UNITED STATES
Wildfires strain resources
Wildfires are putting such a strain on the nation’s firefighting resources that authorities have activated the military and sought international help to beat back scores of blazes burning uncontrolled throughout the West. The situation is so urgent that the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Washington, this week called in 200 active-duty military troops to help contain about 95 wildfires. It is the first time since 2006 that the agency has mobilized soldiers for fire-suppression. “Nationally, the system is pretty tapped,” said Rob Allen, the deputy incident commander for the fires around the Cascade Mountain resort town of Chelan, Washington. “Everything is being used right now, so competition for resources is fierce.” The troops are to be sent to a fire north of Republic, a town in Washington about 48km south of the Canadian border.
UNITED STATES
Man fights for ‘pet’ ferrets
Pat Wright loves his three ferrets — even though they do sometimes bite and he has had to replace the baseboards in part of his house after they urinated for years along the walls — and wants them to become legalized as pets in California. Wright has begun preparing what he admits may be a quixotic campaign to legitimize Tiger, Bailey and Jethro after a decision on Friday last week by state officials in Sacramento to allow him to gather signatures to place a referendum on the ballot making it legal to own and import ferrets.
UNITED STATES
Cops freed cub stuck in tub
Police in Colorado rescued a bear cub whose head was stuck in a large plastic tub of protein powder, giving the cub a ride in the back of a cruiser before tranquilizing her so she could be freed. The Colorado Springs Police Department said three officers responded to a call about the trapped animal before dawn on Tuesday, but were unable to remove the tub. “The quick-witted officers were able to get the cub into the back seat of a patrol car and brought her to nearby fire station 3, where a Department of Wildlife Ranger sedated the bear,” the police department said in a statement, adding that the cub “was tagged and released ... in hopes that she will be reunited with mama bear.”
UNITED STATES
Snake hunt expanded
Snake-hunters take note: Authorities are expanding Florida’s next public hunt for invasive Burmese pythons into Everglades National Park. The “Python Challenge” will run from Jan. 16 through Feb. 14. The national park was excluded from the 2013 contest, which drew 1,600 participants, but netted only 68 pythons. Park Superintendent Pedro Ramos said in a statement on Tuesday that authorities hope the expanded access prompts more people to participate in programs that would allow them to remove pythons year-round from the park and state lands.
AUSTRALIA
Inmate makes daring escape
Authorities yesterday vowed to review security after a prisoner used bed sheets and a pillow to scale a wall topped with razor wire and escape from a maximum security jail in Goulburn, about 200km from Sydney. Convicted armed robber Stephen Jamieson made his daring break for freedom on Tuesday and was on the run in a stolen car for 10 hours before police using helicopters and dogs caught up with him about 100km from the prison. “This is a very serious incident that should not have happened,” Corrective Services New South Wales Commissioner Peter Severin said.
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