 Rescuers searching a coal mine rocked by a methane gas explosion found the bodies of several more victims Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 105 a day after Russia's deadliest mining disaster in a decade. Some 200 workers were in the Ulyanovskaya mine in the coal-rich region known as the Kuzbass at the time of the blast, which occurred early Monday at a depth of around 885 feet, emergency and regional officials said. Emergency officials put the death toll at 105, while five others were still missing; 93 had been rescued earlier. At one point they had said there were 106 confirmed deaths, but later revised the figure without explanation. Company officials and safety experts, along with a British citizen and his interpreter, were in the mine examining a British-made hazard monitoring system just before the blast occurred, said Sergei Cheremnov, a spokesman for the regional government in Kemerovo where the mine is located. The British man and the interpreter were among the dead....
http://www.cbsnews.com
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Editor - 08:10:00 03-20-07
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 Pakistan launches strategic port |
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is inaugurating a controversial deep sea port in the southern province of Balochistan on Tuesday. Gwadar port is on the Arabian Sea at the mouth of the Gulf through which 30% of the world's daily oil supply passes. Officials say the port will benefit Balochistan. That is disputed by Baloch militants fighting the government. The current estimated cost of the port project is nearly $1bn. Much of the funding has come from China. Pakistani officials have described the inauguration by President Musharraf as marking "a historic day" for the country. A high-level Chinese delegation is attending. Gwadar is expected to provide strategic storage and transport facilities, as well as road and rail links to China. The port is seen by observers as China's first foothold in the Middle East....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6469725.stm
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Editor - 08:07:00 03-20-07
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| Clash Kills 30 In Pakistan Sources Say Pro-Government Tribesmen Fought With Foreign Militants |
Local and foreign militants fought a gun battle in northwestern Pakistan, leaving about 30 dead, officials said, the second such clash this month in a region where the government is urging tribesmen to move against al Qaeda-linked fighters. At least two children were also reportedly killed and around 20 wounded when a stray mortar from the fighting in South Waziristan hit their school bus. The clash between Uzbek militants and tribesmen broke out near the town of Wana on Monday and continued Tuesday, a senior military official and a senior government official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were unauthorized to make media comments. They did not immediately have further details on the allegiances and identities of the 30 dead. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/20/terror/main2587210.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2587210
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Editor - 08:03:00 03-20-07
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| Some Taleban kidnap demands met |
The Afghan government has said it met some of the demands the Taleban made in exchange for the release of an Italian journalist they abducted two weeks ago. A spokesman did not specify what the demands were, but a senior Taleban commander said several leaders had been freed from government custody. Daniele Mastrogiacomo, of La Repubblica newspaper, was freed on Monday. But relatives of the reporter's driver, beheaded by the kidnappers, accused the government of ignoring his plight. About 150 of Sayed Agha's relatives gathered for a protest in his native Helmand province, denouncing what they said were double standards by the Afghan and Italian authorities. They demanded that the government return his body, the Associated Press news agency said. Journalists have also denounced the deal, saying the precedent it sets is likely to make their work much more dangerous. An Afghan translator also kidnapped with Mr Mastrogiacomo, Ajmal Naqshbandi, is still being held. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6470963.stm
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Editor - 08:01:00 03-20-07
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| Mugabe targets Western envoys as crisis escalates |
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe looks increasingly isolated after his violent crackdown on political opponents and may well carry out his threat to expel Western diplomats, observers said on Tuesday. Harare warned on Monday it would not hesitate to kick out ambassadors it suspects of supporting anti-Mugabe forces, raising the stakes in a showdown involving the 83-year-old ruler, an emboldened opposition and several Western governments. Mugabe referred to some Western ambassadors as "devilish characters" last week after the United States and others sharply criticized the arrest and beating of main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other government opponents. Zimbabwean officials have not identified which countries could be targeted for potential expulsion, but they are thought to include former colonial master Britain, the United States, Australia and Sweden....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2966149
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Editor - 07:58:00 03-20-07
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| Germany, China urge rapid action on Iran resolution |
Germany and China urged rapid approval of a U.N. draft resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program after South Africa surprised major powers by proposing a softening of the document's wording.The proposed resolution, designed to pressure Iran to halt its uranium enrichment work, would put in place an embargo on Iranian arms exports and freeze financial assets abroad of 28 individuals, groups and companies. It is a follow-up to a previous resolution adopted by the Security Council in December and was expected to be voted on this week after Germany and permanent council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States agreed on the text. But South Africa, the current chair of the Security Council, has called for all key sanctions proposed by major powers, including an arms embargo and financial bans on an Iranian state bank and the Revolutionary Guard, to be dropped. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2966121
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Editor - 07:56:00 03-20-07
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