World in brief: Everest highway project on hold
Tibet has put on hold plans to build a highway on the side of Mount Everest aimed at easing the Olympic torch’s journey to its peak, a government official said Friday.
The $20 million project was to have turned a 67-mile rough path into a blacktop highway that snaked from the foot of the mountain to a base camp at 17,060 feet.
“The paved road project is on hold,” said Ju Jianhua, director of Tibet’s Foreign Affairs Department. He refused to give a reason or any other details.
The new highway was to be a major route for tourists and mountaineers, and local officials praised it as a way to make life easier for residents in the area.
In April, organizers for the Beijing Summer Olympics announced ambitious plans for the longest torch relay in Olympic history – an 85,000-mile, 130-day route that would cross five continents and reach the 29,035-foot summit of Everest, the world’s highest peak.
Moscow
Gorbachev blames icy relations on U.S.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Friday laid the blame for the current low in Russia’s relations with the West squarely on Washington, accusing the United States of making major mistakes that had thrown the world into a period of “global disarray.”
Russia has fallen out with the United States on a raft of issues, clouding relations and leading some commentators to draw parallels with the Cold War.
Gorbachev, who won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War, expressed strong support for President Vladimir Putin’s stance on most questions.
He traced the roots of the chill with the West to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which, he said, put Washington in an empire-building mood.
After the Soviet demise, “the idea of a new empire, of sole leadership, was born,” Gorbachev, 76, said at a news conference.
“Unilateral actions and wars followed,” he added, saying that Washington “ignored the Security Council, international law and the will of their own people.”
“These are major strategic mistakes,” Gorbachev said.
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Main runway at airport reopened
Authorities reopened the main runway at the country’s busiest airport on Friday for the first time since a TAM jetliner crashed there 10 days ago, killing 199 people in Brazil’s deadliest air accident.
A TAM airlines jet was the first to touch down on the 6,362-foot main runway, but the airline has imposed new restrictions since the crash, saying it will only use Congonhas airport when it is not raining.
The airport had been restricted to a 4,711-foot backup since the crash while investigators tried to determine if the main runway’s condition played a role in the accident. Both runways are relatively short by modern standards.
TAM Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, landed in driving rain and sped down the runway instead of slowing down on the main runway before crashing into a gas station and an air cargo building at 109 mph and exploding on July 17.