South Africa police fire tear gas as mine unrest spreads

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse striking miners at a gold mine near Johannesburg on Monday, the latest outbreak in a wave of labor militancy spreading from platinum mining into other parts of the sector.

The unrest occurred less than three weeks after police shot dead 34 striking miners at Lonmin's Marikana mine, the deadliest security incident since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

The Marikana shooting shocked South Africa and marred the image of the continent's biggest economy, as the full extent of a breakdown in labor relations in the mining sector became apparent.

World platinum prices have risen more than 10 percent since the shooting.

In Monday's incident, mine owner Gold One International Ltd said about 60 workers at its Modder East site went on a wildcat strike, blocking half its employees from reporting for their shifts.

"The group, however, refused to disperse. The South African Police Service had to use teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the group," it said in a statement.

Police spokeswoman Pinky Tsinyane said four people were injured in the incident, which she described as a "shoot-out" between protesting ex-miners, miners and security guards.

"Police are investigating a case of attempted murder," she said, adding that four arrests had been made. "We understand that the ex-miners were assaulting the miners who were coming to work this morning."

In a separate dispute - but one born of similar social conditions - an illegal strike involving a quarter of the 46,000-strong workforce at the KCD East gold mine, owned by world No. 4 bullion producer Gold Fields, entered its third working day.

MARIKANA MINERS RELEASED

The Marikana unrest stemmed ultimately from a turf war in the platinum sector between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the small but militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

The government has been trying to broker a peace accord to cool off the feud before it does lasting damage to the platinum industry and spreads across a sector that accounts for 8 percent of South African output.

On Monday, the first of 270 miners detained at the Marikana shootings were released from police custody after prosecutors withdrew murder charges brought under an obscure apartheid-era security law for the police killing of their colleagues.

The public outcry at the murder charges soured the already testy relationship between the unions, Lonmin management and the government, which has been trying to put a lid on the mess and end a wildcat strike approaching its fourth week.

Labor Minister Mildred Oliphant, part of a committee trying to broker an end to the dispute, raised hopes of a breakthrough by saying management and workers had agreed in principle to sign a two-year wage agreement.

But unions involved in the talks said a return to work was by no means certain.

"I don't share the same optimism," said Gideon du Plessis of the Solidarity trade union. "The workers have made it clear that they will not go back to work until such time that their wage demands are met."

Lonmin shares in Johannesburg rose nearly 4 percent on hopes of a speedy resumption of mining, but lost most of those gains as hopes of a breakthrough faded. Lonmin said only 4.5 percent of its shift workers turned up on Monday.

"An indefinite strike will ultimately threaten the jobs of more than 40,000 workers. We cannot go on indefinitely without normalizing operations and still escape the consequences of the mine not being operational," it said in a statement.

Many of the AMCU-affiliated miners have accused the NUM of caring more about its political connections to the ruling African National Congress than about the plight of workers deep underground.

The 3,000 striking Marikana workers are mostly rock drill operators demanding 12,500 rand ($1,500) a month in basic wages, more than double what they receive now.

(Additional reporting by Tshepo Tshabalala, Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Ed Stoddard,; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africa-police-fire-tear-gas-mine-unrest-154416762.html

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Ugandan army seizes base of Lord's Resistance Army

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) ? The Ugandan army destroyed a base of a key general of the Lord's Resistance Army in the Central African Republic.

Ugandan Army Colonel Milton Katarinyebwa said this week that it captured the headquarters of LRA General Dominic Ongwen, one of four Ugandan rebels wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The colonel denied reports that Ongwen was killed and said Ugandan forces will track him down.

The base was seized on August 24 in the Haut Mbomou area of southeastern Central African Republic.

Since December 2011, 300 members of the United States military have advised Ugandan and Central African Republic troops on how to fight Joseph Kony and other LRA members.

Since 2005, Ongwen has been wanted by the international court for three counts of crimes against humanity.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ugandan-army-seizes-lords-resistance-army-183459815.html

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Umass health services - HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS

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Source: NY probing equity firms, including Bain

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? An official familiar with the probe says New York's attorney general is investigating some of the nation's largest private equity firms, including Bain Capital, founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe. It is examining whether the firms used a tax strategy to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. The practice involved converting some fees collected for managing accounts into fund investments, resulting in a lower tax rate.

The New York Times first reported the investigation of more than a dozen firms. Tax experts tell the Times they have differing views about the strategy's legality.

Though Romney collects benefits as a Bain retired partner, the inquiry isn't focused on the time he ran Bain.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/source-ny-probing-equity-firms-including-bain-154036294--election.html

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Source: http://bibliophilebullpen.blogspot.com/2012/08/monumental-health-insurance.html

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Crew Blamed for Air Force Osprey Crash in Florida

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa -- An Air Force investigation has blamed crew error for a recent Osprey crash in Florida.

The Air Force Osprey was involved in a routine training exercise at Hurlburt Field on June 13 when the crew failed to keep the aircraft out of the propeller wake of another Osprey, causing it to spin into the ground, the Air Force Special Operations Command said Thursday. The crash injured all five crew members and destroyed the $78 million helicopter-plane hybrid.

It is the second serious Osprey crash to be blamed on piloting mistakes in the past four months, and the findings will likely factor into whether Japan allows the U.S. to deploy the aircraft here this fall despite deep public concerns over safety.

On Tuesday, Japan agreed with earlier U.S. findings that an April Osprey crash which killed two Marines in Africa was caused by pilot errors following a rush of wind that caused the aircraft to become unstable.

?The [Air Force] accident investigation board president found by clear and convincing evidence that the cause of the [Florida] mishap was the crew?s failure to keep the aircraft clear of the lead aircraft?s wake,? according to a summary released by the service. ?This resulted in an ?uncommanded? roll to the left, rapid loss of altitude and impact with the terrain.?

Three of the 8th Special Operations Squadron crew members remained hospitalized for at least a week after the incident with one listed in serious condition, according to media reports. The other two sustained lesser injuries.

The Japanese government is still working on an independent investigation into the Florida crash and is expected to release its findings in September, about a month before the Marine Corps plans to begin flying two squadrons of the aircraft over Okinawa and to U.S. bases around the Japanese mainland.

Japan Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto said Friday that if both the Africa and Florida incidents are determined to be caused by crew error, then Japan and the U.S. must discuss ways to ensure the Ospreys are properly flown in the country.

The two crashes have fueled concerns in Japan that the aircraft?s design makes it unsafe. The United States has said it will not fly Ospreys here until Japan is satisfied it is safe. The aircraft continue to operate elsewhere in the world.

Ospreys already have arrived at a U.S. air station hear Hiroshima and are undergoing testing as part of a plan to replace aging Sea Knight helicopters at the Futenma air station on Okinawa.

Source: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/08/31/crew-blamed-for-air-force-osprey-crash-in-florida.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS

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US homes cracking due to drought-parched soil

Corey Grotefendt, left, and colleague Don Baykowski drive pears into the ground in an effort to stabilize the foundation of Carl DeVaughan's settling home Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in Manchester, Mo. Home repair businesses that fix basements and foundations are busy this summer because the drought is sucking moisture from the soil, causing homes to settle, foundations to crack more than normal. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Corey Grotefendt, left, and colleague Don Baykowski drive pears into the ground in an effort to stabilize the foundation of Carl DeVaughan's settling home Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in Manchester, Mo. Home repair businesses that fix basements and foundations are busy this summer because the drought is sucking moisture from the soil, causing homes to settle, foundations to crack more than normal. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Carol DeVaughan, left, pauses to talk with Don Baykowski, right, and Corey Grotefendt, center, as they work to stabilize DeVaughan's settling foundation on Aug. 29, 2012, in Manchester, Mo. Home repair businesses that fix basements and foundations are busy this summer because the drought is sucking moisture from the soil, causing homes to settle, foundations to crack more than normal. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Corey Grotefendt, right, and colleague Don Baykowski drive pears into the ground in an effort to stabilize the foundation of Carl DeVaughan's settling home Aug. 29, 2012, in Manchester, Mo. Home repair businesses that fix basements and foundations are busy this summer because the drought is sucking moisture from the soil, causing homes to settle, foundations to crack more than normal. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Carol DeVaughan, left, stands in her house as Corey Grotefendt, right, works to stabilize DeVaughan's settling foundation on Aug. 29, 2012, in Manchester, Mo. Home repair businesses that fix basements and foundations are busy this summer because the drought is sucking moisture from the soil, causing homes to settle and foundations to crack more than normal. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Carol DeVaughan assumed her suburban St. Louis home was simply settling when cracks appeared in the walls. When she noticed huge gaps between her fireplace and ceiling, and that her family room was starting to tilt, she knew she had bigger problems.

Like thousands of other Americans getting stuck with huge repair bills, DeVaughan learned that the intense drought baking much of the country's lawns, fields and forests this summer has also been sucking the moisture from underground, causing shifting that can lead to cracked basements and foundations, as well as damage aboveground. Repairs often cost tens of thousands of dollars and can even top $100,000, and they are rarely covered by insurance, as shocked homeowners have been discovering.

DeVaughan, a retired Presbyterian minister, said she expects it will cost more than $25,000 to fix the split-level home in Manchester, Mo., where she's lived for 27 years.

"I had retired," said DeVaughan, 70, who has stayed busy filling in at the pulpit for vacationing pastors. "I guess I'll keep working."

Home repair businesses, especially those specializing in repairs to basements and foundations, can barely keep up with demand. Drought-related home damage is reported in 40 of the 48 contiguous states, and experts say damage to homes could exceed $1 billion.

Dan Jaggers, a board member of the Basement Health Association, a Dayton, Ohio-based trade group for basement and foundation repair businesses, said this year's drought is probably the worst for homes since the late 1950s. Houses in the central U.S. ? from Louisiana up through the Dakotas ? are getting the worst of it, but significant damage is being reported in all across the country, he said.

"It's not only basements but crawl spaces and slabs," Jaggers said. "Wherever the soil is interacting with the foundations."

The lack of moisture in the ground has been causing the soil to crack open and pull away from homes' concrete bases.

"It's very common right now to walk around the outside of somebody's home and see gaps in the soil wide enough to put your fist in," said Jason Courtney of the St. Louis-area repair firm Helitech.

All of the movement from the shifting soil can cause cracks in the basement walls or floor. But the damage doesn't necessarily stop there.

"When the foundations move they cause structural damage that can lead to problems above the ground," said Matt Stock, owner of U.S. Waterproofing in the Chicago area. "Windows don't open properly. You can get large cracks in the foundation wall, cracks in brick work and mortar, cracks in drywall."

Experts say the problem is made worse in areas where the soil is largely clay, which is more prone to movement when moisture evaporates. Cities like St. Louis with an abundance of brick homes are also seeing more problems because brick weighs more than siding or wood and therefore adds more stress to foundations.

Repairs are expensive because they involve more than simply patching up the cracks. Oftentimes, piers must be installed beneath a home to help it better withstand shifts in the soil. This involves hydraulically driving steel tube sections deep into the bedrock, and it is costly.

Scott Knoche, a 48-year-old physical therapist, is installing 33 piers that cost about $1,000 each at his two-story home in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit. Throw in the new driveway, sidewalk and landscaping and his total bill is expected to reach $50,000.

Knoche said he began noticing problems last summer, when drywall in the home began cracking and doors wouldn't open. But things got much worse during this year's drought. The back deck sank about 10 inches into the ground and rooms inside began to tilt ? some up to 4 inches, making it awkward to even walk.

"We called it the funhouse," Knoche said.

The home's problems didn't come as a surprise. Virtually every one of the dozen or so homes on Knoche's cul de sac have had drought-related repairs in recent years, he said.

Jaggers believes that once the nationwide tally for this year's drought is complete, the cost to homeowners "will be hundreds of millions, if not over a billion dollars."

Insurance typically covers the cost only of sudden disasters like floods or fires. Drought-related damage is seldom covered, Jaggers said. Courtney said of all the drought-related basement repairs his firm has done over the past quarter of a century, only a few have been covered by homeowners insurance.

Experts say the best bet is to take precautions to protect the foundation. Homeowners should watch for the development of gaps in the soil near the foundation, and should keep that soil as moist as possible, said Stock. Some experts also suggest placing mulch, which can slow moisture evaporation, around landscaping near the foundation.

Courtney said that once a problem is suspected, homeowners should act quickly.

"As soon as you see cracks or doors and windows stick, it's best to get a reputable company out there to look at it," Courtney said. "The longer you go, the more expensive it's going to become."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-08-31-Drought-Damaged%20Homes/id-bd996d8e8b8a45d5994df651ebb50a84

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