UNITED STATES
Red crabs swarm beaches
Thousands of tiny red crabs are carpeting beaches in Orange County, California, and creating an amazing spectacle for swimmers and surfers. Lifeguards estimate that hundreds of thousands of the tiny crustaceans washed up on Friday last week on beaches in Newport Beach. Others were spotted in Laguna Beach. The Orange County Register said that the pelagic red crabs are usually found off Baja California, but currents that are part of the El Nino weather pattern are sweeping them north. The crabs have washed up for several years along the Orange County coastline. Before that, they had not been seen in the area for decades.
PHILIPPINES
Abu Sayyaf issues deadline
Muslim extremists who last month beheaded a Canadian said they would kill another Western hostage if a multimillion-dollar ransom is not paid within four weeks. A video released by the Abu Sayyaf — whose leaders have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group — shows Canadian Robert Hall and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad wearing orange shirts in a jungle setting, surrounded by hooded, armed men. The men said their captors had threatened to kill at least one of them if no payment is received by June 13. A caption on the video, carried by the SITE Intelligence Group, says the Abu Sayyaf are demanding 600 million pesos (US$12.8 million). Last month, the group killed John Ridsdel after a ransom deadline passed. Ridsdel, Hall, Sekkingstad and Hall’s Philippine girlfriend were abducted last year from a resort on Davao del Norte’s Samal Island, hundreds of kilometers from the group’s traditional strongholds. The Abu Sayyaf are also believed to be holding four Malaysians, a Dutch bird-watcher and four Filipinos.
SWEDEN
Bomb scare on plane
A Ryanair plane headed for Manchester, England, was evacuated before takeoff on Sunday due to a bomb scare at Rygge airport outside Oslo, police said. The plane was evacuated due to the “suspicious behavior” of two passengers and a bomb squad searched the aircraft, but found nothing suspicious. Police later said the incident was due to a misunderstanding. Police spokesman Anders Stroemsaether told public broadcaster NRK that the incident started before boarding when two foreign passengers were overheard arguing in an airport lavatory. He said other passengers heard the word “bomb” being used and told the captain as they boarded the aircraft. The captain informed police who evacuated the plane and brought the two passengers in for questioning. Police said on Twitter later on Sunday that nothing suspicious had been found at the airport and the two passengers were discharged.
NEW ZEALAND
Adventurer dies after fall
A diminutive man who inspired many by defying the brittle bones he was born with and pursuing a life filled with rigorous outdoor adventures has died after falling from his wheelchair while competing in a half-marathon. Samuel Peter Gibson died yesterday at the Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital after falling two days earlier, hospital officials said. He was 39. His family said in a statement that the injuries he had sustained in the fall were not survivable. Gibson, who was 1m tall, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare genetic disorder in which bones break easily. In talks and interviews, he described the frequent and painful bone breaks he suffered throughout his childhood. He is survived by his wife, Jen, and two daughters.
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
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the