Tough UN climate talks move into decisive week

Traumatic effects of Chile miners' ordeal in evidence
Reporting from Copiapo, Chile, and Santiago, Chile — Even as the bulk of the 33 men rescued after being trapped underground 69 days were released from a regional Hospital, the health minister said some were showing signs of disorientation. And a Mass of Thanksgiving is cancelled. Signs of emotional and psychological trauma began to emerge Friday in some of the 33 Miners rescued this week in Chile after 69 days trapped underground, even as the bulk of the men were released from a...

Chile miners attend Mass at San Jose mine
Some of the rescued Miners have returned to the site of the San Jose mine where they endured 69 days underground for a Thanksgiving mass with family and friends.

Some of Chile's 33 return to mine for ceremony
By Terry Wade and Juana Casas Copiapo, Chile | Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:39am EDT Copiapo, Chile (Reuters) - Some of the 33 miners who were rescued last week after 69 days trapped underground returned on Sunday for a religious service at the mine in northern Chile that almost became their tomb. The miners, their families and friends will attend a ceremony in a tent at the mouth of the San Jose copper and gold mine from which they were rescued on Wednesday in a painstakingly planned and perfectly...

Freed Chilean miners return to 'Camp Hope' for Mass
About a dozen or so of the 33 Miners freed in Chile this week after spending more than two months underground returned Sunday to the mouth of the mine to offer thanks during a private Mass. For many of the Miners, it was the first time back since their dramatic Wednesday rescue that was watched by the world. Just the Miners, their families and a handful of local officials were invited to attend the service. FULL STORY

4 Colorado drillers who helped free 33 miners in Chile return to heroes' welcome in Denver
Denver — Four Colorado men who helped free 33 trapped Chilean Miners have returned home to a heroes' welcome. About 40 people cheered at Denver International Airport Saturday when the four drillers arrived from Chile, including Jeff Hart, of Arvada, who operated the drill that t bored its way down to the chamber where the Miners were trapped. The men work for Kansas-based Layne Christensen Co. The four were drilling water wells in Afghanistan for the U.S. Army's Forward operating Bases...

Cracks appear in Chile miners' 'pact of silence'
Most of Chile's 33 rescued Miners are honoring a pact of silence about the worst of their ordeal, but one indicated on Sunday he would talk if paid and another set the record straight about what didn't happen. Lucrative movie and book deals have been flowing in since the Miners' miraculous rescue on Wednesday after 69 days trapped half a mile underground after a cave-in, and several are now looking to safeguard their financial future. So far, most of the men have not yet spoken of the very...

Chile miners plan mine safety group
The 33 Miners who survived a record 69 days trapped underground in Chile hope to create a foundation that will allow them to share their experience and improve Mine Safety, several of them say. "We will have a common cause," miner Juan Illanes told El Mercurio newspaper on Sunday. "Ideally it would be in the form of an institution. There are plenty of proposals to look at, to allow us to make available in the future everything we've learned. Advertisement: Story continues below "We have to do...

Chile miners: From world fame to humble homes
Copiapo, Chile — Chile's 33 rescued Miners got heroes' welcomes, still wearing the sunglasses that make them look like rock stars, as they pushed through swarms of news media eager to broadcast details of their harrowing experience trapped underground. The next day, they woke up in humble homes to the reality of family strife and possible Unemployment. Most of the Miners headed home over the weekend from the Hospital where they were taken after being pulled through a narrow,...

Edison Peña's marathon of endurance
Edison Pea gestures as he is carried from the San Jose mine, Chile on 13 October 2010, where he and 32 other Miners were trapped for two months underground. Pea, dubbed 'the runner' by his mates, has been invited to take part in the New York City marathon. Photograph: AP/Hugo Infante Part of our fascination with the story of the Chilean Miners, successfully rescued this week after 70 days trapped in tunnels 700m below the surface, is our wonder at what it would be like to be in the...

Teamwork helped us in our darkest days, say freed miners
Welcome... rescued miner Carlos Barrios is kissed by a relative as he arrives home in Capiapo, north of Santiago. Photo: AFP Copiapo: The rescued Chilean Miners have spoken of how they overcame violent disagreements to work as a team, as they celebrate their freedom and new status as national heroes. The Miners, who have now been given a clean bill of health and permitted to leave Hospital, disclosed the horrors of the early days after the accident. The first accounts of life for the trapped...

Deacon candidate who helped Chilean miners describes rescue
.- On Oct. 13, Greg Hall's prayers were answered. For more than two months of sleepless nights, the rock-drilling expert and deacon-in-training had been working to save the Chilean Miners trapped in the San Jose Mine. The day after all 33 men emerged safely, Hall told CNA about the faith and hope he brought to a rescue operation many considered impossible. Drillers Supply International, the company Greg Hall co-owns with his wife Angelica, has operated a Chilean branch for almost two decades,...

Service of thanks for Chilean miners
Chilean miner Juan Carlos Aguilar, is surrounded by the media prior to attending a mass at the San Jose mine near Copiapo. Photograph: Jorge Saenz/AP Some of the 33 rescued Miners returned to the mine today for a Thanksgiving mass and tour of Camp Hope to try to draw a line under their ordeal, as evidence of further splits in the group emerged. Around 12 of the Miners, escorted by relatives and police, attended an emotional service in a tent near the rescue shaft, giving them their first proper...

Finding Hope After Miners Rescue
AP Oct 13: In this screen grab taken from video, Florencio Avalos, the first miner to be rescued, left, is embraced by Chilean President Sebastian Pinera after his rescue at San Jose Mine near Copiapo, Chile. AP How often have you heard about hope in the past few years? And in these tough times how often has our hope become reality? Not often enough. Or so we think. Well this week, the world rallied around hope for 33 men who were trapped in a mine in Chile. Who worried, in the words of one...

As hopes for China miners fade, Chile mine rescue comparison lingers
Rescuers are stepping up frantic efforts to save 11 China miners still believed to be trapped by a deadly gas blast on Saturday.

Cheating Chilean miner has a second mistress
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Cheating Chilean miner has a second mistress
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Chilean miners: World exclusive first interview with Mario Sepulveda
He is the undisputed star of the Chilean mine rescue. When Mario Sepulveda became the second miner to surface after 69 days trapped half-a-mile below ground, his cheeky gift of souvenir rocks for the Chilean president combined with his wildly enthusiastic chants of ‘Viva Chile’ alongside his rescuers led to him being dubbed Super Mario on newspaper front pages around the world. Since his rescue, the charismatic 40-year-old heavy-equipment operator has been deluged with lucrative...

Chilean Miner Breaks His Silence
It was just another regular day at the mine, said "Super Mario" Sepulveda, one of the recently-rescued Chilean Miners, when he realized he was trapped: "I could see two big rocks up ahead that were blocking the shaft. That was a moment of utter despair. I came back down and had to tell the other guys there was no way out." The men took a vow of silence - "a pact of brotherhood" - promising not to talk about the experience. It was "hell," Sepulveda says, so why relive it? Also, some of the other...

The first time I met Robin Cook's mistress
Recalling her own very public agony when her husband left her for another woman, Margaret Cook offers support to the cheated wives of Chile .

Chilean Miners Consider Book and Hollywood Deals -- Cautionary Tales Abound
Chile is experiencing what could be called 'egalitarian Capitalism.' This rare sentiment of prosperity for all is captured in a photo of the country's president, Sebastian Pinera, surrounded by the recently rescued gold and copper Miners in their Hospital gowns and bathrobes wearing newly acquired $450 Oakley sunglasses (to protect their eyes from the sunlight that they had not seen for 69 days). Cable News Ratings surged as viewers remained riveted for hours while the men were brought up...

Chilean Miners Keeping Ordeal Details Quiet
AP Oct. 14: Rescued miner Carlos Mamani, from Bolivia, is surrounded by the Press as he arrives at his home in Copiapo, Chile. Copiapo, Chile -- The first three rescued Chilean Miners out of the Hospital celebrated their new lives as national heroes Friday, as word emerged that the 33 want to closely guard their story so they can fairly divide the spoils of their overnight media stardom. That could explain why none of them have spoken publicly at any length or provided any dramatic details of...

WSJ: Chilean Mining Rescue Somehow Victory for Capitalism
[Guest post by James Downie] The Wall Street Journal 's Daniel Henninger would like to interrupt your viewing of the Chilean miner rescue with a declaration : It needs to be said. The rescue of the Chilean Miners is a smashing victory for Free-market Capitalism. Hoo boy. Now, Henninger is the deputy page editor of an editorial board that has bashed Rahm Emanuel for saying "never allow a crisis go to waste." (The board forgot, one assumes, their utterly disgraceful editorial from...

More Trapped Miners?
C’mon… from Bloomberg Four Miners are trapped underground in a mine in southern Ecuador after a cave-in early this morning, the South American countrys government said. Rescue Workers are trying to make contact with the Miners, trapped 150 meters (492 feet) below ground, the National Risk Management Secretary said today in a statement on its website. The Miners may be rescued tonight, Quito-based newspaper El Comercio said today on its website, citing Jorge Espinosa,...

Chile has a new image in reporter's mind
Reporting from Copiapo, Chile — Before arriving at Camp Hope to cover the rescue of the 33 trapped miners, I'd stuck a mental Post-It note on Chile in the world map of my mind. It read, "merlot, mining and Augusto Pinochet." That is what this long, skinny, country symbolized to me: wine, gold and copper production and a notorious dictator. Now that I've witnessed firsthand the remarkable rescue of the men and spent two weeks in close quarters with their family members, I'm going to...

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera found inspiration in Churchill
Posted by Jennifer Caballero on Oct 17 2010 Filed under Europe , News & Opinion , Politics , South America , World . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry One of the things I witness that is sorely lacking in President Obama’s presidency, is leadership, national pride, and resolve. Often I hear Obama whine, apologize, and lament the problems he has “inherited.” Juxtapose this with...