GUYANA
Fishermen might get guns
The threat of pirates near national waters has authorities in Georgetown considering a measure to allow fishermen to begin carrying weapons. The nation strictly controls the use of firearms and the government on Saturday said it is deciding whether to begin permitting deep-sea fishermen to carry guns while at sea. The fishermen would be required to turn in the weapons at police stations once they return to land. Second Vice President and Minister of Security Khemraj Ramjattan said he is open to the proposal because it is too expensive to have government boats and helicopters constantly patrol waters off the coast of the South American nation.
UNITED STATES
Sixth shark attack reported
Officials say a 17-year-old is the latest victim of a shark attack off North Carolina’s coast, the second attack in as many days and the sixth attack in the past two weeks. Rescue personnel and park rangers responded to the teen, who received what they described as injuries to his right calf, buttocks and both hands while swimming in the Outer Banks on Saturday, according to a Facebook post by the National Park Service. The teen was swimming with others when he was bitten, but no one else was hurt, officials said. The unidentified teenager was treated at the scene before being airlifted to a Norfolk, Virginia, hospital, the park service said. On Friday, a North Carolina man was bitten on his back and leg in Avon and 43-year-old man was attacked by a shark near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
COLOMBIA
Rebels claim chopper attack
The second-largest guerrilla group in the nation said it downed a military helicopter, rejecting government assertions that other rebels were involved. The National Liberation Army issued a Twitter message on Saturday claiming responsibility for downing the UH-60M Black Hawk on Monday last week as troops were trying to repair a damaged oil pipeline about 425km northeast of Bogota, the capital. The government said the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia hit the helicopter and it landed in a minefield, killing four soldiers. The government is holding peace talks in Cuba with the larger group. The National Liberation Army has sought establish a similar process.
UNITED STATES
9/11 writing prizes on offer
Leaders of a chapel in Manhattan that became a sanctuary of consolation after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are opening national writing competitions to foster reconciliation. The Episcopal Parish of Trinity Church plans to award one prize for preaching and six for storytelling. The winner of the preaching award is to deliver an original sermon on Sept. 11 at St Paul’s Chapel. Trinity’s rector, William Lupfer, said the idea for the competitions came about because visitors to the World Trade Center site still struggle to make sense of the attacks. Entries must be submitted between Wednesday and Aug. 1.
UNITED STATES
White lion dies after surgery
A white lion on loan from the Siegfried and Roy act has died after undergoing a medical procedure at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio. Zoo officials on Friday said that 14-year-old Legend died after being immobilized for an hour to allow veterinarians to treat one of its paws. Legend went into cardiac and respiratory arrest after being removed from anesthesia. A necropsy is to be performed to determine a cause of death. The zoo has another white lion, Legend’s 14-year-old brother, Courage.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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