About half of the white sand beaches along Australia’s northeast coast that were blackened by an oil spill have been cleared, an official said yesterday.
Authorities declared a disaster zone along 60km of some of the most popular beaches in Queensland state after they were covered in heavy fuel oil that spilled from a cargo ship caught in rough seas on Wednesday.
Hundreds of workers toiled through the weekend to scoop up black, sludgy sand on Moreton and Bribie islands just north of the state capital of Brisbane and along the Sunshine Coast. By yesterday, more than half of the affected coastline was oil-free, though many beaches remained closed, Queensland Deputy Premier Paul Lucas said.
“The battle is far from over, but the tide has very much turned in our direction,” Lucas said, adding he expected all beaches except those on Moreton Island to be fully cleared of oil within the next couple of days.
The exact amount of oil that leaked from the ship is not yet clear. Lucas said yesterday that an estimated 250,000 liters of oil spilled.
Anthony Tregoning, spokesman for Britain’s Swire Shipping, the Hong Kong-registered ship’s owner, said the company would not be releasing any further figures on how much oil had spilled.
Queensland officials have accused the company of initially misleading the government about the size of the spill. Premier Anna Bligh said the company told the government it was much smaller, leading officials to predict there would be little environmental damage.
Swire initially said containers of fertilizer slipped from the ship’s deck as it rocked in rough seas, ripping a hole in a fuel tank and spilling more than 42,500 liters of oil into the sea. On Friday, Swire said an inspection of the hull led it to conclude the amount of spilled oil was “significantly more” than that, but did not give a figure.
Under Australian law, Swire faces fines of up to A$2 million (US$1.3 million) and could be liable for up to A$250 million more in penalties for causing environmental damage.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number