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Explosion in China coal mine kills 203, hurts 22, traps 13

SHANGHAI, China - A gas explosion in a coal mine in China's northeast killed at least 203 miners, the government said today, in the deadliest such disaster reported since communist rule began in 1949.

The explosion Monday afternoon at the Sunjiawan mine in Liaoning province also injured 22 miners and trapped 13 underground, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The cause of the blast, which occurred 794 feet underground, was under investigation, it said.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Senior Taliban members have agreed to join a reconciliation process to be announced soon by the Afghan government, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan said Monday.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said there had been a "positive response" to overtures from American and Afghan officials.

He declined to give details, but said there would likely be an announcement from the Afghan government in coming days.

BRUSSELS - The European Union on Monday said that it will take legal action against Britain if it exceeds its national quota of emissions of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" in the 2005-2007 period.

The EU said it will hold London to its plan, unveiled last April, to emit no more than 736.3-million tons of carbon dioxide. Since then, Britain has added 19.8-million tons to the total under pressure from British industries.

The emissions plan is Britain's contribution to the 1997 Kyoto accord on curbing industrial "greenhouse gas" emissions that are blamed for global warming. The treaty takes effect Wednesday.

[Last modified February 15, 2005, 01:17:05]