Free Republic

An explosion destroyed a 30-metre section of the trunk gas pipeline taking Russian gas across Ukraine to Europe on Monday, but Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said flows of gas were unaffected. “There has been no reduction in gas supplies to European customers,” Gazprom said in a statement. Gazprom customers in eastern Europe reported no disruption to supplies. A spokesman for Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry initially said the blast had stopped the flow of gas to Europe, which gets a quarter of its gas from Russia. Another spokesman later said a by-pass pipeline had come on stream and flows to Europe...

Old vaccine hits TB like a blast from the past 21:00 12 March 2007 NewScientist.com news service Debora MacKenzie A vintage BCG vaccine developed in the 1920s may be due a comeback after researchers found it offers better protection against modern tuberculosis strains than the current BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin). TB kills nearly two million people every year. The BCG vaccine is a live, non-pathogenic strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis – the bacterium that causes TB. It is still given in some developing countries, where meningitis caused by the bacterium is a threat to children. However, BCG has lost favour with regard...

Activists Blast Saudi Arabia Beheadings Friday February 23, 2007 1:01 AM By JAMES CALDERWOOD Associated Press Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A human rights group said Thursday that Saudi Arabia violated international law when it ordered the beheadings earlier this week of four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh. Human Rights Watch said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights. The group called on Saudi Arabia to halt all pending executions and retry those remaining on...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber struck a police checkpoint Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, killing at 13 people in the spiritual heartland of the militia factions led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. forces, meanwhile, investigated the "hard landing" of a Black Hawk helicopter north of Baghdad. Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the airmen were picked up by rescuers, but gave no further details. At least seven U.S. helicopters have crashed or been forced down by hostile fire in the past month, killing 28 troops and civilians. Meanwhile, Britain outlined its plan to...

Reports: Blast Hits McDonald's in Russia Sunday February 18, 2007 6:46 PM MOSCOW (AP) - An explosion at a McDonald's restaurant in St. Petersburg on Sunday injured at least six people, destroyed a ceiling and blew out windows, a Russian news agency reported. The Interfax news agency, citing local emergency officials, said the blast occurred around 8:30 p.m. in the city center. At least six people were injured, the agency said. Emergency officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.

Blast close to US base in JapanThere has been a small explosion near a United States' military base south of the Japanese capital, Tokyo, US officials have confirmed. The blast happened outside the Camp Zama army base around 40km (25 miles) south-west of Tokyo. Police found two pipes believed to have contained explosives close to the camp, Kyodo News agency reported. A Pentagon official said that there were no reports of injuries caused by the blast. "A small explosion was heard in the vicinity of the base," said Air Force Maj David Smith. "It did not occur on the base."...

A man accused of plotting to detonate bombs in Britain acknowledged talking about blowing up the Houses of Parliament, but said the suggestion was meant as a joke. Omar Khyam, 24, who is standing trial along with six others, denies conspiring to cause an explosion. He told jurors at London's Central Criminal Court that, while watching Prime Minister Tony Blair take questions in the House of Commons in "we just made a comment 'Can you imagine if you dropped a bomb right there and then? You would take out all the MPs (members of Parliament)." Khyam confirmed it was he...

BAGHDAD, Sep. 4, 2006 – Two Longbow Apache helicopters provided air-to-ground support to American soldiers by blasting enemy vehicles during action in western Baghdad yesterday, U.S. officials reported. The flight of choppers from Multinational Division Baghdad’s Combat Aviation Brigade teamed up to assist U.S. ground forces from the division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. The combined effort resulted in one terrorist killed, four captured and two terrorist’s vehicles destroyed, officials said. The Apache crews were conducting a combat air patrol mission when they received the call to assist. At about 4:45 p.m., the pilots noticed two abandoned vehicles...

N. KOREA SAYS IT CONDUCTED LARGE-SCALE BLAST OP FOR WATERWAY Monday August 28, 2006, 9:12 am SEOUL, Aug 28 Asia Pulse - North Korea said Sunday it conducted a large-scale blast operation two days ago for a waterway project. The operation was carried out on Friday in a reservoir at Goksan county of Hwanghae province near the border with the South's Gangwon province, the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported. "The large-scale blast operation paves the way for the completion of the Risang Reservoir Project earlier than scheduled," the broadcaster said. On Aug. 18, U.S.-based ABC News, citing unidentified U.S....

John McCain has been President Bush's indispensable political ally on the war in Iraq. So what was the Arizona senator and top-shelf 2008 presidential contender up to yesterday in Ohio when he unloaded on the Bush Administration's handling of the war in a speech that, with a few tweaks, could have been delivered by an anti-war Democrat? "I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was underestimating the size of the task and the sacrifices that would be required," McCain said. "Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders," he went on, citing some of the, ah, less-than-accurate...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 – Iraqi forces in Baghdad yesterday captured a man believed to be responsible for the January shooting death of a U.S. soldier and an interpreter, U.S. military officials reported. Iraqi security forces, supported by coalition advisors, conducted the intelligence-focused early-morning raid at a two-story residence in the Mansour district, capturing their primary target without incident. No Iraqi or coalition forces or civilians were injured during this operation. Also in Iraq, more than 60 Iraqis were killed and another 140 wounded when two makeshift car bombs detonated near a residential building Aug. 13. The explosion triggered a...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A wave of Israeli warplanes blasted a bunker in south Beirut thought to hold Hezbollah's top leaders Wednesday, intensifying an offensive against the guerrillas despite mounting international pressure and an appeal from Lebanon to spare the country further death and devastation. The strike was the most dramatic action on a day that saw Israeli troops punch into south Lebanon to clash with the guerrillas and launched strikes that killed an estimated 40 people. Israel broadcast warnings into south Lebanon telling civilians to leave the region, a possible prelude to a larger Israeli ground operation. Hezbollah, undeterred, fired...

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – A suicide bomb attack in the Gardez district Afghanistan's of Paktia province killed five people and wounded up to 22 others, mostly innocent civilians, yesterday, military officials reported. An extremist armed with a suicide vest detonated his explosives as an Afghan National Army patrol approached. One Afghan soldier and four Afghan civilians were killed in the blast. Two Afghan soldiers and up to 20 more innocent Afghan civilians were wounded by the explosion and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Several vehicles and structures also were damaged. A coalition quick reaction force and explosive...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, June 25, 2006 – An extremist-engineered explosion in eastern Afghanistan destroyed a mosque while killing three people and wounding eight, including three children, officials here announced today. The attack occurred on June 6 near the southeastern provincial capital city of Ghazni. Terrorists triggered the explosion that destroyed the Haji Adam Khan Mosque in Oal a-I Oadzi. Gov. Elhaj Sheer Alam, the Ghazni provincial governor, told reporters Taliban members attempting to construct a motorcycle-born improvised explosive device were responsible for the blast. Ghazni District Afghan National Policemen and Afghan National Army soldiers from 2nd Kandak, 1st...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch accused an Israeli army investigation on Wednesday of ignoring evidence that challenges its decision to clear the military of blame for a blast that killed seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach. The deaths on June 9, a day of heavy Israeli shelling designed to stop militants firing rockets from Gaza, drew international condemnation and prompted the ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to call off a 16-month-old truce. Major-General Meir Califi, who led the army investigation, dismissed the accusations by the U.S.-based rights watchdog, which has carried out its own inquiry into the explosion that...

BAGHDAD, June 12, 2006 – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died of blast injuries sustained by the coalition bombing of his safe house June 7, coalition officials said today. The officials also said that DNA testing proves that the body is that of the terrorist leader. "We have clear evidence he died of blast injuries," said Army Dr. (Col.) Steve Jones, the command surgeon in Iraq. "There is no evidence to suggest that he was beaten and I have no reason to suspect that happened." Jones and coalition military spokesman Army Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell briefed reporters on the results of the...

A non-nuclear explosion expected to generate a mushroom cloud over the Nevada desert will be postponed at least three weeks, while a federal court reviews plans for the blast, test officials said Tuesday. "The planned Divine Strake experiment will not be conducted earlier than June 23," said Cheri Abdelnour, spokeswoman for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir, Va. The blast was originally scheduled for June 2. Darwin Morgan, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration in North Las Vegas, confirmed the date change but declined further comment. In documents filed Monday with U.S. District Court in Las Vegas,...

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2006 – Terrorists blew up a new Iraqi police station under construction south of Baghdad yesterday, military officials reported. The explosion caused half of the building to collapse. Iraqi soldiers from 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, secured the site after the blast to prevent further damage. "Terrorists are attempting to prevent the rebuilding of the essential infrastructure," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a Multinational Division Baghdad spokesman. "The police station is a sign of progress for the Iraqi people." Iraqi authorities are investigating the blast. In other news, a citizen's tip led Multinational Division...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2006 – Iraqi soldiers and national police did a good job in helping quell unrest during the hours and days following the Feb. 22 bombing of a prominent Shiite mosque in Samarra, Iraq, a senior U.S. military leader said today. Iraqi security forces "performed very well; they were very deliberate; they were poised," the senior official, speaking on background, told military analysts from his headquarters in Iraq during a phone interview. The official said Iraqi forces provided "a settling influence on what was essentially a very emotionally charged atmosphere" after terrorists blew the top off the Golden...

Mine Owner Blames Lightning for Sago Blast Wednesday March 15, 2006 12:31 AM By VICKI SMITH Associated Press Writer MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - An explosion that killed 12 workers at the Sago Mine likely was caused by a massive lightning strike that ignited methane gas in a sealed-off area, the mine's owner said Tuesday. The company's own investigation turned up three pieces of compelling evidence of a lightning strike, all from 6:26 a.m. on Jan. 2, said Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer of International Coal Group Inc. He said weather monitors confirmed an unusually large and powerful lightning strike near...