The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Almost half of Greek voters oppose austerity deal - poll
- U.N. nuclear report shows Japan safety shortcomings
- Libyan rebels out of money, West to blame - oil chief
| Almost half of Greek voters oppose austerity deal - poll Posted: 18 Jun 2011 11:46 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Almost half of Greek voters want parliament to reject a package of harsh economic reforms that the government has agreed in return for a second international bailout to avoid default, according to an opinion poll. The poll, in Sunday's edition of To Vima newspaper, showed they also wanted Greece to hold early elections to replace the embattled government of Prime Minister George Papandreou.
The survey was taken before Papandreou reshuffled his government on Friday in an attempt to stiffen resolve to hammer through the reforms. The European Union and International Monetary Fund have made the reforms a condition for a new emergency loan package worth an estimated 120 billion euros ($170 billion) that Greece will need to avood bankruptcy and fund itself through 2014. In a nationwide survey of 1,208 voters, 47.5 percent of respondents said they wanted parliament to reject the reform package and for Greece to hold early elections. Just over a third -- 34.8 percent -- wanted it to be approved so Athens could receive a new loan tranche and secure the second bailout. Constantinos Routzounis, head of pollsters Kapa Research, said Greeks were not against austerity in itself but thought the reforms were unfairly aimed at the poor while wealthy tax evaders and corrupt politicians got off lightly. "People don't want Greece to exit the euro zone. They do want fiscal consolidation measures -- but more just ones," he told Reuters. Kapa conducted the survey on June 14-15. Papandreou announced a wholesale reshuffle on Friday in a move to quell open dissent in his ruling Socialist Party and push the measures through parliament in the face of weeks of protests that briefly erupted in violence last Wednesday. Just under 90 percent of those polled said they were not optimistic about the direction in which Greece was heading, but 80 percent favoured being in the euro zone. Euro zone finance ministers are expected to agree on Sunday to release a 12 billion euro tranche of an existing, year-old bailout loan that Greece needs to pay back debt maturing in July and August. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Writing by Hugh Lawson; editing by Barry Moody) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| U.N. nuclear report shows Japan safety shortcomings Posted: 18 Jun 2011 11:16 AM PDT VIENNA (Reuters) - Japanese nuclear regulators failed to review and approve steps taken after 2002 to protect against tsunamis at the Fukushima plant and these proved insufficient to prevent the disaster three months ago, a U.N. report showed.
A detailed assessment by an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the first outside review of Japan's nuclear crisis -- suggested several shortcomings both before and after a tidal wave crippled the power station. But it also praised the way workers on the ground dealt with the situation at Fukushima Daiichi after the massive earthquake and huge tsunami devastated its reactors on March 11, triggering the world's worst nuclear accident in a quarter of a century. "The operators were faced with a catastrophic, unprecedented emergency scenario with no power, reactor control or instrumentation," said the 160-page report, prepared for a ministerial nuclear safety meeting in Vienna next week. It "has at times required exceptional levels of leadership and dedication by workers on the sites and elsewhere". A three-page summary was issued at the end of the 18-member team's May 24-June 2 inspector mission to Japan. It said the country underestimated the threat from tsunamis to the Fukushima plant and urged sweeping changes to its regulatory system. Officials in Japan had earlier been criticised for failing to plan for a tsunami that would surge over the 5.7 metre (19-ft) wall at the nuclear power station in the country's northeast, despite forecasts that such a risk was looming. The wave that crashed into the complex after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake was about 14 metres (46 feet) high. In a new setback to efforts to restore control over the quake-stricken plant, a rise in radiation halted the clean-up of radioactive water at Fukushima on Saturday only hours after it got under way. The full IAEA report said there had been "insufficient defence-in-depth provisions" for tsunami hazards, even though they had been considered in the design and siting of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco. DECISION DELAYS Extra protective steps were taken as a result of an evaluation after 2002 -- the projected tsunami height was increased -- but they were not enough "to cope with the high tsunami run-up values and all associated hazardous phenomena". "Moreover, those additional protective measures were not reviewed and approved by the regulatory authority," said the report. It added: "Severe accident management provisions were not adequate to cope with multiple plant failures." The document, obtained by Reuters, was submitted to IAEA member states on Friday but has not yet been made public. At the June 20-24 IAEA-hosted meeting, some 150 nations will begin charting a strategy on boosting global nuclear safety, but differences over how much international action is needed may hamper follow-up efforts, diplomats say. Japan's crisis has prompted a rethink of energy policy around the world, underlined by Germany's decision to shut down all its reactors by 2022 and an Italian vote to ban nuclear power for decades. Three reactors at the Japanese complex went into meltdown when power and cooling functions failed, causing radiation leakage and forcing the evacuation of some 80,000 people. Japanese officials have come under fire for their handling of the emergency and the authorities have admitted that lax standards and poor oversight contributed to the accident. In 2007, the IAEA was ignored when it called on Japan to create a more powerful and independent nuclear regulator, and the report underlined the need for greater regulatory control. Japan has a well organised emergency preparedness and response system but "complicated structures and organisations can result in delays in urgent decision making", it added. The report also listed wider lessons for improving nuclear safety worldwide and help avert any repeat of the disaster, saying reactors should be built so that they can withstand rare and "complex combinations" of external threats. (Editing by Mark Heinrich) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| Libyan rebels out of money, West to blame - oil chief Posted: 18 Jun 2011 11:16 AM PDT BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Rebels waging a drawn-out war to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have run out of money, their oil chief said on Saturday, and he accused the West of not meeting promises to deliver urgent financial aid.
His comments came as cracks were appearing in the NATO alliance over its 3-month bombing campaign against Gaddafi, with some allies showing mission fatigue and the United States accusing some European allies of failing to pull their weight. The rebels have made several gains in the past few weeks, but remain far from seizing their ultimate prize -- Gaddafi's powerbase of Tripoli and its hinterland -- despite air support from the world's most powerful military alliance. "We are running out of everything. It's a complete failure. Either they (Western nations) don't understand or they don't care. Nothing has materialised yet. And I really mean nothing," rebel oil chief Ali Tarhouni said in an interview with Reuters. At least eight rebels were killed in fighting near the northwestern town of Nalut, a rebel source said, as insurgents sought to press an advance into Gaddafi's heartland that has proven slow despite weeks of NATO air strikes on their behalf. The gun battles in the village of Takut, just outside Nalut, on Saturday followed exchanges of heavy artillery fire near the city of Zlitan, on the other side of Tripoli, as the insurgents tried to take government-held territory to the east of the city. Tarhouni's remarks highlight the insurgents' struggle to make ends meet, with war damage to energy infrastructure in their eastern territory having knocked out oil production there. Western powers have pledged to expand aid by tapping into Libyan assets frozen abroad. But Tarhouni, also the insurgents' finance minister, said they had not followed through. "All of these people we talk to, all of these countries, at all these conferences, with their great grand speeches -- we appreciate (them) from the political side, but in terms of finances they are a complete failure. Our people are dying," he said. SHAMBLES The economy in eastern Libya, where much of the oil that once made Libya a major OPEC exporter came from, is in a shambles. Rebel leaders are struggling to find cash to pay for military operations and salaries in a society where, thanks to the legacy of Gaddafi's centralised rule, most people rely on state wages. The European Union has pledged financial infusions and the United States, which took a leading role in securing a U.N.-backed no-fly zone over Libya, has promised more aid. Tarhouni has estimated the rebels were spending up to 100 million Libyan dinars ($86 million) per day. "I don't expect us to produce oil any time soon. The refineries have no crude oil, so they are not working," he said. The president of the rebel's transitional council Mustafa Abdel Jalil was in the Tunisian capital on Saturday, for talks with Tunisian government officials. Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi's government has made welcoming overtures to the rebel's transitional council but has stopped short of officially recognising them. "We've gone past that stage," Jalil told Reuters after a news conference. "The fact that we are received here is implicit recognition. Tunisia will play a big role in the future." Austria's Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger delayed a planned trip to Benghazi on Sunday because of security concerns. BATTLES The rebels are trying to seal off coastal Tripoli from the east, west and south but their advances have been halting and weeks of NATO strikes pounding Gaddafi's compound and other targets have failed to bring down his 41-year-old rule. "The battles started yesterday and are continuing today in Takut," a fighter, Abou Saa, told Reuters from Nalut, in arid hills some 200 km (125 miles) southwest of Tripoli. "The revolutionaries destroyed six armoured vehicles and killed more than 45 enemy soldiers. The rebels surrounded Gaddafi's forces, who are holed up in a compound (in Takut)." He added that 13 rebels were wounded in the fighting. The report could not be immediately verified due to a lack of independent media access to the area and there was no immediate comment from Gaddafi's side. On the other side of Tripoli, rebels are advancing towards Zlitan, 160 km (100 miles) to the east and the next major town on the Mediterranean coastal road to the capital from the rebel stronghold of Misrata. Capturing it would greatly advance the rebels' strategy of cutting off Tripoli from all sides. A rebel spokesman in Misrata called Mohammed said: "there were skirmishes this morning in the southwest of Misrata in Tawargha," but did not give further details. Gaddafi's forces periodically fired rockets into the port and refinery area of Misrata on Saturday, killing one woman, her neighbour Ali Salah told Reuters in the city. The rebels have said they will not attack Zlitan because of local tribal sensitivities, but are recruiting fighters from the town and waiting for the residents to rise up against Gaddafi. Rebels are also fighting on another front, in the east near the oil port of Brega, 800 km (500 miles) east of Tripoli. NATO planes resumed bombardments of Tripoli on Friday and there were more explosions on Saturday. State news agency Jana said another bombing had struck the Karama district of Tripoli on Saturday morning but this could not be confirmed immediately. "The alliance will be defeated," Gaddafi said in an audio speech on Libyan television on Friday. "We are in our country and we are determined to stay and defend it." Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi told a news conference that Libya would appeal to the U.N. Security Council for a halt to NATO's aerial bombings, which he said were increasingly hitting civilian buildings. A NATO spokeswoman called Libyan reports of civilian casualties caused by air strikes "pure propaganda". "It is Gaddafi and his regime that have been ..., shelling cities, mining ports and using mosques and children's parks as shields," said alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. (Additional reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunis, Nick Carey in Tripoli, Matt Robinson in Dafniyah, Joseph Nasr in Berlin, and Sylvia Westall in Vienna; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Alison Williams) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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