■AUSTRALIA
Oil spill spreading
One of the world’s last great areas of wilderness has been massively contaminated by a spill from a damaged oil rig off the north coast, conservationists said last week. Millions of liters of oil have leaked into the Timor Sea, famed for its coral reefs and home to dolphins, humpback whales and other marine life. The slick, which has already spread over an area 10 times the size of London, continues to expand at the rate of 2,000 barrels of oil a day. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of birds and animals have died since Aug. 21, when there was an accident at the well head of the Montara offshore drilling rig. A survey by the World Wildlife Fund found that dolphins, migratory sea birds, sea snakes and marine turtles had been exposed to toxins. Satellite images show a 25,000km² slick spreading across the surface of the ocean and threatening the marine reserves of Ashmore and Cartier reefs.
■MALAYSIA
Man arrested for murder
Police arrested a man suspected of killing his wife and possibly blinding his teenage daughter by splashing acid on them while they slept, an official said yesterday. The man is believed to have crept into his wife’s separate bedroom early on Saturday and poured a bottle of acid over the two, who were in the same bed, a district police official in Penang state said. Neighbors rushed them to a hospital after the 17-year-old daughter ran out screaming, the official said on condition of anonymity. The man later turned himself in. The wife died, while her daughter suffered burns on her face and would probably lose her sight, the Bernama news agency reported.
■INDONESIA
Quake causes panic
A powerful earthquake struck deep under the sea in the east, causing panic and sending residents running out of their homes, officials and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The earthquake late on Saturday had a magnitude of 7.0, but at a depth of 138km was too far below the earth’s surface to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The US Geological Survey said the latest quake was located 365km southeast of Ambon in the Maluku islands in the Banda Sea. The shaking was strong and people ran to higher ground fearing a tsunami, said Ian Kotualubun, an official with the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Saumlaki.
■SOUTH KOREA
Power unit running again
A power generation unit at a nuclear power plant has resumed operations after a one-day shutdown because of technical problems, Yonhap news agency reported. The unit, one of six at the Younggwang plant, was shut down late on Friday and resumed operations late on Saturday, Yonhap said. Another unit is under repair at the plant, which is operated by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co and will remain suspended until Sunday, Yonhap said. Officials at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power could not be reached for comment.
■JAPAN
Fishing boat missing
A fishing boat with eight crew members was missing yesterday in the Pacific after losing radio contact with other boats, the Coast Guard said yesterday. The 19 tonne Kofuku Maru No. 1 was 300km south of Tokyo when it last communicated with the fleet on Saturday. The Coast Guard has sent patrol boats and helicopters to search for the vessel. The fishing boat had planned to return the Shimoda port in Shizuoka Prefecture yesterday.
RSS