(Vatican Radio) Victims of Hungary’s worst-ever toxic spill, which killed 10 people and injured more than 150 people in 2010, have voiced outrage after the boss of the aluminium plant that caused the disaster and 14 employees were cleared of any wrongdoing. The Hungarian court's ruling came as a major setback for prosecutors who had demanded prison sentences for all fifteen suspects on trial over one of Europe's worst disaster in decades.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: On October 4, 2010, more than one million cubic meters of toxic sludge, a waste product of aluminum production, poured out of a huge reservoir in minutes. It flooded the western Hungarian towns of Kolontar, Devecser and Somlovasarhely like a tsunami, killing 10 people and injuring more 150 others.The sludge turned some 1,000 hectares of land into a Martian landscape. It even reached the Danube River through tributaries, potentially threatening drinking water supplies of millions of people. Howe...
(Vatican Radio) Victims of Hungary’s worst-ever toxic spill, which killed 10 people and injured more than 150 people in 2010, have voiced outrage after the boss of the aluminium plant that caused the disaster and 14 employees were cleared of any wrongdoing. The Hungarian court's ruling came as a major setback for prosecutors who had demanded prison sentences for all fifteen suspects on trial over one of Europe's worst disaster in decades.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
On October 4, 2010, more than one million cubic meters of toxic sludge, a waste product of aluminum production, poured out of a huge reservoir in minutes. It flooded the western Hungarian towns of Kolontar, Devecser and Somlovasarhely like a tsunami, killing 10 people and injuring more 150 others.
The sludge turned some 1,000 hectares of land into a Martian landscape. It even reached the Danube River through tributaries, potentially threatening drinking water supplies of millions of people. However experts said it was sufficiently diluted by then to avoid causing major damage.
Yet the court in the western city of Veszprem acquitted Zoltán Bakonyi, the former director of the MAL, the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade company that caused the disaster. He and all other 14 employees on trial were acquitted of charges of negligence, waste management violations and damages to the environment.
Judge 'objective'
Chief judge Györgyi Szabó said that "from an objective point of view the suspects could not have known that the tragedy could happen." She said it is crucial to make a distinction between objective and subjective responsibility.
The verdict sparked strong reactions from survivors of the tragedy in the packed courtroom in Veszprem. One man was seen shouting "Outrageous verdict! We will protest!" before being escorted out by a security guard.
Environmental groups and political parties said they were also dismayed by the verdict.
Greenpeace said in a statement that there is still no one responsible for the 2010 sludge flood," while in its words "it is obvious that human negligence led to the catastrophe" both on the part of MAL and the authorities in charge of permitting and overseeing the company's activities.
Government angry
The governing Fidesz party said the court's decision was "appalling" and added that that while it respected the court's independence, it wanted prosecutors to appeal the verdict. Prosecutors said they would do so.
Opposition parties also criticized the ruling.
Authorities imposed a fine of nearly $500 million fine on MAL in 2011 and moved to nationalise the plant. Last February, Budapest set up a compensation fund for the victims, with many claims still outstanding.
Yet, to critics the political outrage seems somewhat hypocritical.
In a National Profile on Chemical Safety in Hungary, discovered by Vatican Radio at the time experts and advisers to the government already warned in the late 1990s that “the risk of serious chemical accidents occurring was significant.”
(Vatican Radio) The 51st International Eucharistic Congress is taking place this week in Cebu, Philippines. The event brings together thousands of people from around the world, to worship together and to celebrate the Eucharist.The head of Vatican Radio’s English Section, Seàn-Patrick Lovett is in Cebu covering the event.He joined Devin Watkins on a live linkup Saturday morning with an update on the Congress.Listen to their full conversation:
(Vatican Radio) The 51st International Eucharistic Congress is taking place this week in Cebu, Philippines. The event brings together thousands of people from around the world, to worship together and to celebrate the Eucharist.
The head of Vatican Radio’s English Section, Seàn-Patrick Lovett is in Cebu covering the event.
He joined Devin Watkins on a live linkup Saturday morning with an update on the Congress.
(Vatican Radio) Moldova's embattled ruling coalition says it will soon call for a referendum on direct presidential elections following large anti-government protests. It is a moderate concession as the prime minister has refused to resign and pledged to crackdown on violent protests amid a public outcry over the disappearance of at least 1 billion dollars from the impoverished nation's banking system and high level corruption.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Moldova's Parliament speaker Andrian Candu confirmed that lawmakers would discuss the referendum as soon as the legislature reconvenes on Monday. But the coalition rejected a more central demand from protesters for early parliamentary elections in the former Soviet nation.Moldova's president has been elected by Parliament since 2001, a decade after it emerged as an independent nation following the Soviet Union's collapse.Moldovans and politicians across the spectrum have voiced frustration wit...
(Vatican Radio) Moldova's embattled ruling coalition says it will soon call for a referendum on direct presidential elections following large anti-government protests. It is a moderate concession as the prime minister has refused to resign and pledged to crackdown on violent protests amid a public outcry over the disappearance of at least 1 billion dollars from the impoverished nation's banking system and high level corruption.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Moldova's Parliament speaker Andrian Candu confirmed that lawmakers would discuss the referendum as soon as the legislature reconvenes on Monday. But the coalition rejected a more central demand from protesters for early parliamentary elections in the former Soviet nation.
Moldova's president has been elected by Parliament since 2001, a decade after it emerged as an independent nation following the Soviet Union's collapse.
Moldovans and politicians across the spectrum have voiced frustration with the slow and complicated procedure, which has repeatedly brought political life to a standstill.
Protesters accuse Prime Minister Pavel Filip's new government and the parliamentary majority, which favors closer integration with Europe, of being deeply corrupt.
Political crisis
Moldova has been wracked by political crisis after $1 billion dollars was found to be missing from Moldovan banks last year. That's the equivalent to an eighth of the ex-Soviet republic's entire Gross Domestic Product.
Yet despite the pressure Filip refused to step down. "If I were to resign, then Parliament would have three months to form a government," he said. "So for four months the politicians would be occupied with their pre-election campaign. And even worse, we could find ourselves in a deep economic and social crisis. It's possible that Moldova wouldn't be able to pay salaries and pensions for four months."
However he also warned that he would crack down on any violent protests. Earlier this month, protesters stormed Parliament in the capital Chisinau, just shortly after Filip's government was sworn in there.
Romania, Moldova's closest ally, has offered emergency economic aid and a loan of some $65 million in hopes of preventing economic collapse and keeping Europe's poorest nation on a pro-European Union course.
But Romania says to get the money, Moldova will have to reform its justice system, fight corruption, and sign a draft agreement for a loan from the International Monetary Fund, and appoint a new central bank governor.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- T.J. Ward's Super Bowl guarantee doesn't exactly possess the same sort of sizzle as Joe Namath once promising - and delivering - a win....
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- T.J. Ward's Super Bowl guarantee doesn't exactly possess the same sort of sizzle as Joe Namath once promising - and delivering - a win....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Rock legend David Bowie wanted his ashes scattered in Bali "in accordance with the Buddhist rituals," and he left most of his estate to his two children and his widow, the supermodel Iman, according to his will filed Friday in Manhattan....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Rock legend David Bowie wanted his ashes scattered in Bali "in accordance with the Buddhist rituals," and he left most of his estate to his two children and his widow, the supermodel Iman, according to his will filed Friday in Manhattan....
YACHIYO, Japan (AP) -- In Japan, where communal ties to local Buddhist temples are fading, families have in recent years been able to go online to find a Buddhist monk to perform funerals and other rituals....
YACHIYO, Japan (AP) -- In Japan, where communal ties to local Buddhist temples are fading, families have in recent years been able to go online to find a Buddhist monk to perform funerals and other rituals....
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- The first major break in the hunt for three dangerous jail inmates came exactly a week after their escape, when one of them walked up to a Southern California auto shop where a friend works, had her call police and stood and smoked a cigarette until he was arrested....
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- The first major break in the hunt for three dangerous jail inmates came exactly a week after their escape, when one of them walked up to a Southern California auto shop where a friend works, had her call police and stood and smoked a cigarette until he was arrested....
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's cultural class is increasingly alarmed by what many see as a tightening noose on freedom of expression, as a hard-line government minister seeks to cut off funding for artists who are critical of the state and activists accuse them of outright treason....
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's cultural class is increasingly alarmed by what many see as a tightening noose on freedom of expression, as a hard-line government minister seeks to cut off funding for artists who are critical of the state and activists accuse them of outright treason....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fifteen years into the war that few Americans talk about any more, conditions in Afghanistan are getting worse, preventing the clean ending that President Barack Obama hoped to impose before leaving office. Violence is on the rise, the Taliban are staging new offensives, the Islamic State group is angling for a foothold and peace prospects are dim....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fifteen years into the war that few Americans talk about any more, conditions in Afghanistan are getting worse, preventing the clean ending that President Barack Obama hoped to impose before leaving office. Violence is on the rise, the Taliban are staging new offensives, the Islamic State group is angling for a foothold and peace prospects are dim....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration has confirmed for the first time that Hillary Clinton's home server contained closely guarded government secrets, censoring 22 emails that contained material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. The revelation came three days before Clinton competes in the Iowa presidential caucuses....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration has confirmed for the first time that Hillary Clinton's home server contained closely guarded government secrets, censoring 22 emails that contained material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. The revelation came three days before Clinton competes in the Iowa presidential caucuses....
