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President's helicopter hits wall

BHUBANESWAR (India) - THE official helicopter of Indian President Pratibha Patil brushed against an airport wall on Wednesday in this eastern city but there were no injuries to the occupants, officials said.

The rotor blades of the state helicopter bent after one of them struck the wall in the airport in Bhubaneshwar city, capital of eastern Orissa state, they said.

'One of the blades brushed against a building wall while the helicopter was landing,' airport director Sanjay Jain said.

'No one in the helicopter was injured,' he told AFP.

The 74-year-old president, who last month flew in a Russian-built Sukhoi-30 fighter jet, is currently on a three-day holiday in the coastal state.

Death toll reaches 112

PERM (Russia) - RUSSIAN emergency officials say the number of people killed by a nightclub fire in the Urals city of Perm has risen to 112.

Emergency Ministry spokeswoman Darya Kochneva said Sunday the latest victim was a man who died of severe burns in a Moscow hospital where he was flown for treatment after the fire.

Onstage fireworks set the decorative twig ceiling of the Lame Horse nightclub ablaze soon after midnight Saturday, killing 98 on the spot.

Many victims were trapped in a panicked crush for the exit as they attempted to escape through the building's single exit.

Some 130 were hospitalized, and many remain in critical condition.

Enforcement of fire safety standards is infamously poor in Russia, and up to 18,000 fire deaths are recorded here annually. -- AP

Air Force satellite launched

CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida) - A ROCKET carrying an Air Force satellite that will be used by the military has launched from Cape Canaveral.

The rocket blasted off Saturday evening after thick clouds, heavy rains and a system problem postponed two earlier attempts. The rocket is carrying the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM3 satellite.

This is the last launch of a group of three satellites used by the military for strategic purposes.

The first, launched last year, covers the Pacific Ocean. A second, launched earlier this year is over the Indian Ocean and is used by commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq and other parts of southwest Asia.

This satellite will be positioned over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. -- AP

Caribbean Princess cruise

Caribbean Princess cruise ship being used as official accommodation for attendees of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. — Reuters pic.



PORT OF SPAIN, Nov 29 — Commonwealth nations representing one-third of the world’s population threw their weight on Saturday behind accelerating efforts to clinch an “operationally binding” UN climate deal in Copenhagen next month.

Leaders of the 53-nation Commonwealth meeting in Trinidad and Tobago used their summit to bolster a diplomatic offensive seeking wide consensus on how to fight global warming before Dec 7-18 UN.climate talks in the Danish capital.

“The clock is ticking to Copenhagen ... we believe that the political goodwill and resolve exists to secure a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen,” Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told a news conference in Port of Spain.

The Commonwealth Climate Change Declaration pledged the group’s backing for Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in his efforts to secure wide attendance and commitment from world leaders at the Copenhagen climate talks.

“We pledge our continued support to the leaders-driven process ... to deliver a comprehensive, substantial and operationally binding agreement in Copenhagen leading towards a full legally binding outcome no later than 2010,” the Port of Spain declaration said.

Tackling the thorny issue of funding for poor nations’ efforts to fight climate change and global warming, developed countries in the Commonwealth led by Britain backed an initiative to establish a Copenhagen Launch Fund, starting in 2010 and building to US$10 billion (RM33.92 billion) annually by 2012.

Reflecting debate that has dogged the road to Copenhagen, developing states said much more money needed to be committed by rich nations to help poorer countries counter global warming and adapt to the pollution-reducing requirements of a climate deal.

“Right now, there is no commitment of the magnitude that is required. ... We need close to 1 percent of global GDP, US$300 billion, to address this problem,” Guyana’s president, Bharrat Jagdeo, who heads the economic task force of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, or Caricom, told reporters.

Jagdeo welcomed what he called the $10 billion offer of “interim financing.”

Rasmussen and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who joined the Commonwealth leaders’ discussions in Port of Spain, welcomed the climate declaration from the group.

Ban said world leaders should “stay focused, stay committed and come to Copenhagen to secure a deal.”

Rasmussen said 89 heads of state and government had so far advised they would attend next month’s talks in Copenhagen, and Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister and the Commonwealth summit’s host, Patrick Manning, announced he would be there too, bringing the total expected number to 90.

While next month’s UN talks are not expected to result in the immediate approval of a detailed climate treaty, the wording of the Commonwealth climate declaration made clear its leaders expected any deal reached in Copenhagen would be “operationally binding” and lead fast to a definitive treaty.

Ban has said an agreement to lay the foundation for such a legally binding accord is now “within reach.”

The deal the United Nations is aiming for in Copenhagen would cover tougher emissions targets, climate financing for poorer nations and transfer of clean-energy technology.

The climate treaty, expected to be adopted as a final text next year, will replace the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012.

Commonwealth leaders suggested that 10 per cent of the proposed US$10 billion-a-year Copenhagen Launch Fund should be channeled to small island states most at risk from rising sea levels caused by global warming.

Nearly half of the Commonwealth’s members are small island states and the group put at the forefront of the climate debate the cases of nations like the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Tuvalu and Kiribati in the Pacific, whose existence would be threatened by swelling ocean levels.

Earlier, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed welcomed the backing of the Commonwealth’s developed countries — Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand — for the proposed “fast- start funding” seen as essential for any climate deal.

“I believe the Commonwealth understands our predicament more than the others ... they have put concrete things on the table,” he told Reuters.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for the creation of the US$10 billion annual fund, arguing such financing should be made available as early as next year, well before any new climate deal takes effect.

The idea was backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also attended the Commonwealth summit as a guest.

Prospects for achieving a broad political framework pact in Copenhagen next month were brightened this week by public promises of greenhouse gas curbs by China and the United States, the world’s biggest emitters. — Reuters