Antarctic ship blaze: rescue operation underway
WELLINGTON: A US Air Force cargo plane was to leave New Zealand late Thursday to evacuate seven crewmen injured in a fatal fire on board a Korean fishing vessel in the Southern Ocean, rescue officials said.
Three Vietnamese members of the Jeong Woo 2 crew are presumed to have died in a fire that broke out in the ship's accommodation block on Tuesday night and another seven suffered burns, three of them seriously.
The injured crewmen were picked up by the US research vessel Nathaniel B Palmer and were being taken to McMurdo Base in Antarctica.
The Jeong Woo 2 was ablaze from bow to stern and rescue officials said there were plans for her sister ship, the Jeong Woo 3 to tow her outside Antarctic waters to minimise the environmental impact.
"It is not known whether the mens’ bodies will be able to be recovered at this stage, as it is currently too unsafe to go back on board," said Greg Johnston of Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ).
"Surviving crew have confirmed that the men did not make it out of the vessel’s accommodation block after the fire started."
Weather permitting, the US mercy flight will arrive in McMurdo at about 2:00am Friday (1300 GMT Thursday), a few hours before the Nathaniel B Palmer.
"The rescue mission is, however, dependent on the weather and sea conditions, with fog at McMurdo currently causing poor visibility," Johnston said.
The 30 other surviving crew, who are from South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Russia have all been taken on board the Jeong Woo 3 which will pass them on to the Korean ice-breaker Araon to take them to New Zealand.
Late last month the Araon was involved in the rescue of a Russian fishing vessel Sparta which hit an iceberg near the Antarctic ice shelf and was stranded for two weeks. AGENCIES
Three Vietnamese members of the Jeong Woo 2 crew are presumed to have died in a fire that broke out in the ship's accommodation block on Tuesday night and another seven suffered burns, three of them seriously.
The injured crewmen were picked up by the US research vessel Nathaniel B Palmer and were being taken to McMurdo Base in Antarctica.
The Jeong Woo 2 was ablaze from bow to stern and rescue officials said there were plans for her sister ship, the Jeong Woo 3 to tow her outside Antarctic waters to minimise the environmental impact.
"It is not known whether the mens’ bodies will be able to be recovered at this stage, as it is currently too unsafe to go back on board," said Greg Johnston of Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ).
"Surviving crew have confirmed that the men did not make it out of the vessel’s accommodation block after the fire started."
Weather permitting, the US mercy flight will arrive in McMurdo at about 2:00am Friday (1300 GMT Thursday), a few hours before the Nathaniel B Palmer.
"The rescue mission is, however, dependent on the weather and sea conditions, with fog at McMurdo currently causing poor visibility," Johnston said.
The 30 other surviving crew, who are from South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, China and Russia have all been taken on board the Jeong Woo 3 which will pass them on to the Korean ice-breaker Araon to take them to New Zealand.
Late last month the Araon was involved in the rescue of a Russian fishing vessel Sparta which hit an iceberg near the Antarctic ice shelf and was stranded for two weeks. AGENCIES
Biden calls Turkish PM on Iraq
WASHINGTON: US Vice President Joe Biden called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss regional security, including Iraq's political crisis, the White House said.
The call followed up on Biden's visit to Turkey in December, and included an undertaking to work to support the rule of law and encourage democracy in the region, the White House said in a statement.
The two men spoke after the latest explosion of violence in Iraq, in which attacks against Shiite Muslims killed at least 68 people on Thursday, the worst toll in nearly five months.
Biden was put in charge by President Barack Obama of US dialogue with Iraq which helped piece together a fragile governing coalition and led to the withdrawal of all US troops from the country last month.
The Obama administration has carved out a close relationship with Turkey, and worked on issues including the Syrian crackdown on anti-government protests, Iran's nuclear challenge and Ankara's struggle with PKK Kurdish rebels.
Washington has also been dismayed by the tension between Turkey and its other key Middle Eastern ally Israel. AGENCIES
The call followed up on Biden's visit to Turkey in December, and included an undertaking to work to support the rule of law and encourage democracy in the region, the White House said in a statement.
The two men spoke after the latest explosion of violence in Iraq, in which attacks against Shiite Muslims killed at least 68 people on Thursday, the worst toll in nearly five months.
Biden was put in charge by President Barack Obama of US dialogue with Iraq which helped piece together a fragile governing coalition and led to the withdrawal of all US troops from the country last month.
The Obama administration has carved out a close relationship with Turkey, and worked on issues including the Syrian crackdown on anti-government protests, Iran's nuclear challenge and Ankara's struggle with PKK Kurdish rebels.
Washington has also been dismayed by the tension between Turkey and its other key Middle Eastern ally Israel. AGENCIES
US presidential candidate says would influence Pakistan
WASHINGTON: Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney said that diplomacy was like dealing with a teenage child and vowed to find ways to "influence" Pakistan to advance US interests.
"I don't want to suggest that a country is like a child, but in the way that when you deal with another person we think of all these dimensions on which we try to influence them, we have to influence Pakistan," he told voters here.
The former Massachusetts governor said he would "find how we can get those (Pakistani) institutions that are with us and will work towards modernity and peace and prosperity" to counter those that will not.
"In a place like Pakistan, you have the elected government, but then you also have the military -- and the military in some respects has more power than the elected government," said Romney, the frontrunner for his party's nomination.
Speaking in a question-and-answer session in New Hampshire, which holds its nominating primary on January 10, he also cited Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, as well as "radicals and extremists" and local chiefs, "all of whom are pulling in different directions."
Romney, who had been asked how he would tackle often strained relations with Pakistan, prefaced his answer by saying "it would be nice if in dealing with another nation it was as simple as turning on and off a faucet -- a very simple, rudimentary experience."
"But instead it's more like dealing with an adolescent -- I don't mean to compare any nation to an adolescent, but just the fact that there's no easy answer for how you bring a child to adolescence," he said.
"You have to push and pull and find ways of influence and to change behavior. Each nation will typically act in their best interests. Sometimes we forget that, we think that every nation should act in our best interest," he said.
"That's not the way they think. And so we have to understand what their concerns are and what their interests are," he said. -- AGENCIES
"I don't want to suggest that a country is like a child, but in the way that when you deal with another person we think of all these dimensions on which we try to influence them, we have to influence Pakistan," he told voters here.
The former Massachusetts governor said he would "find how we can get those (Pakistani) institutions that are with us and will work towards modernity and peace and prosperity" to counter those that will not.
"In a place like Pakistan, you have the elected government, but then you also have the military -- and the military in some respects has more power than the elected government," said Romney, the frontrunner for his party's nomination.
Speaking in a question-and-answer session in New Hampshire, which holds its nominating primary on January 10, he also cited Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, as well as "radicals and extremists" and local chiefs, "all of whom are pulling in different directions."
Romney, who had been asked how he would tackle often strained relations with Pakistan, prefaced his answer by saying "it would be nice if in dealing with another nation it was as simple as turning on and off a faucet -- a very simple, rudimentary experience."
"But instead it's more like dealing with an adolescent -- I don't mean to compare any nation to an adolescent, but just the fact that there's no easy answer for how you bring a child to adolescence," he said.
"You have to push and pull and find ways of influence and to change behavior. Each nation will typically act in their best interests. Sometimes we forget that, we think that every nation should act in our best interest," he said.
"That's not the way they think. And so we have to understand what their concerns are and what their interests are," he said. -- AGENCIES
