AUSTRIA
Grenade explodes in stove
Police investigating a grenade blast were less puzzled by the explosion and more by where it took place — inside a wood stove that appeared to contain nothing but firewood. The woman who owned the wood burner also had no clue at first. After all, she only put firewood inside. Or so she thought. Police spokeswoman Petra Datscher on Monday said a World War II grenade apparently landed in a tree during fighting. It was then enveloped by wood growing around it to the point that it was invisible when the tree was chopped down for firewood and sold to the supermarket where the unidentified 22-year-old woman bought it. The blast on Sunday in the lakeside town of Gmunden shattered the stove’s glass panel, but the sturdy wrought-iron stove prevented injuries.
UNITED STATES
Bomb scare a ‘joke’
A Venezuelan doctor thought it might be funny to crack a joke about a bomb in his luggage. Instead, he partly forced the evacuation of Miami International airport, and earned a fine of almost US$90,000. Manuel Alvarado, 60, will pay US$89,172 for his “momentary lapse of reason in making these statements,” which prompted costly evacuations and delays for airlines, and brought out a police bomb squad, his lawyer Brian Bieber said. Just before boarding an Avianca flight to Bogota on Oct. 22, a security officer asked Alvarado routine questions; the doctor joked that he was carrying C-4 explosives.
GERMANY
Sugar sparks bioterror scare
Vanilla sugar for Christmas cookies trickling from an envelope sparked a bioterrorism scare at a mail distribution center on Monday, police said. Police, paramedics and a fire brigade team in full protective suits swarmed the facility after staff spotted the white powder and an employee complained of itching, apparently fearing it was a dangerous chemical or biological agent. Testing quickly determined that the material was not dangerous, police said after the incident in Pinneberg. It was found to be home-made vanilla sugar.
VENEZUELA
Prisoners poisoned: group
A rights group says at least 41 inmates died in suspicious conditions last week, more than three times the official death toll authorities have blamed on overdoses. The government said last week 13 inmates died after breaking into the infirmary ward of the David Viloria penitentiary center in Lara State and gorging on medical products, including alcohol and antibiotics. However, the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons questions that official version. A handful of relatives claim the prisoners, who had reportedly launched a hunger strike to protest their living conditions, were poisoned, according to preliminary testimonies the group collected. “The [inmates] were sent bottles of water and food... They haven’t said who sent it, but it was let into the prison and that’s what family members say caused [the intoxications],” said the group’s Humberto Prado, who called for independent toxicological exams. At least 200 inmates were intoxicated at the prison, Prado said.
IRELAND
Mass theft of whiskey, gin
Police are hunting a criminal gang that escaped with more than 15,000 bottles of whiskey and gin in an audacious daylight heist last month. Armed with iron bars, the gang loaded the alcohol into 12m trucks after tying up the employees at a warehouse on the outskirts of Dublin, police said on Monday. A total of 15,480 bottles of Jameson Whiskey were taken on the afternoon of Nov. 14.
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