■ New Zealand
Paddock blast leaves crater
A cloud of steam and water blasted out of a paddock, hurling rocks, scaring cows and leaving a 50m crater in one of the area's biggest geothermal eruptions in a half-century, witnesses said Wednesday. The blowout in a field in the Reporoa farm district of New Zealand's North Island was "a real beauty" that threw stones, mud and ash into the air, local geologist Ashley Cody said. Farmer Phil Morgan said he turned around to see his cows stampeding up a hill and "a massive cloud heading up into the heavens." Morgan said the eruption's force came as a surprise even though Rotorua is an area known for geothermal activity.
■ China
Labor activists released
Police have released 20 labor activists who were detained for several months after leading 7,000 female textile workers in one of the nation's longest strikes since 1949. Mill employees in Xianyang went on strike last September after new owners announced layoffs and pay cuts. The strike lasted seven weeks before being broken up by police. Leaders of the Xianyang strike were detained last October, the China Labor Bulletin said. It said they were released without charge in batches over several months beginning in December. The group said it withheld their names for their safety.
■ Philippines
Troops, rebels find hostages
Government troops yesterday rescued 13 students and villagers hours after they were abducted in the southern Philippines, and at least one police officer was killed in a shootout with the kidnappers, military officials said. It wasn't immediately clear what happened to the kidnappers, or if any of the hostages were harmed. The captives, mostly female university students, were traveling in a jeep in Saguiran town in Lanao del Sur province, 800km south of Manila, when armed men took control of the vehicle. Muslim guerrillas belonging to the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is engaged in peace talks with the government, helped pursue the kidnappers and blocked their path.
■ Australia
Undertaker offers beer
An undertaker is offering a beer-as-you-bury service to take some of the sting out of bereavement, a newspaper reported yesterday. The company in Melbourne is introducing a minibus -- complete with a mini-bar, coffee and a DVD player -- in which up to 12 mourners can ride with the coffin to the cemetery, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Managing director Martin Tobin said the concept may not suit all families. "But for those who want to be together and travel with the deceased, particularly those with large families, it is a good option for them." The service could be popular with the Vietnamese, Chinese and Italian communities, Tobin said.
■ Hong Kong
Skyscrapers threaten birds
Skyscrapers made of reflective glass pose a big threat to migratory birds who have little experience flying through Hong Kong's urban canyons, an environmental expert said yesterday. Twelve birds died Wednesday after a flock flew into a building, officials said. LC Wong, a conservation officer with local environmental group Kadoorie Farm, said noise barriers -- made of clear material -- and glass buildings lining highways pose an invisible threat to non-native birds.
■ Switzerland
UN agency condemns Sudan
The UN Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution yesterday condemning abuses in Sudan, passing by consensus compromise wording on improving the situation in the embattled Darfur region. The resolution, adopted without a rollcall vote, had support from Sudan and other African nations, the US, the EU and others. It was approved after the EU withdrew a more stiffly worded document. The final resolution was the result of weeks of heavy negotiations between the EU, the US and African nations.
■ United Kingdom
Speed-trap racks up fines
A temporary speed trap at roadworks in East Sussex cost motorists a total of ?750,000 (US$1.4 million) in just two months. The figure was revealed in the annual review of the Sussex Safety Camera Partnership, which runs the cameras. Speed cameras were installed on the A27 at Falmer while a pedestrian subway was being installed. The limit was reduced from 70kph to 40kph, trapping about 12,5000 drivers who failed to slow down.
■ Croatia
Zoo chief an animal killer
The director of the Zagreb zoo has been accused of torturing and killing animals at his facility, the daily Jutarnji reported yesterday. It said Mladen Anic has been accused by former zoo workers of beating a camel to death with a shovel, killing a polar bear and several monkeys with a shotgun, and killing several small bears and tigers "because there was no place for them in the zoo." He was also accused of assaulting people at the zoo, allegedly hitting them with telephones and soft-drink bottles, the daily reported. Anic denied any responsibility.
■ Israel
Jordanian prisoners freed
Seven Jordanian prisoners were released yesterday morning as a goodwill gesture to Jordan's King Abdullah II, an Israeli prisons authority spokeswoman said. The seven had been serving sentences of between two to four years, most of them for entering Israel illegally, she said. The Cabinet had voted on Sunday to free nine Jordanians, but the prisons authority said it had only received a list of seven detainees up for release from the justice ministry.
■ United States
Juror fined for yawning
A juror in Los Angeles got a rude awakening when an angry judge fined him US$1,000 for letting out a loud yawn during a panel selection for an attempted murder trial. "You yawned rather audibly there ... It was to the point that it was contemptuous," the judge told the juror. "I'm sorry, but I'm really bored," the juror replied. "Your boredom just cost you 1,000 dollars," the judge said. "I'm finding you in contempt. Are you quite so bored now?" The judge later relented and slashed the fine to US$100.
■ Mexico
Mayor faces charges
Prosecutors filed charges of abuse of authority against Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday -- the first step toward putting him on trial and possibly knocking him out of next year's presidential race. Authorities said they would not seek an arrest warrant after opposition lawmakers posted a 2,000-peso (US$180) bail for the mayor in advance so that he would remain out of jail while the trial proceeds. He called the move to pay his bail an act of "cowardice" perpetrated by "swindlers."
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
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