40 killed in fire at storage warehouse

SEOUL - A fire and explosions ripped through a nearly completed cold storage warehouse south of Seoul yesterday, killing 40 workers. Most of the victims were so badly burned they could not immediately be identified. All the dead were discovered in the warehouse basement, where workers were injecting urethane foam into the walls when the fire broke out, said Kim Jung-geun, a local fire official in Icheon. The cause of the fire was unclear but arson was not suspected, Kim said. He said the explosions were caused by the fire. Ten people were injured, Kim said. Seven people escaped the burning building. (AP)

CAIRO - The fugitive leader of an Al Qaeda-inspired group lashed out at the head of Lebanon's army, accusing him of destroying a Palestinian refugee camp as part of deal to become the country's next president, according to an audio tape posted on a militant website yesterday. The 57-minute tape was the first purported message from the Fatah Islam leader Shaker Youssef al-Absi since fighting broke out between the militant group and the Lebanese military at the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon in May. The battle at the camp ended in early September, and he remains at large. (AP)

The United Nations needs greater investigative powers to probe its own activities and root out fraud, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday. The United Nations recently acknowledged there had been several instances of fraud linked to hundreds of millions of dollars of peacekeeping-related contracts. The fraud was uncovered by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services, an independent accountability office. Although the OIOS was able to unearth the fraud, Ban said his ability to conduct investigations was limited. (Reuters)

BEIJING - China is to launch 15 rockets, 17 satellites, and its third manned mission in 2008, flexing its muscle in space in a year in which it will host the summer Olympics. Huang Qiang, secretary general of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense, revealed the planned launches at a news conference yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency said. He did not give details. State media have said China plans to launch its third manned mission, Shenzhou VII, into space in October involving a space walk, and it will mount a joint effort with Russia to explore Mars in 2009. (Reuters)

NOUAKCHOTT - Authorities arrested a man once convicted of terror links and eight others suspected of aiding a group that gunned down a French family last month, justice officials said yesterday. Witnesses said three gunmen fired automatic weapons on the five French tourists having a roadside picnic Dec. 24 in Aleg, about 150 miles east of the capital, Nouakchott. Only the father survived, and he was flown to a hospital in France. The killing of the French tourists was cited as a main reason for last week's cancellation of the Dakar Rally, a 5,760-mile car and motorcycle race that crosses the desert nation. (AP)