Putin raps nickel operation on fuel spill
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday chastised the billionaire owner of a nickel operation for negligence resulting in a large fuel spill that has inflicted major damage on a fragile Arctic region.
An estimated 20,000 tons of diesel oil spilled into the Ambarnaya River on May 29 from a broken tank at a power plant in Norilsk, 1,800 miles northeast of Moscow. Booms were placed across the river to prevent the fuel oil from getting into a lake downstream that feeds another river leading to the Arctic Ocean.
Putin has declared a state of emergency in the region. The power plant is operated by a division of Norilsk Nickel, whose giant plants in the area have made Norilsk one of the most heavily polluted places on the planet.
Prosecutors said Friday that the accident apparently was triggered by melting permafrost that caused the concrete foundation under the tank to crack.
During Friday's video call with officials and environmental experts, Putin lashed out at Norilsk Nickel owner Vladimir Potanin, saying it was his company's failure to check the fuel tanks' condition.
Speaking from the site of the spill, Potanin said that his company will pay for the cleanup efforts that he estimated at $146 million and also will stand ready to pay fines for damage to the environment.
N. Korea says liaison shutdown in works
North Korea said that it will take measures against South Korea that leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister had warned of, including the shutdown of a liaison office set up in 2018.
The state will "absolutely abolish" the office, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing a spokesman for a panel of the state's central party. It also condemned as an "empty wild dream" those who had interpreted Kim Yo Jong's earlier warning as an invitation for dialogue.
Kim Yo Jong had slammed North Korean defectors on Thursday for sending propaganda balloons from South Korea over the Demilitarized Zone. The balloons typically carry packets of rice, Bibles and pamphlets promoting democracy and capitalism.
Rachel Minyoung Lee, a former U.S. government intelligence analyst of open-source information on North Korea, said in a tweet that the latest statement indicates that Kim Yo Jong will be taking charge of inter-Korean affairs.
U.S. strikes at Taliban after cease-fire
KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. forces carried out two sets of airstrikes against the Taliban, in western and southern Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokesman said Friday. Elsewhere in the south, the Taliban set off a roadside bomb and ambushed a police convoy, killing 10 Afghan policemen.
The U.S. strikes against the Taliban were the first after a brief cease-fire declared by the insurgents for a major Muslim holiday last month.
A U.S. military spokesman, Col. Sonny Leggett, said one set of airstrikes took place Friday afternoon in western Farah province, targeting 25 Taliban fighters who were attacking Afghan forces. Hours earlier, on Thursday night, the U.S. forces struck an unknown number of Taliban in southern Kandahar province, he said. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.
Since the signing of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement at the end of February, U.S. forces have only once before announced a strike against the Taliban, in defense of Afghan forces. Leggett did not elaborate on the latest airstrikes or their targets.
However, an Afghan government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three senior Taliban commanders and at least 13 other fighters were killed in the Farah airstrikes.
Meanwhile, Afghan officials in southern Zabul province said the Taliban there ambushed an Afghan police convoy after setting off a roadside bomb on Friday, killing 10 policemen.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the explosion destroyed several police vehicles. A subsequent shootout also killed four Taliban fighters, he said.
Iran ship sinks off Iraq; 1 crewman dies
TEHRAN, Iran -- The head of Iran's maritime and ports association said Friday that an Iranian cargo ship sank in Iraqi waters, and at least one crew member was dead and two others missing, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Nader Pasandeh said the cargo ship Behbahan embarked Tuesday for Umm Qasr Port in Iraq from the southwest Iranian port city of Khorramshahr. He said it sank Thursday night in Khor Abdullah, a narrow channel that separates Iraq from Kuwait.
Officials said it was not immediately clear why the vessel, which had a crew of seven, went down.
Pasandeh said Iran was consulting with Iraq to dispatch marine experts to the scene. He said the vessel was loaded with construction materials and ceramics.
Pasandeh said one of the missing crewmen is Iranian and one is Indian.
The Iraqi Transport Ministry said Friday that the reason for the ship's sinking was unknown and that four crew members were rescued and one body recovered. The search was ongoing for remaining crew members.
A Section on 06/06/2020