A roundup of today's other world stories in brief:
Iran starts work on new nuclear plant
MOSCOW- Iran has started building a second atomic power plant in an oil-rich region near the border with Iraq, Iran's ambassador has said. Gholamreza Ansari said construction had started at Darkhovin in southwestern Khuzestan province. Iran has said it would construct a 360 megawatt plant at the site.
"Now we need to think about the fuel for it," Tass news agency quoted him as saying at a news briefing in Moscow.
- (Reuters)
Six die in blast at US sugar refinery
ATLANTA- Six people died and more than three dozen were injured, many critically burned, in an explosion and fire at a sugar refinery in the US state of Georgia.
Portions of the plant collapsed in Thursday's blast, which apparently happened in a bagging room at the Imperial Sugar Co plant in Port Wentworth, a suburb of Savannah. Fire commissioner John Oxendine said six people died.
- (Reuters)
Bush vows help on tornado damage
LAFAYETTE- US president George Bush toured tornado-battered parts of the US south yesterday and pledged to help the region rebuild after the worst rampage of twisters in almost a quarter of a century killed 58 people.
Mr Bush, seeking to avoid the mistakes of his administration's heavily criticised response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, flew to Tennessee for a look at some of the worst damage from tornadoes that whipped across half a dozen states this week.
"I'm here to listen . . . to make sure that the federal response is compassionate and effective," Mr Bush said after a helicopter tour of damaged homes, flattened trees and debris-strewn fields.
- (Reuters)
Controllers' strike to hit Paris flights
PARIS- Flights to and from Paris airports Roissy and Orly are expected to be disrupted next week by an air traffic controllers' strike.
The CGT union, which has called the strike, said up to 50 per cent of flights could be cancelled between Monday and Friday at Orly airport while 20-40 per cent could be cancelled between Tuesday and Wednesday at Roissy. The dispute is over a plan to move Orly controllers to Roissy.
- (Reuters)
Banned Amy to sing via satellite
LOS ANGELES- British singer Amy Winehouse will perform at tomorrow's Grammy Awards live via satellite from London, after the US rejected her visa application to attend the music industry's biggest night of the year in Los Angeles, organisers said yesterday.
Winehouse, who has six nominations, second only to rap star Kanye West, is in a rehab clinic.
- (Reuters)