Pension benefits raised - Oman Daily Observer

EU plans nuke curbs
BRUSSELS — European
leaders look set to adopt tough
measures on nuclear safety
this week, a draft paper seen
by Reuters showed, a move
that could benefit France as it
seeks to form a selling point
for its advanced EPR reactors.
European governments
have swiftly reviewed their
nuclear policy in the wake of
Japan's March 11 earthquake
and tsunami, which crippled
the Fukushima power plant
150 miles north of Tokyo and
sent radiation into the environment.
Germany quickly suspended
operations at seven
ageing nuclear plants; Austria
demanded pan-European
'stress tests'; Italy announced
a one-year moratorium on
new plants, and Bulgaria
tightened restrictions on
its Belene nuclear project
near a quake zone.
France, a major exporter of
nuclear technology, has advocated
the safety aspects of its
next generation EPR reactors
as it competes for business on
international markets.
A major clampdown on
nuclear safety could translate
into new revenues for French
reactor maker Areva, which
says its latest generation
plants are safer than older
technology and can resist major
shocks such as earthquakes
and plane crashes.
"The safety of EU nuclear
plants should be reviewed, on
the basis of a comprehensive
and transparent risk and safety
assessment — stress tests,"
said a draft declaration prepared
for EU leaders to sign
at a summit in Brussels today
and tomorrow.
The draft also said stress
tests should be developed as
Drug offences: China
to execute 3 Filipinos
MANILA — The Philippines said yesterday three Filipino
drug mules would be executed in China next week and that it
did not plan any more appeals to save them. "The government
respects the Chinese law and the finality of the verdict of the
Chinese People's Court," foreign department spokesman Ed
Malaya told reporters. Chinese court officials had informed
Philippine authorities that the trio — Ramon Credo, 42, Sally
Villanueva, 32, and Elizabeth Batin, 38 — would be executed
next Wednesday.
Philippine authorities had gone to great lengths in a bid
to save the three, who were convicted in 2008 of trafficking
heroin, and made repeated appeals for their sentences to be
commuted to life in jail.
The government had insisted that the three, who are among
227 Filipinos jailed in China for drug offences, were from
poor families and were duped into becoming drug mules by
crime gangs. Vice-President Jejomar Binay went to Beijing
last month to plead for their lives. Chinese authorities responded
to his trip by delaying the trio's executions — they
were originally scheduled to be executed in February — but
said they would eventually be put to death. — Reuters
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong inquest has
ruled that a botched rescue operation by Philippine
officials contributed to the deaths of
eight tourists killed in a Manila bus siege in
August.
A jury of five took five hours to come to its
decision and record an unlawful killing verdict
for all eight victims. The tourists were killed
when former police officer Rolando Mendoza
took a tour bus hostage and opened fire after a
day-long standoff with police on August 23.
The jury concluded Philippine authorities
had failed to handle Mendoza's demands in a
timely manner and said that negotiations had
only broken down because the police had lied
to the hostage-taker.
It said officials had aggravated the gunman
by arresting his younger brother and by not
soon as possible, and make
full use of experts — notably
from the Western European
Nuclear Regulators' Association
(WENRA).
France has already backed
WENRA — which seeks to
spread best practice in nuclear
safety — as a basis for
common security rules, at an
emergency meeting of European
energy ministers earlier
this week.
"The WENRA can be an
interesting base to work on
this," French industry minister
Eric Besson told reporters
after the ministers' meeting,
calling for WENRA's "third
generation security objectives
to be spread across Europe".
"With the EPR, France already
has a third generation
product so we have a number
of assets when we talk about
the future of the nuclear industry,"
he added. — Reuters
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OMAN DAILY Observer
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011
Elizabeth Taylor passes away
LOS ANGELES — Legendary
actress Elizabeth Taylor,
a two-time Oscar winner
and Hollywood beauty whose
screen success was sometimes
overshadowed by her tumultuous
personal life, died yesterday
at age 79.
She died after a long battle
with congestive heart failure
at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in
Los Angeles surrounded by
her four children after having
been hospitalised six weeks
ago, her spokeswoman said in
a statement.
In a career spanning seven
decades, Taylor first gained
major fame in 1944's National
Velvet at age 12, and
was nominated for five Oscars.
She won the best actress
stopping media coverage of the arrest, which
triggered Mendoza's attack.
The jury also said the botched rescue delayed
medical help for two victims who could
have been saved. The inquest, which began
on February 14, heard evidence from 41 witnesses.
However, only 10 of the 116 witnesses
called from the Philippines gave evidence, a
fact the Hong Kong government called disappointing
in a statement released after the verdict.
"The government and the Chinese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs have used their best endeavours
to urge, through various channels, the Philippine
authorities to take necessary actions to
facilitate the taking of evidence from witnesses
to assist the inquest," the statement said.
NURSES feed two-year-old Mark (L) and his one-year-old brother Arthur in the
children’s department of a local hospital in Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk
yesterday. Arthur and his brother Mark were brought to the hospital by the police
due to neglect by their parents. They have been living in the hospital for five months
and are currently waiting to be put up for adoption. According to hospital officials,
they receive up to 15 children given up by their parents annually and shelter them
at the hospital until they are adopted by families. — Reuters
honour twice, for Buttereld
8 (1960) and Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf? (1966) with
actor Richard Burton, whom
she would marry twice.
Taylor lived a glamorous
life and was married eight
times in all, including to singer
Eddie Fisher and movie
producer Mike Todd. She was
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famous for her love of diamonds
and furs, and later in
life raised large sums for Aids
research.
Taylor was born on February
27, 1932, in London to
American parents and said
many times she never wanted
to be an actress but was pushed
into it by her mother, former
actress Sara Sothern Taylor.
She moved to the United
States as a child and soon after
her 10th birthday landed the
lead in 1942 film Lassie Come
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girl-next-door roles that were
eclipsed by her first hint of
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dramatic promise in A Place
in the Sun in 1950, playing
opposite Montgomery Clift.
She confirmed her star
power in 1958 as Maggie in
Tennessee Williams' Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof and cemented her
reputation as among the greatest
actresses of her generation
playing a foul-mouthed alcoholic
in Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?
But Taylor's life went far
beyond Hollywood fame as
she set a standard for glamour
and tumult. After the death
of Todd in 1958, she found
herself in a well-chronicled
love triangle with Fisher
and his wife actress Debbie
Reynolds, before marrying
Fisher. — Reuters
Botched rescue played part in deaths Royal wedding recording to be online
LONDON — The official recording of the
royal wedding between Prince William and
Kate Middleton on April 29 will be available to
download within hours of the service finishing.
Decca Records, part of the Universal Music
label which also released the recordings of
Prince Charles's wedding in 1981 and Princess
Diana's funeral in 1997, will have a recording
of the royal nuptials for sale on the net within
hours and then release the official album of the
marriage ceremony on May 5.
The physical album will include a booklet
containing the order of service, readings,
vows, hymns and blessings, as well as all the
music. The format of release will be digital
download, CD, vinyl and cassette to cater for
all consumers.
The ceremony will be released digitally by
Decca on the world's leading download and
streaming platforms immediately following
the service in London's Westminster Abbey.
"Thanks to digital technology we will be
able to deliver it worldwide almost instantly
— it will be the fastest we have ever released
an album of this stature," said David Joseph,
chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK.
Musicians already confirmed to perform
at the ceremony include The Choir of Westminster
Abbey, The Chapel Royal Choir, The
London Chamber Orchestra and The Fanfare
Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air
Force.
The Choirs will be under the direction of
James O'Donnell and The London Chamber
Orchestra conducted by its Music Director and
Principal Conductor Christopher Warren-Green.
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Saudi plans to conduct
municipal polls in April
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia plans to begin municipal elections
next month, a government website said yesterday. The announcement
on the website of the Ministry of Municipal and
Rural Affairs did not say if women would be able to take part
or give more details.
"The first phase of the elections will start on Saturday,
19/5/1432," it said, a date in the Islamic calendar that is likely
to fall on April 23.
Saudi Arabia held elections for half of the seats on municipal
councils in 2005 for the first time over 40 years. They
were held then in several stages and excluded women from
voting or running as candidates.
Municipal polls were due again in 2009 but the government
announced a delay of two years. The web statement said
the ministry began preparing for the new elections several
months ago before a final deadline for holding the votes in
October. — Reuters
One dead, 34 injured in
Jerusalem bombing
JERUSALEM — An Israeli woman was killed and at least
34 people were injured in the first bomb attack in Jerusalem
in six years. Three of the injured were in a serious condition,
a spokesman for the Magen David Adom ambulance service,
said.
No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.
But police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were
working on the assumption that Palestinian fighters were behind
the bombing.
The bomb had been placed in a bag next to a bus shelter
opposite the central bus station. It exploded as two packed
buses were passing.
The bomb weighed between 1 and 2 kilograms, Minister
of Public Security Yitzhak Aharonovich told reporters. In the
past, bombings have involved 10 kilograms of explosives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a scheduled
trip to Russia until the evening to hold consultations.
US-based mathematician
wins Norway maths prize
OSLO — US mathematician John Milnor yesterday won Norway's
Abel Prize for "pioneering" discoveries in the fields of
topology, geometry and algebra. The prize, which is dubbed
the Nobel for mathematics and worth 6 million kroner ($1
million), is to be presented by King Harald at a ceremony in
Oslo on May 24.
Among Milnor's discoveries in topology — an area of
mathematics that deals with spatial properties — were exotic
smooth spheres in seven dimensions, the jury said. He has
also made "significant contributions to differential geometry,
algebra, and dynamical systems," the Norwegian Academy
of Science and Letters said, noting that several mathematical
concepts, results and conjectures are named after Milnor.
Disgraced ex-MP loses
attempt to cut jail term
LONDON — Former Labour MP David Chaytor, jailed for
18 months in January for fiddling his parliamentary expenses,
lost a bid to cut his prison sentence yesterday. Chaytor, 61,
who had been MP for Bury North, had admitted fraudulently
claiming more than £20,000 in taxpayer-funded expenses for
rent and IT work.
His lawyers had urged the Court of Appeal to cut his jail
term to 12 months, arguing that was the appropriate sentence.
But the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other judges
refused his appeal, the Press Association reported, saying his
case was a grave breach of trust which had caused serious
damage to parliament. — Reuters
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