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Journalism of Courage
BELGRADE: Aquatic life in the Danube is still at some8217; risk from cyanide, but the pollution does not exceed threshold levels, a UN environmental expert said after his team tested samples from the Yugoslav-Romanian border. 8220;Our overall conclusion is that there are still some risks for aquatic life in the Danube, but the levels do not however exceed the health risks,8221; Pekka Haavisto, head of the UN Environment Programme mission to Yugoslavia told the press in Belgrade.
Haavisto is leading a team of UN environment experts put in charge of collecting samples of cyanide pollution in the Yugoslav part of the Danube. Some 100,000 cubic metres 3.5 million cubic feet of cyanide-laced water escaped from a gold mining complex in Romania on January 31 into the river Tisza, which flows into Hungary and then Yugoslavia, where it reaches the Danube. More than 100 tonnes of dead fish have been pulled out of the rivers, while thousands more dead fish are believed to be on the riverbeds or starting to decay under the ice, the World Wide Fund for Nature said in Geneva.
Casting his ballot earlier in a ceremony broadcast live on State television, Khatami made an impassioned plea to voters to support him in his bid to remake Iranian society. 8220;I hope the results of this election will allow us to speed the way to a brighter future on this historic day,8221; he said. 8220;The bigger the turnout, the greater the support for the leadership and the nation.8221; Some 38.7 million Iranians aged 16 or over had the right to vote.
