The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

By Harriet Barovick, Ishaan Tharoor, Alexandra Silver, Claire Suddath, Frances Romero, Kayla Webley and Josh Sanburn Monday, Nov. 01, 2010

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    Coming on the heels of Chile's much watched rescue of 33 miners, an Oct. 16 explosion resulting from a coal-mine gas leak in China's central Henan province killed 37 workers. The same mine was the site of an August 2008 blast in which 23 died. Lax safety standards have helped make China's mines some of the deadliest in the world; more than 2,600 people died in mine-related accidents in 2009.

    * | What They're Missing in Fiji: As the tiny Pacific island celebrated the 40th anniversary of its independence from the U.K., Fiji's government announced that it had lost the very document that proclaimed its freedom. The 1970 Fiji Independence Order was presented to the Fijian government by Prince Charles, but it went missing in 2005. Officials have rifled through file cabinets and scoured government offices, but the order is nowhere to be found. The U.K. agreed to send over a photocopy.

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