THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012
PAGE 3
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Associated Press
ASIA
Rescue workers attempt to save 135 people after avalanche
ISLAMABAD — Rescue workers used bulldozers Sunday to dig through huge banks of snow following a massive avalanche a day earlier that engulfed a military complex and buried at least 135 people, most of them soldiers, in a mountain battleground close to the Indian border.
More than 24 hours after the disaster at the entrance to the Siachen Glacier, no bodies have yet been recovered, military officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The army said 240 troops and civilians worked at the scene Sunday with the aid of sniffer dogs and heavy machinery, some of which was flown in on military aircraft. They struggled to dig through some 80 feet of snow, boulders, mud and slush that buried the rear
headquarters building in the Gayari sector early Saturday morning.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited the site Sunday to supervise rescue operations. At least 124 soldiers from the 6 Northern Light Infantry Battalion and 11 civilian contractors are missing
The U.S. expressed its condolences and offered to help with the search and rescue operation.
The accident in Siachen, which is on the northern tip of the divided Kashmir region claimed by both India and Pakistan, highlighted the risks of deploying troops to one of the most inhospitable places on earth.
The thousands of soldiers from both nations stationed there brave viciously cold temperatures, altitude sickness, high winds and isolation for months
In this photo released by Inter Services Public Relations on Sunday, April 8, rescue workers used bulldozers to dig.
at a time. Troops have been posted at elevations of up to 22,000 feet and have skimmed intermittently since 1984, though the area has been quiet since a cease-fire in 2003. The glacier is known as the world's highest battlefield.
ASIA
Space officials plan to push controversial rocket launch
TONGCHANG-RL.
North Korea — North Korean space officials have moved all three stages of a long-range rocket into position for a controversial launch, vowing Sunday to push ahead with their plan in defiance of international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity.
North Korea announced plans last month to launch an observation satellite using a three-stage rocket during mid-April celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. The U.S., Japan, Britain and other nations have urged North Korea to cancel the launch, warning that firing the long-range rocket would violate U.N. resolutions and North Korea's promise to refrain from engaging in
nuclear and missile activity.
North Korea maintains that the launch is a scientific achievement intended to improve the nation's faltering economy by providing detailed surveys of the countryside.
"No matter what others say, we are doing this for peaceful purposes," said Jang Myong Jin, general manager of the launch facility.
Experts say the Unha-3 rocket stated for liftoff between April 12 and 16 could also test long-range missile technology that might be used to strike the U.S. and other targets.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
On Sunday, reporters were taken by train past desolate fields and sleepy farming hamlets to North Korea's new launch pad in Tongchang-ri in North Phyongan province, about 35 miles south of the border town
North Korea's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, stands at Soha Satellite Station.
of Sinuiju along North Korea's west coast.
All three stages of the 91-ton rocket, emblazoned with the North Korean flag and "Unha-3," were visibly in position at the towering launch pad, and fueling will begin soon, Jang said.
AFRICA
Suicide car bomb kills 38 people during Easter services
LAGOS, Nigeria — A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives Sunday morning on a busy road after apparently turning away from attacking a Nigerian church holding Easter services, killing at least 38 people in a massive blast that rattled a city long at the center of religious, ethnic and political violence in the nation.
The explosion badly damaged the
The blast struck Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna state, leaving charred motorcycles and debris strewn across a major road in the city where many gather to eat at informal restaurants and buy black market gasoline. Nearby hotels and homes had their windows blown out and roofs torn away by the force of the powerful explosion, which engulfed a group of motorcycle taximen.
nearby All Nations Christian Assembly Church and the ECWA Good News Church as churchgoers worshipped at an Easter service, the possible target of the bomber. Witnesses said it appeared the explosive-laden car attempted to go into the compound of that church before it detonated, but was blocked by barriers in the street and was turned away by a security guard as police approached.
While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on a radical Islamist sect blamed for hundreds of killings in the oil-rich nation this year alone. And some fear the attack could further inflame tensions around Kaduna, a region on the dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and Muslim north.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People gather at the site of a bomb explosion at a road in Kaduna, Nigeria on Sunday, April 8, 2012.
At least 38 people were killed in the blast, said Abubakar Zakari Adamu, a spokesman for the Kaduna state Emergency Management Agency. Others suffered serious injuries and were receiving treatment at local hospitals, Adamu said.
EUROPE
Former KGB chief shoots for victory in runoff election
TBILISI, Georgia — A former KGB chief and a human rights ombudsman faced each other in
Sunday's runoff presidential election in Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Le o n i d Tibilov, who led the region's KGB before falling out with the former local president, won over 40 percent of the vote in the first round last month. Tibilov is expected to easily defeat his rival in the runoff, presidential human rights commissioner David
Sanakoyev, who polled 25 percent in the first round.
Tibilov
South Ossetia depends entirely on subsidies from Russia, which recognized it as an independent state after the 2008 Russian-Georgian war and still has troops there. The ties with Moscow are expected to remain close no matter who becomes president of the province, which has a population of about 50,000.
Only a handful of other countries have followed Russia in recognizing South Ossetia's independence, while a Georgian economic blockade and misappropriation of lavish Russian aid have left the regional economy in shambles with
widespread poverty and massive unemployment.
Critics accused the government of former President Eduard Kokoity of embezzling Russian donations, while thousands of South Ossetians continue to live in half-destroyed houses and apartment buildings with irregular water and electricity supplies.
South Ossetia first tried to elect a new president in November, when former education minister Alla Dzhioyeva appeared to have beaten a rival backed by the Kremlin and the former local president, but the results were disputed and a local court ordered a new vote.
NATIONAL SECURITY
U.N.'s John Bolton visits campus
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton spoke about international threats to the U.S. Wednesday night at the Lied Center, sponsored by the Business School as part of the Vickers Lecture Series, Bolton addressed national security threats he foresaw posed by China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and Egypt.
"For the last three plus years, we really have not focused on the international environment," Bolton said. "That doesn't mean that our adversaries and challenges around the world have gone because we haven't talked about them adequately."
While Bolton said the focus has turned internally to the economy, he saw international and domestic matters as intertwined.
Bolton outlined the seemingly peaceful rise of China coupled with Russia's attempts to reestablish hegemony as posing instability for the U.S. Bolton then discussed the nuclear proliferation of North Korea
and Iran as threatening Israeli and U.S. security.
"Iran is really the focal point today of our efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, and let's make no mistake about it, we are failing badly," Bolton said. "Iran is quite close to achieving its 20 yearlong objective of getting nuclear weapons."
The former U.N. ambassador discussed efforts by previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat, to negotiate peacefully with Iran.
"We always look for alternatives," Bolton said. "We're out of alternatives."
A question and answer forum followed the speech where Bolton was asked about climate change affecting international policy.
"I don't profess to know enough to know whether the Earth is warming or not warming," Bolton said. "I would not follow the notion that even if all these things are true, that more government control is going to solve the problem."
The speech was met by protests
from Occupy KU, Young Americans for Liberty and Peace Warriors. Before the speech, student members of Occupy KU laid in front of the Lied Center's entrance, pretending to be dead victims of war. Police eventually asked them to move to prevent blocking of the front doors.
"The best we can do is encourage student consciousness and involvement," said Tim Clark, junior from Lawrence and member of Occupy KU.
"I found the talk about North Korea interesting," Alexandrou said. Having studied abroad in South Korea, she said most South Koreans did not seem to feel threatened by the North. Alexandrou disagreed with Bolton on the issue of climate, thinking global warming was indeed occurring and needed to be addressed.
Ariel Alexandrou, a senior from Dallas, attended the lecture to receive credit in her finance class.
Edited by Nadia Imafidon
TYLER BIERWIRTH/KANSAN
John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations, presented the 43rd annual Vickers lecture on "Threats to American Security: A Clear Look at the World's Trouble Spots" Wednesday night at the Lied Center.
Can you name the Kansas Governors, both Democrat and Republican, who were KU Fraternity men and sorority women?
Can you name at least 3 different KU Fraternities that produced such governors?
(BONUS QUESTION)
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