News roundup
--> Environmental news: Humans to blame for Thailand flooding disaster, experts say. More at the NYT.
--> Environmental news: Calm weather today is giving salvage crews hope they will be able to resume pumping the remaining fuel from a cargo ship stuck on a New Zealand reef.
The ship Rena has already spilled hundreds of tons of oil and crews are in a race against nature to try and remove the remaining fuel before waves break up the vessel, which has begun to crack apart and is leaning on a 22-degree tilt.
Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck for nine days on a reef 14 miles off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, spilling about 300 tons of heavy toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers into the sea. More MSNBC.
--> World news: Libyan government forces brought more tanks into the city of Sirte today to try to break the last pocket of resistance by loyalists of ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi in his home town.
The mostly untrained militia army of the National Transitional Council (NTC) has been gradually tightening its strangle-hold around Sirte for weeks in a chaotic struggle that has cost scores of lives and left thousands homeless.
It has also held up the attempt by Libya's new leaders to try to build a democratic government as they say the process will begin only after the city is captured.
NTC commanders say Gadhafi's diehard loyalists now only control an area measuring about 700 yards north to south, and around a mile east to west; a residential area of mostly apartment blocks. The biggest obstacle to taking the town has been Gadhafi's snipers hiding in the buildings. Tanks are used to hit the buildings from close range and dislodge the snipers. More at MSNBC.
--> US news: "Multiple" sources have corroborated the report about an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, a scheme the administration is alleging is tied to Iran's military, a U.S. official told CNN yesterday.
When U.S. officials first learned of the alleged plot, "there were significant doubts there was any 'there' there," the official said. But "multiple sources of independently verified information" corroborated the account, the official said. "It coalesced into a picture of something unusual but serious," the official said.
The official said a key indicator that the plot was real was the wire transfer of large sums of cash.
The United States is offering "specialized briefings" to officials in other countries who have sought more information about the alleged plot, said State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
--> Environmental news: Calm weather today is giving salvage crews hope they will be able to resume pumping the remaining fuel from a cargo ship stuck on a New Zealand reef.The ship Rena has already spilled hundreds of tons of oil and crews are in a race against nature to try and remove the remaining fuel before waves break up the vessel, which has begun to crack apart and is leaning on a 22-degree tilt.
Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck for nine days on a reef 14 miles off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, spilling about 300 tons of heavy toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers into the sea. More MSNBC.
--> World news: Libyan government forces brought more tanks into the city of Sirte today to try to break the last pocket of resistance by loyalists of ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi in his home town.The mostly untrained militia army of the National Transitional Council (NTC) has been gradually tightening its strangle-hold around Sirte for weeks in a chaotic struggle that has cost scores of lives and left thousands homeless.
It has also held up the attempt by Libya's new leaders to try to build a democratic government as they say the process will begin only after the city is captured.
NTC commanders say Gadhafi's diehard loyalists now only control an area measuring about 700 yards north to south, and around a mile east to west; a residential area of mostly apartment blocks. The biggest obstacle to taking the town has been Gadhafi's snipers hiding in the buildings. Tanks are used to hit the buildings from close range and dislodge the snipers. More at MSNBC.
--> US news: "Multiple" sources have corroborated the report about an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, a scheme the administration is alleging is tied to Iran's military, a U.S. official told CNN yesterday.When U.S. officials first learned of the alleged plot, "there were significant doubts there was any 'there' there," the official said. But "multiple sources of independently verified information" corroborated the account, the official said. "It coalesced into a picture of something unusual but serious," the official said.
The official said a key indicator that the plot was real was the wire transfer of large sums of cash.
The United States is offering "specialized briefings" to officials in other countries who have sought more information about the alleged plot, said State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland.
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