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Tsunami warning center inaugurated |
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Tuesday, 16 October 2007 |
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HYDERABAD - India inaugurated yesterday a $32 million tsunami early-warning center, which can alert people living along the coast within 13 minutes of getting data from seismic stations. "This is a technological achievement of enormous magnitude," India's Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said while opening the center on the outskirts of Hyderabad, the capital of southern Andhra Pradesh state. An estimated 10,700 people in India were among the more than 230,000 killed by the tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island in December 2004. India's warning center will get data from six buoys and bottom-pressure recorders in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. (AP)
United Nations
UN force to remain in Haiti extra year
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti for a year, noting significant improvements in security in recent months but saying the situation remains fragile. The UN force of more than 7,000 troops and 2,000 international police replaced a US-led force deployed after an uprising toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004. More than 400 people died in clashes involving pro- and anti-Aristide street gangs, police, peacekeepers, and ex-soldiers who helped oust Aristide. (AP)
Britain
Liberal Democrat leader steps down
LONDON - The leader of Britain's Liberal Democrat party resigned yesterday, a surprise move by the popular veteran lawmaker, ex-Olympic athlete and strident critic of the Iraq war. Menzies Campbell steps down after 19 months as head of the third-ranked party, a period during which he has been dogged by assertions that at 66, he is too old to challenge his rivals, particularly Britain's main opposition leader, David Cameron, 41. Party president Simon Hughes told reporters that Campbell had stepped down with immediate effect, but the outgoing leader did not address the media himself. (AP)
Lebanon
Suspected terrorists detained, army says
BEIRUT - Lebanese military intelligence officials have detained members of a suspected "terrorist network" for plotting attacks against UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, the army said yesterday. The group had planted a bomb near the southern city of Tyre in an attempt to target a UN patrol, but it did not explode because of a problem with the trigger, the army said. The suspects also admitted they planned to plant two other bombs in the area and detonate them within a short period "in order to cause maximum casualties among the forces," the statement said. (AP)
Cuba
Economic ties with Venezuela forged
HAVANA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Cuba's interim leader Raul Castro oversaw the signing yesterday of economic partnerships in areas ranging from oil production to tourism as the nations moved to further integrate their economies. Cuba and Venezuela are strengthening their ties under the Boliviarian Alternative for the Americas regional trade pact, said the 76-year-old Castro, who has led Cuba during his brother Fidel's illness. (AP)
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
Boston Globe
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