Dozens killed in Iranian mosque fire
TEHRAN, Iran, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- An estimated 59 people were killed and some 210 people were injured during a Monday fire at a mosque in Tehran, the BBC reported.
Iranian television said relatives were seen going to hospital to hospital in search of family members. An appeal has been made for blood donations.
An investigation was under way to determine the cause of the fire at the Ark mosque located near Terhan's main bazaar. The blaze broke out as hundreds of people were attending evening prayers.
It was initially reported a tarpaulin separating male and female sections of the mosque may have caught fire and fell onto the crowd, spreading the flames.
Coal mine explosion kills 200 in China
FUXIN, China, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- More than 200 coal miners in China reportedly died Monday as a result of a gas explosion, while 22 other miners were injured and 13 trapped.
Xinhua, China's main government-run news agency, said the explosion at the Sujiawan colliery of the Fuxin coal industry group in Fuxin occurred about 800 feet below ground.
A rescue operation was immediately started, as well as an investigation of the cause of the explosion.
About 6,300 miners died in mining accidents during 2003 in China.
U.N.: Global joblessness drops
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The U.N.'s International Labor Organization says global joblessness has dropped for only the second time in a decade.
Global employment improved only slightly last year with at a disappointing rate of 1.7 per cent on employment growth of 47.7 million. That was despite robust economic growth of 5 percent and unemployment decreasing from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent, the U.N. labor agency said Monday.
Employment as a share of the working age population stayed virtually unchanged at 61.8 per cent during 2004.
"While any global decline in unemployment is positive, we must not lose sight of the reality that employment creation still remains a major challenge for policy makers," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said of the Geneva-based agency's Global Employment Trends. "In other words, we need policies that encourage more employment intensive growth."
At U.N. World Headquarters in New York, Lawrence Jeff Johnson, chief of the ILO's employment trends unit in Geneva, told reporters, "Unemployment is down and this is only the second time in the course of the last 10 years we've actually seen a year over year decline."
Dean names DNC transition team
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean Monday announced a transition team.
Of the 11-person team, six worked with Dean in his presidential campaign, in his post-campaign grass-roots organization Democracy for America, or in his race to win the DNC's top spot.
The eight other team members, including transition chief Tina Flournoy, have extensive experience within the DNC and in numerous campaigns.
The team will assist Dean during the next 30 days as he takes over the party from outgoing Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and represents "the broad backgrounds of Democrats across America and the territories," the DNC said in a statement.
It includes DNC members Flournoy; Mexican-American Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker, former first vice-chairwoman for the California Democratic Party; Ben Jeffers from the Louisiana Democratic Party; DNC Women's Caucus Chairwoman Mame Reilly; and political consultant Joe Johnson.
Also on the team are consultants Steve McMahon and Tom Ochs, who worked on Dean's campaign for the DNC chairmanship; former Dean campaign advisers Maura Keefe and Mona Pasquil; and campaign and DFA fundraisers Lindsay Lewis and Tom McMahon.
