theSun | MONDAY JANUARY 12 2009
news without borders
Ferry carrying
250 sinks
in Indonesia
JAKARTA: An Indonesian ferry carrying 250 passengers
capsized and sank after being battered by a large wave in
storms in the country’s east yesterday, officials said, adding
bad weather and nightfall made rescue efforts difficult.
Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry’s crisis
centre, said six deaths had been confirmed in the acci-
dent, which occurred early yesterday.
Eighteen people including one of the crew had been res-
cued, said transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan.
“We still don’t know the fate of the missing people,
whether they had lifejackets on when the ship was hit, and
it happened at dawn so most people were probably asleep.
“Based on interviews with the surviving crew mem-
ber, the ship was hit by a huge wave which caused it to
turn upside down.”
Ervan said a search and rescue team had been dis-
patched to look for the missing passengers.
Transport minister Jusman Syafi’i Djamal said 150
people had been taken off the ferry, but their condition
was unknown and he gave no further details. The dis-
crepancy in the number of possible survivors could not
immediately be clarified.
The ferry was travelling from Pare-Pare on the west
coast of Sulawesi island to the city of Samarinda on
Indonesia’s side of Borneo island when it ran into bad
weather, said Taufik Bulu, head of maritime safety at
Pare-Pare port. He said the ferry was carrying 250 pas-
sengers and 17 crew.
Those rescued were taken to the town of Majene,
north of Pare-Pare. Muhammad Junaidi, an official at
Majene port, told Reuters the ferry was hit by the wave
about 60km offshore from Majene and then sank.
Indonesia’s Elshinta radio station broadcast the sound
of relatives weeping as they waited in Samarinda for
news of those who had been aboard the ferry.
Minister Djamal said there had been a tropical cyclone
in the area at the time. – Reuters
EARTHREPORT
Week Ending Jan 9
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, representing the EU
presidency, and Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
confer during their meeting in Kiev yesterday.
Ukraine, Russia, EU sign
deal to get gas flowing
KIEV: Ukraine, Russia and the European Union struck an
agreement yesterday to try to resume Russian gas supplies
through Ukraine to Europe, large parts of which have been
plunged into a mid-winter energy crisis.
But it was unlikely the gas would reach Europe earlier than
tomorrow, nearly two weeks after a gas price row broke out
between Moscow and Kiev, choking off supplies and raising
new questions about the EU’s reliance on Russian energy.
And Russian gas officials said Ukraine had yet to send the
necessary documents and further delays were possible.
The agreement signed yesterday is for international teams
of monitors to deploy to pumping stations along the route
of gas pipelines through Russia and Ukraine to Europe – a
condition set by Moscow to start gas flowing again.
Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said in a statement
the firm was waiting to receive a faxed copy of the agreement,
signed early yesterday in the Ukrainian capital.
“The experts are fully ready to fly out to the facilities but
we still have not received the documents ... It is delaying
our work and the start of monitors’ work at the facilities,”
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said.
Europe receives 80% of its Russian gas – or a fifth of its
total needs – from pipelines that run via Ukraine. – Reuters
9
Prince Harry
apologises over
‘Paki’ remark
LONDON: Britain’s Prince Harry apologised on Saturday after
a newspaper reported he had filmed himself calling an Asian
army colleague a “Paki” but he said he had used the term
without malice.
The News of the World said the recording was made in
2006, a year after the prince was pilloried for wearing a Nazi
uniform at a costume party, a gaffe that sparked international
outcry.
The paper said Harry, 24, and third in line to the British
throne, could be heard saying: “Anyone else here ... ah, our
little Paki friend ... Ahmed” as he zoomed onto the face of an
Asian cadet while waiting at an airport to fly to Cyprus.
A royal spokesman said there had been no racist intent in
Harry’s words.
“Prince Harry fully understands how offensive this term
(Paki) can be, and is extremely sorry for any offence his words
might cause,” the spokesman said.
“However, on this occasion three years ago, Prince Harry
used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a
highly popular member of his platoon.
“There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way
seeking to insult his friend.”
The paper said the film also showed the prince telling
another officer cadet wearing a camouflage veil while off duty
“You look like a raghead”, an offensive term for an Arab.
The royal spokesman said Harry had used “raghead” to
mean a Taliban or Iraqi insurgent.
In May, Harry, grandson of British monarch Queen Elizabeth,
was awarded a military service medal for 10 weeks of frontline
service in Afghanistan.
His tour of duty there with the Household Cavalry Regiment
had been cut short after a media blackout collapsed, sparking
fears worldwide coverage of his deployment could make him
a target for pro-Taliban insurgents.
Harry – born Henry Charles Albert David Windsor on Sept
15, 1984 – is not considered an intellectual.
He got a ‘B’ in Art and a ‘D’ in Geography in his school-leav-
ing A-level exams despite being educated at one of Britain’s
most prestigious schools, Eton, and receiving hours of private
tuition.
But he is a good sportsman and distinguished himself
in Eton’s cadet corps, a traditional springboard to the army.
– Reuters
Smog exodus
HONGKONG’S smog has become so severe that it is causing
at least 10,000 deaths each year, according to health officials.
Pollution levels rose last year to the highest since records
began, prompting about 1 in 5 residents to consider moving
away. A survey found that 500,000 were “seriously considering
or already planning to move.” The thick smog that often chokes
Hongkong, Macao and neighbouring China comes mainly from
the huge number of factories in Guangdong province and other
areas of southern China.
Ebola outbreak source
A DEAD monkey found in a forest of the Democratic Re-
public of the Congo could be one of the sources behind the
recent outbreak of Ebola in the country’s southwestern Kasai
province. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that
improper handling of dead monkeys felled by the virus could
have infected hunters and women who came in contact with
the simians. According to WHO statistics, three cases of the
haemorrhagic fever have recently been recorded, with at least
another 36 suspected cases that include 12 deaths possibly
linked to the disease.
Caribbean ash
ACTIVITY at Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills volcano sent plumes
of ash blowing over neighbouring islands of the Caribbean
during the first week of 2009. The mountain produced an
explosive eruption in early December and has continually
released plumes ever since. The latest explosions led to the
evacuation of approximately 70 people on Montserrat and sent
a considerable amount of ash blowing into nearby Antigua.
Earthquakes
THE strongest in a series of earthquakes that rocked eastern
Indonesia killed four people and injured dozens of others in
buildings wrecked by the shaking. The 7.6 magnitude quake,
centered in Papua province, was felt as far away as Australia
and sent small tsunamis into southern Japan, thousands of
miles away.
» One woman in southwestern Greece died when a wall of the
compound where she lived collapsed during a mild earthquake
centered offshore from the Peloponnese.
» Earth movements were also felt in eastern Afghanistan,
northwest Mexico, Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park and
far northern parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. – Universal
Press Syndicate