AUSTRALIA
Probe into penguin deaths
Wildlife officials yesterday announced an investigation into the mass death of 58 penguins they believe were killed in a dog attack. The carcases of the fairy penguins — the world’s smallest penguin species — were found strewn across a beach in Tasmania. “We would like to remind dog owners of the need to take responsibility for their animals at all times as dogs have the capacity to do a lot of damage to penguin colonies in a short period of time,” the Tasmanian Department of Parks, Water and Environment said in a statement. The latest grisly find comes just months after a dozen birds were found dead on a nearby beach, they too are believed to have been killed in a dog attack. Fairy penguins are only found in Australia and New Zealand, with Tasmania supporting about half of the global population.
AUSTRALIA
Anti-litter campaigner dies
Ian Kiernan, an environmental campaigner who turned a cleanup of Sydney Harbour into a global fight against litter, has died from cancer at 78, Clean Up Australia said yesterday. The round-the-world yachtsman started his anti-litter campaign nearly 30 years ago and then went global in 1993 with Clean Up The World, which now involves more than 30 million people. Kiernan was also known for leaping to shield Britain’s Prince Charles from a protester who fired two blanks shots from a starter’s pistol at a 1994 ceremony in Sydney where the environmentalist was named Australian of the Year. “I didn’t think about it. I just knew we had to get this bloke and we got him,” Kiernan told reporters after he helped to tackle the young man, who was angry about Cambodians being held in detention camps.
MOROCCO
Seven killed in derailment
At least seven people died and nearly 80 were injured after a shuttle train linking Rabat and the town of Kenitra on the Atlantic coast derailed on Tuesday, authorities at the accident site said. The train derailed near the city of Sale. Tangled in the wreckage were doors and seats that had been gouged out of place, while passengers’ belongings and glass from broken windows littered the accident site. Emergency workers rushed people to hospitals in Rabat, Sale and Kenitra, while rescue teams searched for more victims with the help of cadaver dogs. Military personnel guarded the site as railway workers and authorities started to investigate why the train jumped its tracks. “We heard a gigantic explosion. The earth shook and the sound was unbearable,” said Mourad El Kbiri, who owns a cafe near where the train derailed. “I rushed to see what happened. It was horrific. Disfigured bodies all over the place, blood and body pieces.”
UNITED STATES
Brothel owner found dead
A colorful Nevada brothel owner who was running for the state legislature as a Republican has died unexpectedly, but his name is to remain on the ballot for next month’s election, officials said. Dennis Hof, 72, was on Tuesday found dead at Love Ranch, one of his legal brothels in Crystal, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office said. The Reno Gazette Journal reported that Hof had on Monday celebrated his birthday with a party attended by porn star Ron Jeremy and other guests. Chuck Muth, Hof’s campaign manager, said on Twitter that Jeremy found Hof’s body when he went to wake him up. Muth said Hof had apparently “died quietly in his sleep.” Hof also starred in the HBO reality TV show Cathouse about the prostitutes working at one of his establishments.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was