The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Chile air force plane presumed crashed, 21 aboard
- Concern rising about Iran military nuclear work - IAEA
- Chile air force plane presumed crashed in Pacific
| Chile air force plane presumed crashed, 21 aboard Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:38 PM PDT SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean air force plane with 21 people aboard was presumed to have crashed in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after it disappeared near the remote Juan Fernandez islands, authorities said. Defense Minister Andres Allamand said the CASA 212 military plane tried twice to land before it went missing in the late afternoon. He said search teams were heading to the area, but that nightfall was hampering efforts. "I empathize with the anguish and uncertainty of the relatives of the 21 passengers aboard the plane which is presumed to have gone down," President Sebastian Pinera said. "This is a very hard blow for our country." TVN national television said five of its staff members were among the passengers, including popular presenter Felipe Camiroaga. The crew was planning to film a report about reconstruction on the islands, which like Chile's mainland coastline were battered by a tsunami triggered by a devastating earthquake that hit Chile early last year. Captain Otto Mrugalski, who is directing search and rescue efforts, said no remains of the plane had been found around the Juan Fernandez islands, which lie about 420 miles (670 km) off Chile's coast. But the mayor of the islands, Leopoldo Gonzalez, told state television that passengers' belongings had been found in the sea about a kilometer (0.6 mile) from the islands' landing strip. Local radio Bio Bio later cited Gonzalez as saying a door of the plane had been found in the water. Felipe Paredes, who staffs the control tower at the landing strip, said he saw the plane struggling to land and cited heavy winds and sporadic rain. "When the plane was blown off course by the wind, it managed to pull up again," Paredes said. He said he then lost sight of the plane. (Reporting by Moises Avila, Antonio de la Jara, Simon Gardner and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Peter Cooney) Copyright © 2011 Reuters | ||
| Concern rising about Iran military nuclear work - IAEA Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:07 PM PDT VIENNA (Reuters) - The watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency is "increasingly concerned" about possible work in Iran to develop a nuclear payload for a missile, the IAEA said in a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The U.N. nuclear agency report said it continued to receive new information adding to such worries. One diplomat familiar with the Iran probe said some information concerned activities allegedly carried out as recently as last year. The developments highlighted in the IAEA's latest quarterly inspection report are likely to fan Western suspicions about the underlying nature of Iran's nuclear activity, which Western powers suspect is aimed at developing atom bombs. It may provide additional arguments for the United States and its European allies to further tighten the sanctions pressure on Iran, one of the world's largest oil producers. Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, dismissed what he called "baseless allegations" about Iran's programme. But he nevertheless described the report as a step in the right direction, saying it showed that Iran had fully cooperated with the IAEA by allowing a senior nuclear inspector full access to atomic sites during a five-day visit last month. "This new trend of positive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA should continue," Soltanieh told Reuters. Western diplomats have dismissed Iran's attempt to show increased openness about its nuclear work, saying it is still failing to address core concerns about its aims. In addition to addressing the issue of alleged military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme, the U.N. agency said Tehran had begun installing machines for higher-grade uranium enrichment in an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom. Shifting enrichment activity to such a subterranean site could offer greater protection against any attacks by Israel or the United States, which have both said they do not rule out pre-emptive strikes to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons. At a separate research and development site, the Vienna-based IAEA said, Iran had started enriching uranium experimentally with a more advanced model of centrifuge than the erratic, 1970s vintage machine it has been using for years. NUCLEAR MISSILE WORK? "Iran has made progress on the enrichment side," the diplomat familiar with the IAEA's investigation said, adding the Islamic state was making a "lot of effort" to get the underground Fordow site up and running. Uranium enriched to a low level of fissile purity is suitable for running civilian nuclear power plants. If refined to a much higher degree, it forms the core of nuclear bombs. The report showed that Iran has now produced a total of more than 4.5 tonnes of low-enriched uranium since the activity began in 2007, an amount which experts say could provide material for at least two bombs if refined much more. Its output of higher-grade refined uranium had also risen. It was a further sign of Iran's determination to press ahead with enrichment in defiance of international demands that it desist from such work. For several years, the IAEA has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives at high altitude and revamp a ballistic missile cone to accommodate a nuclear warhead. The IAEA, tasked with ensuring that nuclear technology is not diverted for military aims, says Iran has not engaged with the agency in substance on these issues since 2008. The IAEA report said it was "increasingly concerned about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military-related organizations, including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile, about which the agency continues to receive new information." It said the information was "extensive and comprehensive" and obtained from many member states and through its own efforts. Iran denies harbouring any nuclear weapon ambitions, saying it wants to refine uranium only for electricity or isotopes for medicine and agriculture. But it has long restricted the access of IAEA inspectors, stoking concerns abroad. "I categorically reject this sort of allegation. I'm 100 percent sure (about Iran's) exclusively peaceful activities," Soltanieh said. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Rosalind Russell) Copyright © 2011 Reuters | ||
| Chile air force plane presumed crashed in Pacific Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:07 PM PDT SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean air force plane disappeared near the Juan Fernandez islands in the Pacific Ocean with 21 people aboard on Friday and was presumed to have crashed, authorities said. Defense Minister Andres Allamand said the CASA 212 military plane tried twice to land before it went missing in the late afternoon. He said nightfall was hampering search efforts. "As it was approaching the island, it was declared missing after radio contact was lost," Allamand said, adding search teams were heading to the area. Captain Otto Mrugalski, who is directing search and rescue efforts, said no remains of the plane had been found around the Juan Fernandez islands, which lie about 420 miles (670 km) off Chile's coast. The mayor of the islands, Leopoldo Gonzalez, told state television that passengers' belongings had been found in the sea about a kilometer (0.6 mile) from the islands' landing strip. Local radio Bio Bio later cited Gonzalez as saying a door of the plane had been found in the water. Felipe Paredes, who mans the control tower at the landing strip, said he saw the plane struggling to land and cited heavy winds and sporadic rain. "When the plane was blown off course by the wind, it managed to pull up again," Paredes said. He said he then lost sight of the plane. TVN national television said five of its staff members were among the passengers, including presenter Felipe Camiroaga. (Reporting by Moises Avila, Antonio de la Jara, Simon Gardner and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Peter Cooney) Copyright © 2011 Reuters |
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