Methane Forces Investigators Out of West Virginia Mine

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Government investigators evacuated Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine after encountering methane gas while searching for clues to the deadliest U.S. coal mine explosion in four decades.

Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere says the evacuation occurred Monday.

She says methane started to accumulate while crews were pumping water from a flooded section of the southern West Virginia mine.

Methane occurs naturally in coal seams and poses one of mining's greatest hazards. The gas can explode at concentrations between 5 percent and 15 percent of the atmosphere.

MSHA suspects the Upper Big Branch explosion started with a methane ignition. The April 5 blast killed 29 coal miners.

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Iraqi Court Forces Parliament Back to Work

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's highest court on Sunday ordered parliament back to work after a virtual seven-month recess, intensifying pressure to break the political stalemate that has held up formation of a new government.

The 325 lawmakers met only once since they were elected on March 7 for a session that lasted 20 minutes and consisted of a reading from Islam's holy book, the Koran, the playing of the national anthem and swearing in new members.

Under the constitution, parliament was required to meet within 15 days of final court approval of election results, which came on June 1. Lawmakers met on June 14 and should have chosen a parliament speaker during their first session and then the president within 30 days.

But these appointments had to be put off because they are part of the negotiations between major political blocs over the rest of the new leadership -- including a prime minister and top Cabinet officials.

After the June meeting, lawmakers agreed to leave the parliament session open but unattended -- a technicality to allow more time to choose a new leadership and to put off choosing a new speaker or president.

But the Supreme Court deemed that decision "illegal" in its ruling on Sunday.

"The federal Supreme Court decided to cancel this decision, binding the parliament speaker to call on lawmakers to convene parliament and resume work," the ruling said. The delay "violated the constitution," it added.

Parliament's absence has meant inaction on business-friendly reforms, such as streamlining bureaucracy and clarifying rules for foreign investment, among other major decisions.

The absent parliamentarians are earning $22,500 a month in salary and housing allowance -- far more than the average $800 monthly salary of an Iraqi professional. And that doesn't include a $90,000 stipend they were given after they were sworn in to cover expenses for the next four years.

The court's ruling effectively turns up the pressure to break the 7-month-old impasse on forming a government.

"This decision will put pressure on political blocs to speed up their negotiations, and to nominate a prime minister candidate," said Kurdish lawmaker Alaa Talabani, a relative of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Sunday's court order settles a lawsuit brought by independent watchdog groups against parliament's acting speaker, Fouad Massoum. In a brief interview Sunday, Massoum said he has not yet seen the order but has no choice but to abide by the court's demands.

He told The Associated Press he expects to set a date for a meeting by the end of the week, though it was not clear when the meeting would take place. Lawmakers, however, said they would not be able to accomplish much if they reconvened before political parties agree on a ruling coalition and choose a prime minister.

Under pressure from foreign allies and mounting exasperation from the Iraqi public, leaders since have twice tried -- and failed -- to bring parliament back.

The March elections failed to give any party a ruling majority. Since then, dueling political leaders have resisted returning as they try to corral alliances that will allow them to choose a prime minister and form a coalition government.

Sunni lawmaker Osama Nujaifi predicted parliament would ignore the order and resist convening for at least a week if "the political blocs haven't agreed yet" on a new government.

Kurdish lawmaker Azad Chalak said that convening before deals are made on leadership posts "probably would lead to parliament dismantling" without having anybody in charge. He predicted that could, in turn, trigger courts to order a new election.

With 51 seats, the Kurdish bloc is considered a kingmaker whose support is critical to forming any ruling coalition.

Iraq is still struggling with its political identity after its majority Shiite population was ruled for decades by Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime. Since Saddam's fall, Iraq has been governed mostly by Shiites and Kurds, raising fears that Sunnis who feel they have been sidelined will re-ignite sectarian strife across the country.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is battling to keep his job after the Sunni-backed Iraqiya list led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi narrowly won the most seats in the March vote.

The impasse could drag on for months more.

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Haze pollution forces Malaysia school closures

Published October 20, 2010

| Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia –  An education official says more than 200 schools in southern Malaysia have been ordered closed after a drop in air quality due to haze from fires in Indonesia.

Mohamad Adha Shah Mohamad Basir says the schools in Muar district were told to shut Thursday.

Department of Environment readings showed pollution levels in the district in southern Johor state were potentially hazardous earlier this week. Air quality was moderate Thursday after morning rains.

Mohamad Adha Shah says the schools were shut as a precaution and might reopen Friday. The state is distributing face masks to all public servants and students.

Haze periodically troubles parts of Southeast Asia, usually coming from neighboring Indonesia where farmers illegally start fires to clear land.

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Pentagon Under Pressure to Explain Closing of Joint Forces Command

The Pentagon is under fire from U.S. lawmakers and Virginia leaders who are seeking more information on its planned closing of the U.S. Joint Forces Command – an effort that is central to the department's $100 billion efficiency initiative.

Some lawmakers are slamming Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a "lack of analytical rigor" in determining whether the command should be closed. They have all expressed frustration at trying to get a fuller explanation.

U.S. lawmakers have accused the Pentagon of "stonewalling" them while Virginia leaders said they received little more than a promised future meeting with Gates.

Gates announced his decision to close the Joint Forces Command, or JFCOM on Aug. 9, an announcement that surprised lawmakers who say the absence of any cost analysis or Pentagon documentation on the reasons for the closing has been infuriating.

"There was just absolutely no transparency, no prior consultation," Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said. "This was just completely out of the blue."

Gates' announcement was the first step toward identifying $100 billion in savings over the next five years. The cuts also include deep reductions in military contracts, which fuel a big part of northern Virginia's economy as well.

JFCOM occupies more than 1 million square feet of real estate in Norfolk and Suffolk, an area with a huge military presence, including the world's largest naval base. As its name suggests, the command trains troops from all services to work together for specific missions.

The 11-year-old command employs nearly 6,000, many of them civilian contractors.

McDonnell estimated that the JFCOM closing would cost Virginia 10,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, and said other defense cuts would be painful.

"Both these would be devastating to our economy in Virginia," he said, adding there are national security implications as well.

McDonnell and members of the state's congressional delegation met privately in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday with two high-level Pentagon officials in an attempt to pry out more on what went into the military's decision.

The Republican governor was assured that he would get an opportunity to meet with Gates, whom McDonnell said has not taken his calls since the announcement, but he was unable to secure public meetings in northern Virginia and Norfolk on proposed defense cuts.

"The information that came forth was not particularly compelling, not particularly more illuminating," McDonnell said in a teleconference.

McDonnell has established a committee to nudge the military for answers and to develop strategies to keep JFCOM open.

Three Pentagon officials faced a Capitol Hill grilling on Tuesday and Wednesday from members of the Armed Services Committee in each chamber seeking answers and documents leading up to the decision.

Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III said Gates had conducted 30 meetings with military advisers before announcing his decision on JFCOM. Gates concluded that the command's functions were redundant and "no longer justified a four-star military command with a billion-dollar budget."

Lynn said President Obama, whose approval is needed, had not acted on Gates' recommendation. Virginia officials have appealed to Obama to delay a decision, possibly until after the fall elections.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pressed to see documentation.

"To this point we've been stonewalled," Webb told Lynn.

"The department has failed to answer even the most basic questions that have come from this delegation with respect to cost-benefit analysis that savings would be gained by closing JFCOM and how they would outweigh elimination of the missions that JFCOM currently performs," Webb said.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich, chairman of the committee, told Pentagon officials "there is an absence here of an analysis."

"That material, seems to me, should have been available prior to the decision, not after the decision," he said.

On Wednesday, Rep. Buck McKeon, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, complained to the Pentagon officials that he and other committee members wrote a letter to Gates last month requesting decision-making documents and didn't receive a reply until recently – one that was incomplete.

"One of the problems is the information we've asked for is late in coming or incomplete in coming and we can't seem to get an answer as to when we'll get the information. Then you say there's no way to deal with this. It leaves us somewhat frustrated."

"We're not saying we're against this," he said. "It's that we haven't seen the rationale or we don't understand the why and the wherewithal."

Lynn said he will go back to the Pentagon to see if there is more information he can provide to the committee.

"We are trying to be as responsive as possible," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Media Advocate: Iraqi Forces Attacking Press

BAGHDAD-- A media advocacy group on Wednesday criticized Iraqi security forces for what it described as a string of recent attacks on local journalists, saying the threatening climate puts the development of a free press at risk.

Reporters without Borders cited three incidents last week during which it said security officials roughed up Iraqi reporters, photographers and cameramen.

In one, the Paris-based group said journalists were forced to lie face down on the ground while police beat and insulted them at a Baghdad checkpoint following a political meeting.

"Such a climate of impunity is undermining the possibilities of developing a free and independent press in Iraq," the group said in a statement. "Those responsible for this violence must be identified and brought to trial."

The group also condemned a targeted bombing this week that wounded an anchor at state-run Iraqiya TV. It was the third such attack on a TV presenter this month, the organization said.

More than 140 journalists and dozens more media support staffers have been killed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. While violence levels in the country have dropped significantly in recent years, rights groups say Iraq remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

Also Wednesday, Iraqi security forces announced the arrest of an alleged top al-Qaida-linked operative.

Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said officials detained Muhanned Mohammed Nayif, 35, and charged him with plotting recent terror attacks in southern Iraq.
Al-Moussawi showed reporters a video in which Nayif claims to be a ranking official of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq and other allied Sunni insurgent factions.

Meanwhile, the trial of two Iraqi men accused of killing six British military policemen in 2003 was postponed.

A British Embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad said the Iraqi court delayed the hearing until Oct. 10 to give more witnesses time to travel.

The six British soldiers reportedly were playing football with Iraqi police officers they were training in the southern town of Majar al-Kabir when a mob chased them into a police station and shot them.

Majar al-Kabir is about 120 miles north of Basra, Iraq's second largest city near the southern Kuwaiti border.

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