Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/10607
Monday, May 17, 2010 – Daily News – 3B WORLD BRIEFING Thai gov’t rejects Red Shirts’ offer BANGKOK (AP) — Anti- government unrest boiling over in downtown Bangkok spread to other areas of the capital and Thai- land Sunday as the military defended its use of force in a crackdown that has left 30 civil- ians dead in four days. Thai lead- ers flatly rejected protesters’ demands that the United Nations intercede to end the chaos. Towering plumes of black smoke hung over city streets where protesters set fire to tires, fired homemade rockets and threw gasoline bombs at soldiers who used rubber bullets and live ammunition to pick off rioters who approached their lines. Army sharpshooters crouched behind sandbags carefully taking aim and firing to keep attackers at bay. Leaders of the protesters, who have dubbed themselves Red Shirts, said they wanted talks mediated by the United Nations, provided the government agreed to an immediate cease-fire and pulled its troops back. Government spokesman Pani- tan Wattanayagorn, however, said a pause was unnecessary since troops were ‘‘not using weapons to crack down on civilians.’’ The government maintains it is target- ing only armed ‘‘terrorists’’ among the demonstrators. Authorities insisted they would continue the crackdown aimed at choking off the Red Shirts, who have occupied a 1-square-mile (3- square-kilometer) protest zone — barricaded by tires and bamboo spikes — in one of Bangkok’s ritziest areas since early April. The protesters are demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resign immediately, dissolve Par- liament and call new elections. Mile-long tube starts sucking oil up to tanker HAMMOND, La. (AP) — In a significant step toward containing a massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said a mile-long tube was fun- neling crude Sunday from a blown well to a tanker ship after three days of wrestling to get the stop- gap measure into place on the to power for another four years. ‘‘I hope that all political blocs are satisfied now that the electoral process was honest and all allega- tions of fraud and forgery were totally incorrect,’’ electoral com- mission spokesman Qassim al- Abboudi told reporters after the results of a recount of votes for the capital Baghdad were announced. ‘‘According to the law, political blocks and candidates can appeal these results but we hope that no one will do that,’’ al-Abboudi said. The recount as well as other challenges to the March 7 election result have prevented the seating of the new 325-member parlia- ment and raised fears that the extended period of political bick- ering will give rise to a new wave of violence as insurgents try to exploit the political vacuum as U.S. troops prepare to go home. Vatican details seafloor. Yet even as the company reported the success after weeks of fruitless efforts, scientists warned oil that has already spewed into the Gulf could have dire consequences for the environ- ment. Computer models show the black ooze may have already entered a major current flowing toward the Florida Keys, a researcher told the Associated Press on Sunday. The contraption used by BP was hooked up successfully and sucking oil from a pipe at the blown well Sunday afternoon after being hindered by several setbacks. Engineers remotely guiding robot submersibles had worked since Friday to place the tube into a 21-inch pipe nearly a mile below the sea. Kent Wells, BP’s senior vice president for exploration and pro- duction, said during a news con- ference that the amount being drawn was gradually increasing, and it would take several days to measure it. Company spokesman Mark Proegler at the joint spill command center in Louisiana had initially said the tube was contain- ing most of the oil coming from the pipe, which is contributing an estimated 85 percent of the crude in the spill. Previous attempts to use emer- gency valves and a 100-ton con- tainer had failed to stop the leak that has spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf, threatening sea life, commercial fishing and the coastal tourism industry from Louisiana to Florida. BP PLC has also been burning small amounts of floating oil and spraying chem- ical dispersants above and below the surface. Inspections of oil rig fall short LOS ANGELES (AP) — The federal agency responsible for ensuring that the Deepwater Hori- zon was operating safely before it exploded last month fell well short of its own policy that the rig be inspected at least once per month, an Associated Press investigation shows. In fact, the agency’s inspection frequency on the Deepwater Hori- zon fell dramatically over the past five years, according to federal Minerals Management Service records. The rig blew up April 20, killing 11 people before sinking and triggering a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Since January 2005, inspectors issued just one minor infraction for the rig. That strong track record led the agency last year to herald the Deepwater Horizon as an industry model for safety. The inspection gaps are the lat- est in a series of questions raised about the agency’s oversight of the oil drilling industry. Members of Congress and President Barack Obama have criticized what they call the cozy relationship between regulators and oil companies and vowed to reform MMS, which both regulates the industry and collects billions in royalties from it. Earlier AP investigations have shown that the doomed rig was allowed to operate without safety documentation required by MMS regulations for the exact disaster scenario that occurred; that the cutoff valve which failed has repeatedly broken down at other wells in the years since regulators weakened testing requirements; and that regulation is so lax that some key safety aspects on rigs are decided almost entirely by the companies doing the work. Iraq recount affirms win BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s electoral commission affirmed on Sunday the narrow victory of a Sunni-backed bloc in the March vote after a partial recount under- cut the Shiite prime minister’s claims of fraud in the tally. The result was a setback for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who came in second to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi by a small margin. But his alliance with another Shiite bloc still gives him a strong chance of holding on sex abuse defense VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed argument yet for why it is not liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the U.S., in a motion that could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See in American courts. In a motion to dismiss a lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds, the Holy See is expected to argue that a key Vatican document calling for secrecy in church trials for sex abuse cases was not, as victims’ lawyers say, proof of a Vatican- orchestrated cover up. The Vati- can’s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said Sunday there was no evi- dence the document was even known to the archdiocese in ques- tion — much less used. The Holy See is expected to assert that bishops aren’t Vatican employees because they aren’t paid by Rome, don’t act on Rome’s behalf and aren’t con- trolled day-to-day by the pope — factors courts use to determine whether employers are liable. He said he would suggest to the court that it should avoid using the religious nature of the relationship between bishops and the pope altogether as a basis for civil lia- bility, because it entangles the court in an analysis of complicat- ed religious doctrine that dates back to the apostles. PAID ADVERTISEMENT I For information on participation in Kids & Families call (530) 527-2151 P.A.W.S. (Partners for Animal Welfare & Safety) A Volunteer Program Dedicated to the Prevention of Litters, Not the Destruction of Unwanted animals. HOW CAN YOU HELP? CALL US! 528-8018 Please leave your number we WILL call you back P.O. 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