23 trapped miners freed, 10 underground
COPIAPO, Chile, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Rescuers in Chile hoisted the 23rd miner to the surface Wednesday, 17 hours into the rescue of 33 men trapped for 69 days more than 2,000 feet underground.
Carlos Bugueno, the 23rd man out, a message handler, exited the capsule to cheers and applause, leaving 10 comrades and five rescuers still inside the copper and gold mine in remote western Chile..
Samuel Avalos, 43, a mine gas monitor and the 22nd rescued, was welcomed by his wife and Chile's president.
"Welcome back to the surface, to life," said Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
Johnny Barrios, 50, who served as a paramedic for the trapped miners, was the 21st rescued.
Dario Segovia, 48, the 20th freed, rejoiced when he reached the surface. The operation is going faster than scheduled and could wrap up late Wednesday night, officials indicated.
Pablo Rojas, a message handler, was the 19th miner brought up. Esteban Rojas, his cousin, who tested air quality in the mine, was the 18th extracted.
When the men were found alive 17 days after the Aug. 5 mine collapse, Estaban Rojas, 44, promised his wife of 25 years a Catholic church wedding when he was freed. He dropped to his knees, made the sign of the cross and prayed with her on the surface.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama praised the contributions of NASA and the U.S. drillers who bored the Plan B hole used for the dramatic rescues,
"It is a thrilling moment," Obama said at the White House.
Omar Reygades, a 20-year veteran miner, was 17th to emerge from the San Jose mine. Reygades, 56, a father of 6 with 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, smiled and chatted with rescuers as he stepped from the rescue capsule. He dropped to his knees to pray holding a small Bible.
Earlier, Daniel Hurrea, 27, the 16th miner rescued, hugged and kissed his weeping mother as rescue workers cheered.
Pinera and Bolivian President Evo Morales praised both the miners and rescuers before the 15th man was hoisted to safety in the red, white, blue capsule called the Phoenix 2, CNN said.
Victor Segovia, 48, gave Pinera a thumbs up and a bear hug as he stepped from the capsule, the 15th of 33 trapped miners. Segovia kept a journal of the ordeal.
Victor Zamora, 33, the 14th miner rescued, hugged and kissed his six-months-pregnant wife.
Carlos Barrios, 27, the 13th miner freed, had only begun mining eight months before the mine collapse.
Pinera said the rescues were a victory over fear and death.
"I am more convinced than ever that the greatest wealth of our country is not copper, but our miners," he said. Morales said Bolivia would not forget the rescue of Carlos Mamani, the only trapped Bolivian miner. "This incident is uniting us more and more every day," Morales said.
Cheers greeted Edison Pena, the 12th trapped miner rescued. Pena, 34, who jogged more than 2 miles a day in dark tunnels, kept other miners' spirits up by leading exercises and singing Elvis Presley songs, CNN said Wednesday.
Mario Heredia Gomez, at 62 the oldest miner of the group, was the ninth extracted. He donned his sunglasses to shield his eyes, then waved a Chilean flag soon after he emerged from the specially designed rescue capsule about 8 1/2 hours after the rescue operation began.
The miners are being brought to the surface from more than 2,000 feet below, one by one, in a rescue operation televised around the world. After undergoing quick medical checkups at a field hospital, they are being airlifted to a hospital in Copiapo, Chile, 15 minutes away by air.
Obama pushes tuition tax credit
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Wednesday touted the American Opportunity Tax Credit, speaking to college students and their families in the White House Rose Garden.
Obama wants to make the tuition tax credit, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, permanent in his fiscal 2011 budget. If Congress approves an extension, a student could receive a credit up to $10,000 over four years.
"At a time when the unemployment rate for folks who've never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have gone to college, when most of the new jobs being created will require some higher education, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, offering our children a world-class education isn't just a moral obligation, it's an economic imperative," Obama said.
"We're offering middle-class families what's called an American Opportunity Tax Credit -- a college tuition tax credit worth up to $2,500 a year. I am calling on Congress to make this tax credit permanent so it's worth up to $10,000 for four years of college," he said, "because we've got to make sure that in good times or bad, our families can invest in their children's future and in the future of our country."
Obama said Treasury Department figures show college tuition tax credits are making a difference: "Over our first year in office, we've increased tax cuts for higher education by over 90 percent, and we're helping the dream of a college degree -- putting that dream within reach of more than 12 million students from working families."
The president said congressional Republicans have "proposed cutting back on education by 20 percent. That means reducing financial aid for 8 million students and leaving our community colleges without the resources they need to prepare our students for the jobs of the future.
"Nothing would be more shortsighted," he added. "There's an educational arms race taking place around the world right now -- from China to Germany, to India to South Korea. Cutting back on education would amount to unilateral disarmament. We can't afford to do that. The nation that educates its children the best will be the nation that leads the global economy in the 21st century."
Strike derails schools, services in France
PARIS, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Strikes in France interrupted services and schools Wednesday as organizers said 3.5 million protested a plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
The EUobserver said police estimate 1.23 million took part in the protests, but a police union in Marseilles disagreed with that count. Members of the police force in Marseilles traveled to Paris to participate in the rallies there, the EUobserver said.
The general strike closed as many as 300 high schools with teachers barricading themselves into some buildings.
Besides Wednesday's actions, striking petroleum workers have closed down 10 of France's 11 oil refineries. The port of Fos-Lavera, critical to the oil industry, has been shut down for two weeks, due to strikes there, the report said.
As the government proceeds with austerity measures, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said, "We are determined to carry through this reform." He called the strikes "irresponsible."
Unions, meanwhile, were planning to increase their protests. In a survey, 61 percent of the respondents indicated they would support and on-going strike and nearly 70 percent indicated they supported Wednesday's strike.
Ahmadinejad gets hearty welcome in Beirut
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, vowing to stand by Lebanon "with all our power," was greeted by cheering crowds in Beirut Wednesday.
Meeting Lebanese President Michel Suleiman after his arrival, Ahmadinejad said: "Lebanon changed the hostility equation in the region and tilted the balance in favor of its people. We are two peoples that love each other," Israel's Ynet News reported.
Suleiman thanked Iran for its support "in the face of Israeli aggression and the threats being uttered by it" and for "rebuilding Lebanon following the July [2006] war."
The Lebanese president added, "States have a right to make use of nuclear capabilities for peaceful purpose, and Iran has this right too, via quiet dialogue and without any threats or violence against it."
American officials made their disapproval of Ahmadinejad's visit known last week, The New York Times reported.
Iran, which has long provided arms and training to Hezbollah, has also offered to equip the Lebanese army, which has gotten American support and training.
Ahmadinejad was to appear later Wednesday at a Hezbollah rally and to visit the movement's stronghold in southern Lebanon Thursday.
Witness tells how he was shot at Fort Hood
FORT HOOD, Texas, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A victim wounded in the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, testified Wednesday that his eyes locked with the suspect's before he was shot.
Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford was among 32 wounded in the spree; 13 were killed.
Lunsford testified on the second day of the Article 32 hearing and identified the suspect, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, in the courtroom, CNN reported.
Lunsford said Hasan pulled a weapon from underneath his uniform and began to fire. The witness said, "I noticed the weapon he was firing had an infrared sight, like a laser sight on the weapon. He was aiming at the soldiers."
Lunsford said he had tried to escape, CNN reported, but then his eyes locked with Hasan's. "He discharged his weapon. ... I got shot in the head," the witness said.
The Article 32 hearing takes the place of a civilian evidentiary hearing, and is designed to determine whether there is enough evidence for a court-martial.
CNN said investigators from various branches of the government are looking into what was known of Hasan before last year, including whether he had contact with Islamic radicals overseas and how he was transferred from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to Fort Hood.
More than 100 witnesses have been called to testify at the hearing, including the 31 other people wounded in the attack and the two Fort Hood police officers who shot Hasan four times, CNN said.
