World News Thread & Breaking News!!

[bd popeye]

Gents, if your post about the explosions in Boston MA is missing...it is here;

[url]http://www.sinodefenceforum.com/members-club-room/boston-terror-attack-2-6411.html#post231060[/URL]

bd popeye super moderator

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

As some of you may know I am a Night owl I spend my work nights fueled by a unholy and volatile mix of AM talk Radio, Energy drinks and whatever i can cook in the microwave ....
Anyway Last night I Heard an interesting interview regarding the West, TX plant blast. Dr. Neal Langerman works for The Advanced Chemical Safety corp. According to him the Plant was storing a ammonium hydroxide mix in pressurized containment vessels ( like those used in Storing Propane.) In his theory The fire caused Buckling in the storage tanks. the pressurized gas does not forgive weakness and so the gas found the flaw and BOOM!
Speaking of Explosive Plants with Ammonium ( in this case Perchlorate) Here's an oldie and a BIG BOOM

[video=youtube_share;oc_nnnBmMbM]http://youtu.be/oc_nnnBmMbM[/video]

 

[MwRYum]

About a week ago, some nutcase planted a couple petro bombs on the Taiwan High Speed Rail. Fortunately they were found before they went off, otherwise the death toll would've been in the hundreds -- there were 600 passengers on the train. The suspects fled from Taiwan to China, and Mainland police mounted a large manhunt to track them down and deport them back to TW.

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It was foiled because the device was crudely made, one of them leaked and the smell alerted the personnel, had it been "better crafted" the results could be far worse.

 

[ManilaBoy45]

China Quake Kills More Than 100

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AP/ April 20, 2013, 6:55 AM

BEIJING A powerful earthquake struck the steep hills of China's southwestern Sichuan province on Saturday, leaving at least 113 people dead and more than 2,600 injured, nearly five years after a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region.

Saturday's quake, while not as destructive as that in 2008, toppled buildings, triggered landslides and disrupted phone and power connections in mountainous Lushan county. The village of Longmen was hit particularly hard, with authorities saying nearly all the buildings had been destroyed and state television showing footage of soldiers digging through rubble.

Rescuers turned the square outside the Lushan County Hospital into a triage center, where medical personnel bandaged bleeding victims, according to footage on China Central Television. Rescuers dynamited boulders that had fallen across roads to reach Longmen and other damaged areas lying farther up the mountain valleys, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency, citing the Sichuan earthquake bureau, said at least 113 people had died. The government of Ya'an city, which administers Lushan, said in a statement that more than 2,600 people were injured, 330 of them severely.

 

[ManilaBoy45]

UPDATE 7-Strong Quake Hits China; 156 Dead, More than 5,500 Injured

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BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - A strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit a remote, mostly rural and mountainous area of southwestern China's Sichuan province on Saturday, killing at least 156 people and injuring about 5,500 close to where a big quake killed almost 70,000 people in 2008.

The earthquake, China's worst in three years, occurred at 8.02 a.m. (0002 GMT) in Lushan county near Ya'an city and the epicentre had a depth of 12 km (7.5 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake was felt by residents in neighbouring provinces and in the provincial capital of Chengdu, causing many people to rush out of buildings, according to accounts on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging service.

State media said 156 people had been confirmed dead with more than 5,500 injured.

 

[Jeff Head]

UPDATE 7-Strong Quake Hits China; 156 Dead, More than 5,500 Injured

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BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - A strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit a remote, mostly rural and mountainous area of southwestern China's Sichuan province on Saturday, killing at least 156 people and injuring about 5,500 close to where a big quake killed almost 70,000 people in 2008.

Our sympathies and prayers for those killed or injured and their familes.

May the survivors get the help they need, and may they feel comfort and reassurance from above in these difficult time.

 

[bd popeye]

Gents we have a thread on the Earthquake..More photos are posted there.

Sichuan Earthquake 2013

 

[Franklin]

Violence in western Chinese region of Xinjiang kills 21

Clashes in the unsettled western Chinese region of Xinjiang killed 21 people, including police officers and local officials, authorities said Wednesday.

The attacks took place Tuesday afternoon after three local officials visiting homes in the area found "several suspicious persons" and knives in one house, the Xinjiang government said in a statement.

When the officials alerted their superiors of the situation, the people in the house took them hostage, the statement said. Police rushed to the scene, and in the ensuing violence, six of the assailants and 15 other people were killed, it said. Two other people were injured.

Police captured eight of the attackers, whom the government described as "mobsters." It described the violence as a "terrorist act."

Some of the knives recovered by police were more than a meter long, according to Hou Hanmin, spokesperson for the Xinjiang government. She told CNN that some of the captured assailants said under interrogation that they had watched videos "from overseas" that featured violence and acts of terrorism.

"Then they made those large, lethal knives and wanted to use them for Jihad," she said, referring to the Arabic term meaning "struggle."

"They had been training in their own house for several months. They were affected by extremism and hoped to commit themselves to Jihad."

Xinjiang has been hit by periodic bouts of unrest. The worst violence in decades took place in July 2009, when rioting between Uyghurs and Han Chinese left around 200 people dead and 1,700 injured in the regional capital, Urumqi.

Uyghurs are predominantly Muslim ethnic Turks who are linguistically, culturally and religiously distinct from China's majority Han population.

Chinese authorities have cracked down on those they accuse of fomenting unrest in the region.

As is often the case, the government statement about Tuesday's clash didn't specify the ethnicity of the assailants. But it said that the 15 people killed who weren't "mobsters," comprised 10 Uyghurs, three Han, and two Mongolians.

The latest violence occurred in Bachu County, east of the city of Kashgar.

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[bd popeye]

Franklin, I reposted that story in the Chinese daily photos thread. Very interesting by the way.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

24 April 2013 Last updated at 15:43 ET
Bangladesh Dhaka building collapse leaves 87 dead
At least 87 people have been killed and many more are feared trapped after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, government officials say.
Firefighters and army personnel are leading the operation to rescue those caught beneath the debris in Savar.
More than 1,000 people were injured. One official put the death toll at 127.
Building collapses are common in Bangladesh where many multi-storey blocks are built in violation of rules.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.
Tessel Pauli, a spokeswoman for the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, said activists at the scene had identified labels from European and US high-street brands.
"Immediate relief and long-term compensation must be provided by the brands who were sourcing from these factories, and responsibility taken for their lack of action to prevent this happening," she said in a statement to the BBC.
The Rana Plaza building contained several clothing factories, a bank and a market.
It collapsed at about 09:00 local time (03:00 GMT), during the morning rush hour.
Sohel Rana, a local who rescued several people, told Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star that he had heard cries for help coming from under the rubble.
The scene looked like a "war zone", Dhaka resident Tahsin Mahmoo told the BBC, adding that appeals had been put out for citizens to donate blood.
Hundreds of people, anxious for news of friends and relatives, have gathered at the scene. Others are moving rubble using their bare hands.
"Already we've rescued three to four hundred people... Now we are cutting through the concrete walls and trying to get inside with the help of sniffer dogs," fire brigade chief Ali Ahmed Khan told the BBC Bengali service.
Police told local media that the rear of the building had suddenly started to collapse on Wednesday morning, and within a short time the whole structure - except the main pillar and parts of the front wall - had caved-in, triggering panic.
An eyewitness described the moment of the building's collapse: "It became completely dark on this side. There was a lot of dust from the collapsing debris, so we ran downstairs. When we came out we saw the whole building collapsed."
Only the ground floor of the building remained intact after the collapse, officials said.
It is not yet clear what caused the collapse, but local media reports said severe cracks were detected in the block on Tuesday.
One worker rescued from the building told the BBC that factory owners had told workers on Wednesday morning "not to worry" and that "they said they had examined the crack".
Speaking at the scene, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said the building had violated construction codes and "the culprits would be punished".
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced a national day of mourning on Thursday in memory of the victims.
Primark, a large British retailer, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza. It said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident" and that it would work with other retailers to review standards.
In November, a fire at a garment factory in a Dhaka suburb drew international attention to working conditions in Bangladesh's textile industry.
At least 110 people died, triggering a public outcry about safety standards.
Western retail chains that buy from factories in Bangladesh urged factory owners to improve safety standards.
The last major building collapse was in 2010, when a four-storey building in Dhaka caved in, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others.
In 2005, there was a building collapse near the site of Wednesday's incident, killing 64 people.

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24 April 2013 Last updated at 10:50 ET
Enrico Letta set to become Italy's new prime minister
Enrico Letta appears set to become Italy's new prime minister, after being asked by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a broad coalition government.
The appointment of Mr Letta, currently deputy leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, could see the end of two months of parliamentary deadlock.
An inconclusive general election in February left the country in political limbo.
Mr Letta said he would aim to change the course in Europe on austerity.
"European policies are too focused on austerity which is no longer enough," he said, following the closed-door meeting with the president in Rome.
Differences
The 46-year-old also said he had accepted the post knowing that it was an enormous responsibility and that Italy's political class "has lost all credibility".
Mr Letta must now form a cabinet that can win cross-party support and a vote of confidence in parliament, possibly this weekend.
Factions from across the political spectrum, including former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing People of Freedom Party (PDL), have indicated that they are ready to form a coalition under a figure like Mr Letta.
However, Mr Berlusconi's party and the Democratic Party (PD) differ on a number of issues.
PDL National Secretary Angelino Alfano warned that his group would not take part in a government unconditionally.
Mr Letta, once a member of the former centre-right Christian Democrats, is seen as moderate of the left. His uncle, Gianni Letta, has been Mr Berlusconi's chief-of-staff for 10 years.
'Forced marriage'
A broad political alliance would again make Mr Berlusconi a major influence.
This awkward coming together of bitter rivals is seen as the only way to end the parliamentary stalemate and put an administration in place, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome.
But it is a forced political marriage that may not last long, our correspondent adds.
Mr Letta's candidacy for prime minister came about after the PD leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, announced his resignation last week.
He had ruled out working with Mr Berlusconi and faced a party rebellion over his choice for Italian president.
The third strongest political force to come out of February's election, former comedian Beppe Grillo's Five Star movement, could not be persuaded to join a coalition and is expected to be in opposition.
With the Italian economy still struggling, the new government will be expected to try to implement a limited range of economic and institutional reforms.
Among its priorities will be an effort to re-shape the current election law. The aim would be to ensure that future general elections would deliver more emphatic, clear-cut results.
Mr Letta's appointment follows the swearing-in on Monday of President Napolitano, who berated his country's feuding politicians.
Taking up an unprecedented second term, he told the assembled MPs that they had been guilty of a long series of failings and that their inability to implement key reforms had been "unforgivable".
He has threatened to resign if no administration is formed.

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Great Wall Motors Looking to Commence US Sales by 2015

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The only China-made car currently sold in North America on any sort of scale is the Honda Fit (Jazz), but only the model sold in Canada. However, aside from that and eleven BYD E6 EVs that were imported into the US as part of a pilot program, no cars sold in the country are made in China.
This is set to change, though, as Great Wall Motors (GWM), one of the China's most financially successful and stable automakers, is currently looking to set up shop Stateside, in the hopes of beginning sales of its vehicles on US soil by 2015.

GWM is known on its local market primarily as a maker of SUVs, and that’s exactly the type of vehicles they want to sell in the States, once they figure out all of the logistics.

Speaking to Autonews, the Chinese company's president, Wang Fengyiang said: "Since the United States is far away from China and its import tariffs on vehicles are not particularly high, we would prefer to build the vehicle locally We started planning to enter the U.S. market two years ago. We need to study its laws and regulations (on safety and emission) as well as consumer preferences."

They are also looking for a suitable plot of land on which to build their plant, but until that time comes, we have some photos of the automaker’s models, including the Great Wall C50 sedan, the Haval H8, H7 and H6 SUVs (Haval is a sub-brand of GWM), as well as the smaller H5, all of which you can check out after the break.

By Andrei Nedelea

Personaly I think there Cars look prety bland I kinda like the look of their pickup though.