World Thursday, October 30, 2014
www.guardianonline.co.nz
■ UNITED STATES
Supply rocket explodes An unmanned commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff yesterday with debris falling in flames over the launch site in Virginia. No injuries were reported following the first catastrophic launch in NASA’s commercial spaceflight effort. The accident was sure to draw criticism over the space agency’s growing reliance on private US companies in this post-shuttle era. NASA is paying billions of dollars to Orbital Sciences and the SpaceX company to make station deliveries, and it’s counting on SpaceX and Boeing to start flying U.S. astronauts to the orbiting lab as early as 2017. This was the fourth flight by Orbital Sciences to the orbiting lab. The Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket blew up over the beachside launch complex at Wallops Island. The company said everyone at the site had been accounted for, and the damage appeared to be limited to the facilities. And nothing on the lost flight was urgently needed by the six people living on the 418km-high space station, officials said. Flames could be seen shooting into the sky as the sun set. Orbital Sciences’ executive
Ashburton Guardian
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In brief 200 missing Up to 200 people are reportedly missing and three have been confirmed dead after heavy monsoon rains triggered mudslides in central Sri Lanka. “We have reports of 140 houses getting washed away in the mudslides,” says a spokesman for the country’s Disaster Management Centre. “We have recovered three bodies and there are reports that up to 200 people may be missing.” - AP
Childcare rage
vice president Frank Culbertson said things began to go wrong 10 to 12 seconds into the flight and it was all over in 20 seconds when what was left of the rocket came crashing down. He said he believes the rangesafety staff sent a destruct signal before it hit the ground. Bill Wrobel, director of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, said crews were letting the fires
burn out late Tuesday and set up a perimeter to contain them in the darkness. This was the second launch attempt for the mission. Yesterday’s try was thwarted by a stray sailboat in the rocket’s danger zone. The restrictions are in case of just such an accident that occurred yesterday. Culbertson said the top priority will be repairing the launch
■ TURKEY
pad “as quickly and safely as possible.” He said he could not guess how long it will take to determine the cause of the accident and to make repairs. Culbertson said the company carried insurance on the mission, which he valued at more than $200 million, not counting repair costs. - AP
■ UNITED STATES
Ebola nurse gets call from Obama
Miners’ families wait for news.
18 trapped in coal mine Surging water trapped at least 18 workers yesterday in a coal mine in Turkey, officials and reports said — an event likely to raise even more concerns about the nation’s poor workplace safety standards. Initial reports said flooding inside the Has Sekerler mine near the town of Ermenek in Karaman province caused a cavein, but subsequent reports workers were trapped by the water. Turkey’s emergency
management agency, AFAD, said a broken pipe in the mine caused the flooding but did not elaborate. About 20 other workers escaped or were rescued from the mine, some 500km south of Ankara, close to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The rest were stuck more than 300 metres underground. Water is being pumped from three sections of the mine. - AP
A nurse who fueled Ebola fears by flying to Cleveland after being infected by her dying patient was released yesterday from a hospital isolation unit, where doctors defended her as a courageous front-line caregiver. Another nurse, held for days in a medical tent in New Jersey after volunteering in West Africa, was in an undisclosed location in Maine, objecting to quarantine rules as overly restrictive. While world leaders appeal for more doctors and nurses on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic, health care workers in the United States are finding themselves on the defensive. Lawyers now represent both Amber Vinson, who contracted the virus while caring for a Liberian visitor to Texas, and Kaci Hickox, who is challenging the mandatory quarantines some states are imposing on anyone who came into contact with Ebola victims. The virus is still spreading faster than the response, killing nearly half of the more than 10,000 people it has infected in West Africa. - AP
Children placed in childcare centres are more likely to develop hyperactive and aggressive behaviours than those in home care, a study suggests. Researchers from the University of Adelaide monitored the development of more than 3200 children across Australia following time spent in different types of care up to age three. Based on surveys of parents and teachers, they found the length of time spent in childcare centres was directly linked to increases in problem behaviours by the age of four or five. University of Adelaide PhD student Angela Gialamas says children who spent time in childcare centres were more likely to be restless, easily distracted and aggressive towards others. - AP
Police at cup There will be a stronger police presence at the Melbourne Cup Carnival this year in response to the raised terror alert level. About 330,000 people are expected to flock to Flemington Racecourse during the carnival, which begins with Derby Day on Saturday. Victoria Police assistant commissioner Shane Patton says there will be significantly more police and private security at the course this year, due to the heightened national terrorism alert level. “You will see an increased focus on bag checking, it will be very thorough, so people need to be mindful there may be a slight delay in getting in,” he told reporters at Flemington Racecourse. - AP
Bushfire battle Firefighters are battling more than a dozen fires across Queensland. The fire danger warning across the state is between high and severe, although authorities say none of the fires posed a threat to homes. Most of the fires are in Queensland’s southeast with the largest in the wine growing region of Ballandean, south of Stanthorpe, and on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane. The fire ripped through about 25 hectares at Ballandean, reportedly destroying crops. - AP
Fertiliser plant A European chemical company plans to build a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in eastern Illinois, state economic officials say. Cronus Chemicals will build the plant just outside Tuscola, a town about 32 kilometers south of Champaign, and plans to open a US headquarters in Chicago, according to Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokesman David Roeder. - AP