KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said in comments published Wednesday that a French firm is studying a plan by the Gulf state for a civilian nuclear project to produce power.Al-Watan daily quoted the emir as saying Kuwait is "seriously considering joining the nuclear club but only for peaceful purposes.""A French company is taking charge of the matter," the daily quoted the emir as saying. He did not name the company.Sheikh Sabah also said that generating power through a nuclear programme would "save large quantities of fuel being consumed by power and water desalination plants."The emir stressed Kuwait has no military ambitions with its planned nuclear programme which will be "within international law and standards."Kuwait is a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which has decided to develop a joint nuclear technology programme for peaceful use under international rules.Besides Kuwait, the group includes Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Last month, the UAE signed a deal with the United States to cooperate in civilian nuclear energy.The Wall Street Journal reported late last year that the UAE has already signed agreements with two US engineering companies, Thorium Power Ltd and CH2M Hill, to help with developing nuclear power plants.The GCC interest in developing atomic energy comes amid a continuing standoff between the West and Iran over its programme of uranium enrichment.The United States has charged that Tehran is using its nuclear programme to secretly develop an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Iran which maintains its nuclear activities are peaceful.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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