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We all know that smartphones, tablet computers and big-screen TVs are transforming the workplace and home. But the newest gadgets could also be a tonic for medicine and health care.

Cellphones have already proven to be a potent medical instrument in improving patient outcomes. Diabetes patients who are sent videos on their cellphones and actually view them are more likely to check blood sugar levels and comply with their care regimens, said U.S. Army Col. Ron Poropatich, who spoke at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

And wounded veterans sent text messages via cellphone have better follow-up treatment routines and feel more connected to caregivers, said Poropatich, deputy director of the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center at Fort Detrick, Md.

Several military-run treatment trials are testing the promise of cellphones and online apps in patient care. Poropatich foresees patients tracking their blood pressure and other measurements using computers and devices, and those findings being monitored remotely by caregivers. Similarly, cellphones and online video can connect care-intensive patients who want to remain in their homes with off-site doctors and families.

Both of Poropatich’s parents are alive and “I would like to be able to log onto my Blackberry and see how they are doing,” he said.

Already, commercial firms are making their own evolutionary strides in telemedicine and personal health monitoring.

A look at some of the health and medical advances on display last week at CES:

•Homebound parents can stay connected online using VitalLink, a touch-screen based computer system that allows real-time video chatting using the phone line and webcam. The New Jersey-based company created online software that can be used with touchscreens, no mouse or keyboard required. “We’re keeping it easy to use for the elderly who are computer-phobic and don’t have the skills,” says company president Rich Brown.

Photo galleries can also be uploaded for viewing. Chat and photo software features start at $4.99 monthly; touchscreens start at about $300 (vitallink.net).

In some assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, VitalLink is being tested with an additional activity monitor feature that lets caregivers and primary family members track the resident’s involvement. “If they are not active, you can try and call or you can initiate a call from their end and see what’s going on,” Brown says.

•For elderly relatives who want to remain in their own homes, the My Guardian Angel service provides automated fall and wander detection, emergency readings and other behavioral and medical monitoring. Residents wear a wristwatch that tracks location, sends out fall alerts, records body temperature and can be upgraded to record pulse as well.

Additional health data from Bluetooth devices (blood pressure, glucose monitoring) can be captured by My Guardian, too. Base price for the system with watch, wireless Internet gateway, three wireless electrical plug-in routers and charging unit is under $1,000; $79.95 monthly service (atguardianangel.com).

The system is highly customizable. “My mom does not like to sleep with (the watch on) and she takes it off every night. If she doesn’t have it on by 8 a.m. I get a text message to call my mom and tell to put it on,” said CEO Ed Caracappa. “It’s a very complete and fully functional system for those who wish to age in place.”

•Data tracking can also help those who aim to get – and remain – physically fit. MapMyFitness records and tracks your workout progress using free iPhone apps and compatible devices such as hear monitors and GPS devices.

Runners and bicyclists can wirelessly input data from a heart rate sensor (made by Garmin, Wahoo, Adidas or Timex, for instance) to the iPhone or iPod Touch (also compatible with Blackberry and Android devices). ” That gives you instant feedback,” says MapMyFitness senior mobile development manager Chris Glode. “You can just look at your phone and know whether you are in your target zone or not.”

Other data types that can be input include runner cadence and speed, power expenditure (good for cyclists) and weight ($130-up, www.mapmyfitness.com).

Beyond that, a Web-based subscription service lets you view workout charts and reports, as well as training plans (free to $100 annually). “More and more people are wanting to track every aspect of their life using more and more sophisticated types of sensors,” Glode says. “The data you get, in addition to how you feel during the workout and how many calories you burned, is crucial to people.”

•Workouts can tracked and more enjoyable by incorporating your big-screen TV. BodyMedia’s Fit Armband BW ($249) tracks calories burned and consumed, physical activity, steps taken and sleep. The Bluetooth device lets you monitor activity on your iPhone or Android phone already, but starting in April Panasonic will let you access BodyMedia’s software on its Viera HDTVs.

That will allow exercisers to watch their activity levels and calories burnt add up while they watch movies, TV shows or while playing video games. “Our partnership with Panasonic is on the cutting edge for adding important health and wellness information to everyday TV viewing,” says BodyMedia chief information officer Steve Menke. “The integration of a body monitoring technology with the TV is enabling real-time health and wellness management.”

The marrying of consumer electronics and medical technologies is going to be needed especially as baby boomers age, Poropatich says. “Electronic devices are going to hooked to the cloud. That’s all happening.”

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Article extracted from usatoday.com

North Korea is being probed for possible war crimes committed by its military, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced Monday.

“The office of the prosecutor has received communications alleging that North Korean forces committed war crimes in the territory of the Republic of Korea,” it said in a statement on the court’s website.

“The prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, confirmed that the office has opened a preliminary examination to evaluate if some incidents constitute war crimes under the jurisdiction of the court.”

Prosecutors said the preliminary examination would look into the rogue state’s conduct with respect to two deadly attacks on South Korean territory and interests this year.

The most recent attack was the Nov. 23 shelling by North Korea’s forces of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island that resulted in several deaths and many injuries.

ICC prosecutors also cited the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship by a torpedo allegedly fired from a North Korean submarine. That attack killed 46 South Korean sailors.

The prosecutor’s office said the preliminary examination would determine if the criteria have been met for opening an investigation.

Top U.S. soldier to visit South Korea

In Seoul, South Korean military and defence officials are preparing for a visit later this week by the top U.S. military officer.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is to meet Wednesday with senior South Korean defence officials to let them know that the U.S. continues to stand by them.

It’s the latest indication that Washington is increasingly concerned by the tense situation in the Korean pensinsula.

The White House said President Barack Obama called Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday night to discuss North Korea and urge China to use its influence to rein in its provacative ally.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also met in Washington on Monday with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts to discuss the North Korean situation.

She said they shared concerns about what she called “provocative attacks from North Korea.”

By cbc.ca

Smoke raises from South Korea's Yeonpyeong island on Nov. 23. The International Criminal Court announced Monday it will investigate North Korea for possible war crimes for its role in the shelling and for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. (Yonhap/Associated Press)

SHANGHAI — A coal mine explosion in central China early Saturday killed 21 workers and trapped 16 others underground, China’s state-run news media said.

The accident is the latest tragedy to hit this nation’s mining industry, one of the world’s most dangerous.

The official Xinhua News Agency said rescuers were trying to reach the trapped miners after a gas explosion occurred about 6 a.m. Saturday, in the city of Yuzhou in Henan Province.

Later in the day, China Central Television said that the bodies of 21 miners had been recovered and identified but that six rescue teams were trying to reach 16 others trapped underground beneath tons of coal dust. It was not clear whether the 16 had survived the blast or how far beneath the surface they were.

Mining accidents are so common in China that they rarely make newspaper front pages. Last year, more than 2,600 people were killed in mining accidents in China. By comparison, there were only 34 mining deaths in the United States, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The Chinese government has repeatedly vowed to improve the safety of mining conditions, and nearly every year safety regulators announce the closing of thousands of illegal mines, which tend to be the most dangerous.

But the mine involved in Saturday’s blast is owned by the Pingyu Coal and Electric Company, a joint venture that is at least partly state-owned.

A gas blast at a coal mine last June killed at least 47 miners in Henan Province and another killed at least 9 miners in early August in the same province, according to state-run news media.

By nytimes.com

Rescuers prepared to go underground early Saturday, trying to reach 16 miners trapped beneath tons of coal dust in Yuzhou.

Chilean rescuers ended a marathon operation Tuesday and freed all 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months.  All of the rescued miners were sent for medical treatment and several of them are expected to undergo surgery in the coming days.

Chilean officials say the rescue operation at the San Jose mine in northern Chile advanced more quickly than expected. Initially, officials said it might take 48 hours to pull the miners to the surface through a 622-meter rescue shaft.

Rescue crews honed the process throughout the day, enabling them to pull each miner to the surface in about 15 minutes.

Rescue crews and officials cheer and clap as each miner arrives at the surface, where family members are waiting for him.  Medical teams rush each man  to a hospital in nearby Copiapó for a thorough examination.

Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera is at the site to greet each rescued miner.

After Victor Zamora surfaced, Mr. Piñera told him that he was never alone, saying that the government fulfilled its promise to bring the men back alive.

The rescue ends a two-month-long ordeal for the men, who were trapped by a cave-in at the gold and copper mine on August 5.  The men were cut off from the surface for 17 days, until a drilling crew located them.

Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne offered thanks to scores of experts and others who have helped carry out the rescue operation.  But he cautioned that the job was not over yet.

Golborne said weeks of work are finally paying off, but officials will not be satisfied until the rescue is completed.

Health Minister Jaime Mañalich says many of the miners appear to be in better health than expected.  He says each miner will undergo a series of tests, including a lung x-ray and heart monitoring, and that some might receive psychiatric treatment, if needed.

A few miners are expected to receive dental surgery in the coming days to treat abscesses and other conditions.  Mañalich says the most serious case was a miner with pneumonia.

He says the miner will likely remain in intensive care for several days to receive oxygen and other treatments.

More than 1,000 journalists are covering the rescue operation at the remote San Jose mine in the Atacama desert.  During the past two months, relatives of the miners and rescue crews have gathered outside the mine, forming a community they call Camp Hope.

Millions of people around the world are watching the rescue operation unfold on television.  In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama says he watched the first miner being freed, adding that it was a tribute to the hard work of the rescue workers and the Chilean people.  He thanked people from around the world who contributed to the operation, including a U.S.-based drilling team and experts from the U.S. space agency, NASA.

By Voanews.com

Miner Luis Urzua, the last miner to be rescued, center wearing green, celebrates next to Chile's President Sebastian Pinera after being rescued from a collapsed gold and copper mine, 13 Oct 2010

The first of 33 trapped miners will be pulled to safety in a capsule barely wider than a man’s shoulders on Tuesday night as a two-month ordeal deep inside a Chilean mine draws to an end.

The men have spent 68 days in the hot, humid bowels of a gold and copper mine in Chile’s northern Atacama desert after an August 5 collapse. They now face a claustrophobic journey to the surface in the specially made steel cages, equipped with oxygen masks and escape hatches in case they get stuck.

The miners will be hoisted out one at a time in a two-day operation. The capsule will travel at about 3 feet/(1m) per second, or a casual walking pace, and speed to 10 feet/(3m) per second if the miner being carried gets into trouble.

With Chileans anxiously following the rescue on television, President Sebastian Pinera asked for all churches in the South American nation to ring their bells in celebration when the first miner emerges from the shaft.

Nervous wives, children, parents and friends waited on an arid, rocky hillside around 2,050 feet above the miners, and rescue teams planned to start the rescue operation after 10 p.m. (0100 GMT)

Local television showed engineers making last-minute checks of the capsule — painted red, blue and white, the colors of Chile’s flag — and hoisting it up on a yellow crane.

Florencio Avalos, 31, will be the first miner to be rescued, his mother told Reuters, citing officials. Married with two children, Florencio has been trapped along with his brother, 29-year-old Renan.

“Right now I’m calm, though still very anxious,” said Jessica Salgado, whose husband Alex is among the miners. “I hope my nerves don’t betray me when the rescue starts.

“The first thing I’m going to do is hug him hard, tell him how much I love him and how I’ve missed him all this time.”

Officials said all the men volunteered to go last, to ensure that their friends were pulled ahead of them to safety.

Rescuers on Monday successfully tested a capsule, dubbed Phoenix after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes, after reinforcing part of the narrow escape shaft with metal casing to prevent rocks falling and blocking the exit.

Engineers said the final stage of the rescue still had its risks but that the capsule was handling well in the shaft, and they expected a smooth extraction.

FOUND ALIVE

Rescuers originally found the men, miraculously all alive, 17 days after the mine’s collapse with a bore hole the width of grapefruit. It then served as an umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food, as well as letters from their families and soccer videos to keep their spirits up.

The men have set a world record for the length of time workers have survived underground after a mining accident, and have been doing exercises to keep their weight down for their ascent.

By reuters.com

The capsule that will carry the trapped miners to safety is brought into position at the start of the rescue operation at the San Jose mine in Copiapo October 12, 2010.

Tuesday night’s deadly China plane crash highlights the risks in China’s booming air travel industry. A disproportionate number of flights now have to take off and land at night without proper lighting.

The China plane crash that killed 42 people late Tuesday night was a rare blot on the country’s aviation safety copybook, say experts here. But it highlights the risks of flying in and out of some small regional airports at night, something more airlines are forced to do to meet the demands of China’s booming travel industry.

A domestic Henan Airways passenger jet crashed and burst into flames at a fog-shrouded provincial airport near Yichun in Northeastern China, killing 42 and injuring 54, according to official reports.

It is still not known what caused the accident “but from news reports I deduce that the reason is human error,” says Wang Yanan, deputy editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine. “I think it came down too fast or too steeply.”

It emerged Wednesday that another airline, China Southern, decided last August to avoid night flights into Yichun. A technical note on the airline’s website said that “in principle there should be no night flights at Yichun airport,” citing worries about landing strip lighting, weather conditions, and the surrounding hilly terrain.

The newly built airport, one of a number of such regional facilities springing up all over the country to serve China’s booming travel industry, sits in a forested valley. China will have 244 airports by 2020, up from about 175 today, according to figures from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC.)

“Over the last few years, because of the high demand and big market, regional aviation has developed very fast,” says Mr. Wang. “The quality of personnel and facilities may not be keeping up.”

Tuesday’s crash, however, was the first major commercial airline accident in China for nearly six years, Wang points out. “I think it is an isolated case,” he adds. “In general aviation safety in China is normal.”

The government credits this to a nationwide crackdown on safety that it ordered in 2004, upgrading aircraft and airports, after 10 serious airplane crashes in four years had given China a notoriously dangerous reputation.

But at new airports a disproportionate number of flights take off and land at night, because airlines serving them can no longer get daytime slots at the busy hubs they fly to and from.

“At night in Northern China it is often cold and wet, so it may be foggy,” Wang points out, suggesting that Yichun airport’s landing lights may have been too weak to see properly in Tuesday night’s fog. “Small airports should install the right sort of equipment to cope with different conditions,” he adds.

The China plane crash that killed 42 people late Tuesday night was a rare blot on the country’s aviation safety copybook, say experts here. But it highlights the risks of flying in and out of some small regional airports at night, something more airlines are forced to do to meet the demands of China’s booming travel industry.

A domestic Henan Airways passenger jet crashed and burst into flames at a fog-shrouded provincial airport near Yichun in Northeastern China, killing 42 and injuring 54, according to official reports.

It is still not known what caused the accident “but from news reports I deduce that the reason is human error,” says Wang Yanan, deputy editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine. “I think it came down too fast or too steeply.”

It emerged Wednesday that another airline, China Southern, decided last August to avoid night flights into Yichun. A technical note on the airline’s website said that “in principle there should be no night flights at Yichun airport,” citing worries about landing strip lighting, weather conditions, and the surrounding hilly terrain.

The newly built airport, one of a number of such regional facilities springing up all over the country to serve China’s booming travel industry, sits in a forested valley. China will have 244 airports by 2020, up from about 175 today, according to figures from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC.)

“Over the last few years, because of the high demand and big market, regional aviation has developed very fast,” says Mr. Wang. “The quality of personnel and facilities may not be keeping up.”

Tuesday’s crash, however, was the first major commercial airline accident in China for nearly six years, Wang points out. “I think it is an isolated case,” he adds. “In general aviation safety in China is normal.”

The government credits this to a nationwide crackdown on safety that it ordered in 2004, upgrading aircraft and airports, after 10 serious airplane crashes in four years had given China a notoriously dangerous reputation.

But at new airports a disproportionate number of flights take off and land at night, because airlines serving them can no longer get daytime slots at the busy hubs they fly to and from.

“At night in Northern China it is often cold and wet, so it may be foggy,” Wang points out, suggesting that Yichun airport’s landing lights may have been too weak to see properly in Tuesday night’s fog. “Small airports should install the right sort of equipment to cope with different conditions,” he adds.

By Peter Ford

Chinese paramilitary policemen stand guard near the damaged Henan Airlines plane which has crashed on landing in Yichun in northeast China's Heilongjiang province Wednesday.

China is secretly pursuing military power and missile programs in a move which could lead to conflicts with other nations, according to a Pentagon report.

The annual report said that the country’s military modernisation and its culture of military secrecy is raising the risk of “misunderstanding and miscalculation”.

It comes at a time of rising tensions diplomatic and military tensions between the US and China which suspended military-to-military contacts earlier this year following a US decision to sell arms to Taiwan. A US aircraft carrier visited Vietnam earlier this month in a show of force to remind China that Washington was not stepping back from its role in the Asia-Pacific region, safeguarding the flow oil imports to the economies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

In March, Beijing announced a 7.5 per cent increase in its official military budget to about $78.6 billion (£50 billion), which remains a fraction of the $548.9bn (£351bn) that the Obama administration has requested as its core defence budget.
However a senior US defence official, outlining the report, estimated that actual military-related spending by China amounted to about $150 billion (£96 billion) in 2009.

US defence experts have raised concerns about China’s intentions in building both an aircraft-carrier capability and a new brand of ‘carrier-killing’ missile that could challenge the US’s current supremacy at sea.

The Pentagon report, which analyses Chinese military activities in 2009, said the People’s Liberation Army is “acquiring large numbers of highly accurate cruise missiles” and that the successful shooting down of an old satellite in a 2007 represented a new level of ability for the Chinese military.

China has reacted strongly to what it sees as US posturing in the South China Sea after the Pentagon announced that it would deploy an aircraft carrier into the Yellow Sea as part of joint exercises with South Korea, despite Chinese objections.

“The United States appears to want to declare to the world, ’The Asia-Pacific and the oceans remain under the United States’,” the People’s Daily said in a commentary on Tuesday.

Chinese analysts say that the Pentagon continues to be stuck in a ‘Cold War mode of thinking’ that exaggerates the threat posed by China for its own ends.

Despite the “unprecedented surge” in tensions recently, the potential for actual conflict remains low said Zhu Feng of Peking University’s School of International Studies.

“The Pentagon is fully aware that there’s a huge gap between the two countries’ military power. It a joke to claim that China is going to attack the American aircraft carriers,” Zhu said.

By Peter Foster

China considers Taiwan, where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The French Foreign Ministry has said the deployment of Russian S-300 air defense systems in the former Georgian republic of Abkhazia undermines stability in the region.

Russian Air Force head Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Wednesday S-300 systems had been placed in Abkhazia to protect the airspace of Abkhazia and the other former Georgian republic of South Ossetia. He did not say how many S-300s had been deployed.

“We are concerned about [Russia's] announcement about the deployment of air defense systems in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It [deployment] harms stability in the region,” a spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry told a news conference in Paris.

France acted as an intermediary in the settlement of a five-day conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia in August 2008.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia two days after the conflict, which began when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

Russia signed agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia earlier this year on establishing permanent military bases in the republics.

The bases are located in Gudauta, on Abkhazia’s Black Sea coast, and in South Ossetia’s capital, Tskhinvali. Each base hosts up to 1,700 servicemen, T-62 tanks, light armored vehicles, air defense systems and a variety of aircraft.

On Wednesday, the Georgian Foreign Ministry described the Russian move as “extremely dangerous and provocative,” saying it threatened “not only the Black Sea region, but European security as a whole.”

Washington later downplayed the Russian move by saying that the move was not a new development as Moscow had been deploying S-300 missiles in Abkhazia for the past two years.

By RIA Novosti

Russian S-300 air defense system

Rescuers fought against gas and debris to reach up to 70 miners feared dead on Friday after a blast tore through a coal mine in one of Colombia’s worst mining disasters.

At least 18 bodies were pulled from the wreckage on Thursday after the midnight gas explosion in northwestern Antioquia province. The death toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled to get into the mine shift.

The blast at the small San Fernando mine occurred far from the major operations run by companies such as Drummond and Glencore in the world’s No. 5 coal exporter which is enjoying a boom in mining and energy investment.

“There is an accumulation of gas at the entrance of the mine,” said Ivan Dario Vieira, a local rescue agency director. “They are ventilating it to see if they can work better.”

Relatives of miners gathered anxiously at a local sports hall in Amaga town, where authorities had set up a makeshift morgue as bodies wrapped in white sheets were ferried in waiting hearses. Many carried photographs of missing kin.

“They have to give me some sign of hope,” Gladys Gallego said as she waited for a loved one outside the mine. “Until they take him out I am not going home.”

Accumulations of gas several times halted attempts to reach miners feared dead and trapped 6,500 feet below the surface. On Thursday rescue workers had managed to work their way down only 2,000 feet.

Rescue workers said there was little chance any of the miners would be found alive.

Last year, a methane gas explosion in another Antioquia province coal mine killed eight workers and, in 2007, an explosion in Norte de Santander killed 31 miners were killed one of the country’s worst mining disasters.

The latest blast will not have a broad impact on the coal market because the mine is small and supplies the domestic market and some European traders, markets sources said.

Colombia has benefited from the boom in energy and mining investment under President Alvaro Uribe, who sent troops out to drive back leftist rebels fighting Latin America’s oldest insurgency who once controlled large parts of the country.

Uribe steps down in August and his former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, is favored to succeed him in a run-off vote on Sunday. The country’s commodities boom is an election issue with candidates debating how to handle an influx of mining and oil dollars.

The disaster will put the spotlight on mining safety regulations in a country where the industry ranges from large deposits operated by multinationals to hundreds of small, makeshift pits that produce coal for local markets.

Coal mining is dangerous even in more developed countries. Explosions and collapses are common, especially in China. In April, an explosion killed 29 miners in West Virginia in the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in more than 20 years.

By Patrick Markey

Rescue workers carry the body of a miner after an explosion in a coal mine in Amaga, Antioquia province June 17, 2010.

Afghanistan has up to $1trillion (£690bn) worth of untapped mineral resources which could revolutionise the country’s economy and perhaps even the war, American officials have said.

The country has long been known to harbour huge deposits of copper and iron, but the scale of resources is now believed to be far larger than previously thought.
Huge seams of cobalt, gold and iron could turn Afghanistan into a world centre for mining, US officials hope.

Afghan officials believe the mining sector will eventually become the backbone of the now tiny Afghan economy and provide hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The economy is currently dominated by aid money and drug smuggling, raising fears the coalition’s investments in building the Afghan army and state are ultimately unsustainable.

A thriving mining economy offers the chance of much-needed funding to the Afghan state, but would also need years to build up the infrastructure needed.

“There is stunning potential here,” Gen David Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told the New York Times. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was mapped by the Soviets during the 1980s, but was never exploited.
After discovering the Soviet data, the United States Geological Survey began a series of aerial surveys in 2006, using gravity and magnetic measuring instruments mounted in an old Navy aircraft.

The data was so promising, the geologists returned the following year using an old British bomber equipped with instruments to build a three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below the earth’s surface.

Geologists are now finishing field studies in the hope they can start tender processes to attract bids from international mining firms.

Jack Medlin, a geologist in the United States Geological Survey’s international affairs programme, told the newspaper: “On the ground, it’s very, very, promising. Actually, it’s pretty amazing.”
First analysis of a location in Ghazni province showed it had potentially the world’s largest deposits of lithium, which is used in laptop batteries.

Early attempts to harness Afghanistan’s mineral wealth have been hampered by corruption and poor security.

In 2008, the Chinese state-owned firm MCC signed the contract for one of the world’s richest unexploited copper deposits at Aynak, 30 miles south of Kabul after paying a premium of £484 million.

World Bank estimates suggest the Aynak mine alone could yield 100,000 tons a year, bring the Afghan government £240 million a year in taxes and create another 20,000 jobs.

Muhammad Ibrahim Adel, minister for mines at the time, was later accused of taking a £20 bribe to award the contract. He denied the accusation, but lost his job.

Early progress at the mine has been hampered by poor security and the ground breaking ceremony last July was conducted as helicopter gunships swooped overhead.

A tender last year for the 1.8 billion ton Hajigak iron ore deposit west of Kabul, which is estimated to be 62 per cent pure, and “world class” attracted five Indian firms, but stalled last year and has yet to restart.

By Ben Farmer

NATO soldiers visit a coal mining camp, in Herat, Afghanistan Photo: EPA