26 crew members were earlier rescued in a joint British and French operation after abandoning ship.

In open sea, pollutants like pesticide and insecticide may be carried thousands of kilometres by currents and tides and it may take a long time before the poisonous effects are discovered.

The WWF say: “People once assumed that the ocean was so large that all pollutants would be diluted and dispersed to safe levels. But in reality, they have not disappeared – and some toxic man-made chemicals have even become more concentrated as they have entered the food chain.

“Tiny animals at the bottom of the food chain, such as plankton in the oceans, absorb the chemicals as they feed. Because they do not break down easily, the chemicals accumulate in these organisms, becoming much more concentrated in their bodies than in the surrounding water or soil. These organisms are eaten by small animals, and the concentration rises again. These animals are in turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel large distances with their even further increased chemical load.”

26 crew members have been saved after they were forced to abandon a container ship carrying hazardous cargo.  The vessel began taking on water in stormy seas 45 miles south-east of Cornwalls lizard penninsula.   The British-flagged MSC Napoli was on the French side of the Channel when a hole opened on the starboard side and it lost power.

The 26 mainly Bulgarian and British crew on board the vessel have been rescued and safely airlifted to RNAF Culdrose. The men were wearing life jackets bearing the insignia of the MSC Napoli and all looked in good condition considering the circumstances.

When questioned about the state of the ship, one of the crew said that he expected the ship to sink:

“The ship is listing heavily and is bound to sink”
The Napoli was carrying about 75 containers. The ship’s managers, London-based Zodiac Maritime Agencies, said the Napoli was carrying hazardous cargo.

In the maritime sector there are 9 categories of hazardous materials from fertilizer through to chemicals and explosives. However Mark Rawson, safety manager at Zodiac, said they were not immediately able to say what the hazardous cargo was because the manifest was 100-pages long. He was however able to confirm that the ship was not carrying explosives.

Exactly which hazardous materials were being transported could not be confirmed by the crew either. One of the crew admitted that there were hazardous materials on board, though he could not say confirm what those materials were:

“The ship was carrying food, dolls houses and fish, it had all sorts on board. And yes it did have hazardous material on board, but I couldn’t tell you what.”

The European Maritime Safety Agency has said that no pollution had been reported.

According to Falmouth coast guard the vessel is in a stable position and  salvage teams are on site;

“The MCA’s emergency towing vessel, Anglican Princess and a French tug are on scene”

The ship is expected to be towed to Falmouth harbour to undergo repairs.

The MSC Napoli measures a length of 275 metres and a width of 37.1 metres. It was built in 1991 at the Samsung yard in South Korea and weighs an impressive 62,000 tonnes.

The ship has had a severe accident once before under her previous name CMA-CGM Normandie.
On 27 March 2001, the container carrier the CMA-CGM Normandie was travelling from Malaysia to Indonesia, when she hit a coral reef in the Strait of Malacca, 6 miles from Singapore. Two holds were completely flooded. There were leaks in the stern, particularly in the machine compartment.

The cause of the accident lies essentially on the fact the CMA-CGM Normandie strayed from its path to the right-hand side of the channel to pass slower ships. The Singaporean maritime control centre tried for nearly two hours to make contact with the ship, in order to indicate it was heading in the wrong direction. The two French officers, including the commanding officer, were on the bridge, and therefore did not hear the call.

The ship was not re-floated until 22 April, more than 60 days after the accident. Fortunately, there was no noticeable pollution, but there was concern for the ship which had taken on water and had severe structural damages according to a report by the International Maritime Organisation.

Condoleeza Rice is in London today as part of her whirlwind tour to promote the US strategy for
Iraq.

Ms Rice is meeting the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett to discuss Iraq and prospects for future peace negotiations in the
Middle East.  

She arrives at Downing Street after her visit to the EU Presidency of Germany, where she announced plans to bring together the quartet to discuss Israeli and Palestinian peace plans.  She said discussions are to “prepare the ground for new talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.” 

Ms Rice has been on a 5 day tour to gain support for Bush’s strategy on
Iraq.  She met eight foreign Ministers on her trip and all have endorsed the plan to send an extra 20,000 troops into the country. 

Support has mounted for Bush’s new way forward in
Iraq.  His last gamble for the country is supported as ministers express concern that the chaos in
Iraq could spread across the whole region.  Countries are cautious whether the Iraqi government would take “an even-handed, non-sectarian path.” 

During the tour, Ms Rice has engaged in talks over the future peace plans for Israel and
Palestine referring to it as a top priority.  She has called for leaders from the US, EU, UN and
Russia to meet in February.  “I have issued an invitation to the members of the quartet for a meeting in
Washington that will take place in the week beginning January 29, and is likely to take place on February 2.”  Countries have been calling for a larger role of these actors in peace talks. 

The discussions are aimed at providing a platform for future peace negotiations between Israel and
Palestine.  The long conflict has created Middle East instability for many years.  Ms Rice has announced plans to bring together Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for informal talks in a few weeks time. 

After her Middle Eastern tour, Ms Rice’s first point of call was to Germany, the EU President country.  In Berlin she swapped notes with the Chancellor Angela Merkel on peace negotiations for the Middle East.  Ms Merkel wants to make progress in the area: “We want to take on responsibility in the
Middle East process even if we’re aware that it is an extremely difficult political area.”  She also regards improved stability between the two countries as a priority: “We know that the issue of the two-states solution is of the greatest importance for many other conflicts in the region.”

British tennis starlet Andy Murray has beaten Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open. In a scrappy second-round bout, Murray, seeded 15, won 7-6 7-4 7-5 6-4, securing a rematch with Juan Ignacio Chela, who beat the Dunblane player in last year’s first round. 

Murray admitted: “It was really tough today, conditions were really warm.  I felt my feet burning but got great support today – they helped pull me through.” The Vodafone Arena was full of fans for the Scottish tennis star, whose fame and reputation are increasing across the globe. 

Murray was certainly slow off the blocks, leaving the path clear for the Spaniard to attack the net in the early stages, and then break his opponents serve in the third. It was Verdasco to serve in the first set, which he won 5-4. 

Overall he played a dreadful game with many errors, much to Murray’s advantage in the tie-break. The pair traded five more breaks, with Murray’s reflexive rallying responding to Verdasco’s signature strokes.   

Finally Murray managed to gain control from 3-3 in the tie, after six breaks of serve in the first set.   A lengthy battle appeared to be on the cards when Verdasco, seeded 28^th, secured a lead in the second set, 4-1.  He let himself down in game seven, leaving Murray clear for domination. The Scot bounded through the next four games on his way to a double break in the third set.  British victory seemed imminent, but the Spaniard kept up his sturdy swing, and strung enough winners to get one break back, before saving four match points in a tense final game. 

However, it was Murray who kept a cool head and kept his game together by sealing his win with a couple of big first serves.

By MAIJ’s lead writer Mike Sunderland 

The colonial spat over Channel 4’s Big Brother exploded yesterday as Indian housemate Shilpa Shetty admitted being worried about racism in the house.

Press regulator Ofcom received a record 27,000 complaints about the show, and concerns have been raised in the House of Commons with comments from both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

After a massive row with wannabe celeb Jade Goody, Shetty confessed to Cleo Rocos she felt she was being targeted because of her race.

“I’m representing my country. Is that what today’s UK is? It’s scary. It’s quite a shame actually,” she said.

In India, protesters have burnt Big Brother effigies as the Bollywood superstar’s treatment made front page news.

Indian writer Hari Kunzru got behind Shetty, saying: “She is a huge star, a much bigger deal than any of the other contestants.  It is as if Cameron Diaz or Scarlett Johansson were in there.”

He then claimed Big Brother is actually a show that “holds a mirror up to national attitudes. If we don’t like what we see, we ought to change.”

The complaints stem from a series of comments made by Goody and her mother, along with fellow contestants Jack Tweedy, ex S-Club 7 singer Jo O’Meara and former Miss UK Danielle Lloyd. They were heard referring to Shetty as ‘the Indian’, claiming they couldn’t pronounce her name and constantly ridiculing the way she prepared her food.

At one point, Goody screamed at her to “go back to the slums”, Lloyd later told her “that was f***ing fantastic, I think she should “f*** off home.”

Channel 4 issued a statement yesterday saying there had been “no overt racism or racist behaviour” on the show. They did admit there had “undoubtedly been a cultural and class clash between her and three of the British females in the house.”

“Unambiguous racist behaviour and language is not tolerated under any circumstances in the Big Brother house. Housemates are constantly monitored and Channel 4 would intervene if a clear instance of this arose,” they said.

“It is in the nature of Big Brother that conflicts arise and housemates are encouraged to resolve issues among themselves.

“Shilpa has not voiced any concerns of racial abuse to Big Brother. Housemates have access to support from Big Brother at all times.”

According to Ladbrokes bookmaker, the actress is now odds-on to win the competition having been backed in to pole position by the public.

Dr Heymann, from the World Health Organisation, said stronger measures to control the virus in poultry in many countries meant there was a lower risk of individual human infection from the H5N1 virus.  But he added that a pandemic risk would persist as long as the virus remained in circulation. 

While there have been no cases of human infection in Japan, some believe it is just a matter of time.  South of Japan, in Indonesia, four people have died already this year, taking the number killed by bird flu in the country to 61, the highest in the world. 

The news comes on the same day that American scientists announce that the virus shows large similarities to the 1918 flu that claimed as many as 50 million lives.  Spanish flu, as the 1918 virus is also known, is believed to have begun in birds, but bridged the species gap, affecting birds, mice and primates.

Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison said:  “We see responses that are similar between humans infected with H5N1 and nonhuman primates infected with the 1918 virus…By studying this model in detail, we may learn to cope with those immune responses.”

The World Health Organisation says bird flu has infected 267 people in 10 countries and killed 161 since 2003. There are fears that millions could die if the virus were to mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person. 

dolphin3.jpg

The race to save the New York dolphins is moving into a critical period, as rescuers make a last ditch attempt to save the human loving mammals.

Around 20 dolphins swam into a shallow cove during high tide last week, becoming trapped as the water receded.  Despite desperate rescue attempts which allowed 9 to reach safety, 6 have died, causing great sadness amongst the rescue teams. 

Birds have already eaten the eyes of the dead, leaving a gory site for those unlucky enough to see them floating by. 

‘We have a mass stranding or two every winter; last year there were over eight,’ said Tony La Casse of New England Aquarium.  ‘Dolphins are extremely social and can panic just the way people panic.’

Environmentalists plan to use high frequency sound generators and a flotilla of small boats to guide the remaining flippers out of their watery prison and into Gardiner bay.  Terrible weather conditions have so far made any rescues almost impossible, with choppy waters and high winds blighting attempts.

The dolphins have not eaten a decent meal for days and are growing weak, leading many to fear they may die before rescue is possible.  It is believed they originally entered the cove to search for food, with suggestions they were chasing red herring. 

New Yorkers have been gripped by the story of the trapped Dolphins.  Americans grew up watching programmes such as Flipper, the friendly dolphin, giving them a close affinity with the animals.

One of the largest American football teams based in Miami is named after the air breathing sea creatures, and the story has received more coverage than the war in
Iraq.

The dolphins are of the common species, rather than the popular bottle-nosed variety. They are a regular sight further north along the coast in areas such as Cape Cod in
Massachusetts.

Thai zookeepers are putting their male panda on a diet in a bid to get him to have sex.  Officials at Chiang Mai Zoo have put Chuang Chuang on a strict food regime to get him to mate with a female panda called Lin Hui. His zoo keeper said: “We found Lin Hui was no longer comfortable with having sex with him.”

At least 17 people have been killed and 47 wounded as a fresh wave of bombing hit Baghdad Thursday morning.

The largest number of casualties came from three consecutive blasts which rocked the capital in the violent southern district of Dora. The devices hit a busy wholesale vegetable market leaving stall holders and shoppers injured.

“There is no mercy anymore, the people here just want to work,” Mohammed Ali Kazim, a vegetable seller in the market, shouted angrily. “They have followed us to this poor place. People here are Sunnis, Shi’ites and Christians and they just want to live.”

Earlier in the day a car bomb on one of the city’s commercial thoroughfares, killed four people and wounded 10. Shortly after, a fifth car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad killing 3 and wounding 7.

This week has seen an upsurge of violence as the Iraqi government launches a last ditch bid to save Iraq from descending unquestionably into civil war. The U.S.-backed crackdown is seen as a final stand by Iraqi officials, who are worried that failure would see the end of American support.

Indeed, Bush is under growing pressure over his Iraq strategy, both at home and overseas. Shocking figures released by the UN earlier this week estimated 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in violence last year. US officials have yet to comment on the figures and the Iraqi government has previously called U.N. data exaggerated.

Back in the US, recent polls show most Americans oppose the recently announced troop build-up, and a group of anti-war Senators have unveiled a non-binding resolution opposing the increase. Despite these moves Bush still insists he will not to be swayed by Congress, or public criticism on the issue.

The opposing group of Congressman – two Democrats and a Republican – said the plan was not in America’s interests, urging an early transfer of security to Iraqi leaders. The three senators behind the non-binding resolution are the long-standing opponents of the war Democrats Joseph Biden and Carl Levin, and Republican Chuck Hagel.“It is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq,” their resolution says. “The United States should transfer, under an appropriately expedited timeline, responsibility for internal security and halting sectarian violence in Iraq to the government of Iraq and Iraqi security forces.”