and 19 years old."

A young girl, her hair still wet after escaping told TV2:

"He walked slowly but surely around it (the island) and shot everyone. Eventually he came to where I sat and then he slowly went over and shot ten people." She escaped by jumping into the water."

"He was so calm, that is what was so strange."

It is the most violent event to strike Norway since World War Two," said Geir Bekkevold, an opposition parliamentarian for the Christian Peoples Party.

The prime minister declined to speculate on who had been involved. But he told a televised news conference. "No one will bomb us to silence, no one will shoot us to silence."

OKLAHOMA BOMBING

NUPI Senior Research Fellow Jakub Godzimirski said he suspected a right-winger, rather than any Islamist group. Right wing groups have grown up in Norway and elsewhere in northern Europe around the issue of immigration.

"It would be very odd for Islamists to have a local political angle. The attack on the Labour youth meeting suggests it's something else. If Islamists wanted to attack, they could have set off a bomb in a nearby shopping mall rather than a remote island."

Right-wing militancy has generated sporadic attacks in other countries, including the United States. In 1995, 168 people were killed when Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City.

NATO member Norway has been the target of threats before over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya.

Violence or the threat of it has already come to the other Nordic states: a botched bomb attack took place in the Swedish capital Stockholm last December and the bomber was killed.

Denmark has received repeated threats after a newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in late 2005, angering Muslims worldwide.

In Oslo, the building of a publisher which recently put out a translation of a Danish book on the cartoon controversy was also affected, but was apparently not the target.

The Oslo district attacked is the very heart of power in Norway. Nevertheless, security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

(Additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche, Victoria Klesty, Henrik Stoelen and Ole Petter Skonnord in Oslo, William Maclean in London and Patrick Lannin in Stockholm; Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Matthew Jones)

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