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Briefs

Britain to rethink nuclear power

By wire services
Published November 30, 2005

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Tuesday that Britain may reverse its current reluctance to build new nuclear power plants, despite opposition from environmental groups.

Blair's announcement reflected a nascent European debate that could presage a significant shift in energy policies. Finland in particular has already broken ranks with the opposition to nuclear power that has seized much of the Continent since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Countries like Germany and Britain may be poised to re-evaluate their previous pledges to phase out nuclear power by the early 2020s.

Blair said Britain would make its decision by summer.

Panel faults Russian officials in school siege

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia - A panel investigating last year's bloody school hostage siege in the southern Russian town of Beslan blamed the authorities Tuesday for botching the rescue efforts and urged them to punish the culprits.

Stanislav Kesayev, who heads the panel set up by the regional legislature in the republic of North Ossetia, said the actions by the Russian Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service were "unsatisfactory."

He said officials responsible for the botched handling of the crisis must be punished so that "the Beslan tragedy isn't repeated in other Russian regions."

Militants attacked School No. 1 on Sept. 1, 2004, taking more than 1,100 people hostage. The three-day siege left 331 hostages dead, including 186 children.

[Last modified November 30, 2005, 02:15:38]