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BEIJING A long-awaited government report said design flaws and sloppy management caused a bullet train crash in July that killed 40 people and triggered a public outcry over the high cost and dangers of China's showcase transportation system.A former railway minister was among 54 officials found responsible for the crash, a Cabinet statement said Wednesday.The crash report was highly anticipated by the public. Regulations required the government to release the report by Nov. 20. When that date passed, the government offered little explanation, drawing renewed criticism by state media, which have been unusually skeptical about the handling of the accident and the investigation.The Cabinet statement cited "serious design flaws and major safety risks" and what it said were a string of errors in equipment procurement and management.The report affirmed earlier government statements that a lightning strike caused one bullet train to stall and a sensor failure allowed
titude toward Iran's nuclear program."The greatest threat that Israel faces, and frankly the greatest threat that the world faces, is a nuclear Iran. ... We have differing views on this," Romney said at a cafe in Muscatine, Iowa. "Actually one of the people running for president thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don't."Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose numbers in Iowa have dropped precipitously while Paul's have climbed, has emerged as one of the Texas congressman's toughest critics in the closing days of the Iowa blitz.Asked Tuesday whom he would vote for if left with a choice between Paul and President Obama, Gingrich bucked Republicans' typical anybody-but-Obama answer, calling that a "very hard choice.""I think Barack Obama is very destructive to the future of the United States. I think Ron Paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American," he said.Gingrich continued to criticize Paul over a series
suggests any additional political fallout will be limited.Several officials including a former Communist Party secretary of the Shanghai Railway Bureau were ordered dismissed from their party posts, a penalty that is likely to end their career advancement. Others received official reprimands but there was no mention of possible criminal charges.The bullet train, based on German and Japanese systems, is one facet of far-reaching government technology ambitions that call for developing a civilian jetliner, a Chinese mobile phone standard and advances in areas from nuclear power to genetics.The bullet train system quickly grew to be the world's biggest but has suffered embarrassing setbacks. After the Wenzhou crash, 54 trains used on the Beijing-to-Shanghai line were recalled for repairs following delays caused by equipment failures.Critics complain authorities have spent too much on high-speed lines while failing to invest enough in expanding cheaper, slower routes
NEW YORK Three security contractors including two Americans were released by Iraqi Army forces Tuesday after they were held for more than two weeks, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security announced as he demanded a full report on the episode.Republican Peter King identified the men as Army veteran Alex Antiohos of West Babylon, N.Y., National Guardsman Jonas March of Savannah, Georgia and Kevin Fisher of Fiji.King said they were working for a security firm when Iraqi Ministry of Defense officials rejected paperwork prepared on their behalf by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and began holding them on Dec. 9.The men weren't charged with any crimes and King said it appeared that the men were not injured.He said Antiohos, who lives on Long Island, spoke to his wife Tuesday evening, and he was expected to be home later this week."She said he seems to be doing well," he said.King said they were released after efforts by his office, the State Depart
suggests any additional political fallout will be limited.Several officials including a former Communist Party secretary of the Shanghai Railway Bureau were ordered dismissed from their party posts, a penalty that is likely to end their career advancement. Others received official reprimands but there was no mention of possible criminal charges.The bullet train, based on German and Japanese systems, is one facet of far-reaching government technology ambitions that call for developing a civilian jetliner, a Chinese mobile phone standard and advances in areas from nuclear power to genetics.The bullet train system quickly grew to be the world's biggest but has suffered embarrassing setbacks. After the Wenzhou crash, 54 trains used on the Beijing-to-Shanghai line were recalled for repairs following delays caused by equipment failures.Critics complain authorities have spent too much on high-speed lines while failing to invest enough in expanding cheaper, slower routes
ion in the Middle East as part of a global war on terror, a conflict that is hard to define by conventional measures of success."This is not a war on a particular place or a particular force," he said.Bush himself illustrated the perils of celebrating milestones in the war, Mrozek said, when he landed on an aircraft carrier and hailed the end of major combat operations in Iraq behind a "Mission Accomplished" banner in May 2003. U.S. troops remained in Iraq for 8 1/2 more years, and Bush was criticized over the banner.The benchmarks were clearer in previous wars. After World War II, parades marked Japan's surrender. After the Gulf War, celebrations marked the troops' return after Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait.The only mass celebrations of U.S. military activities since Sept. 11, 2001, were largely spontaneous: Large crowds gathered in Times Square and outside the White House in April after Usama bin Laden was killed.At the same time, Iraq veterans aren