CUBA
Truck crash leaves 13 dead
Thirteen people were killed and 34 injured on Monday when two trucks retrofitted as passenger buses collided in eastern Cuba, media reported. The deadly crash took place in Santiago de Cuba province, Agencia Cubana de Noticias reported. Five of the injured were in very serious condition, the report said. The cause of the crash was under investigation. As part of the country’s long-running economic crisis, the only communist government in the Americas decided it was cheaper to turn trucks into people movers than to import costly buses.
CANADA
Kurdis arrive in Vancouver
Relatives of a Syrian boy whose lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach, sparking worldwide concern for the refugee crisis, have landed in Canada. Mohammed Kurdi, his wife and their five children on Monday arrived in Canada as refugees, sponsored by Mohammed’s sister Tima Kurdi, who wiped away tears as she greeted her relatives at Vancouver airport’s arrival gates. Speaking through his sister, who translated from Arabic, Mohammed Kurdi thanked Canadians and the government for making his dream come true. Tima Kurdi’s and Mohammed Kurdi’s three-year-old nephew, Alan Kurdi, drowned along with his five-year-old brother and their mother while crossing the waters between Turkey and Greece in September.
UNITED STATES
Oregon bakery pays redress
Oregon bakery owners who denied service to a same-sex couple have paid US$135,000 in state-ordered damages — after refusing to do so for nearly six months. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said Aaron Klein, co-owner of the Portland-area bakery, dropped off a check on Monday for US$136,927.07. That includes accrued interest. Klein also paid US$7,000 earlier this month. Damages were awarded in July for emotional suffering caused by Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which two years ago refused to make a wedding cake for Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer. The bakers said their refusal was prompted by religious beliefs.
UNITED STATES
Bipedal bear Pedals sighted
New Jersey wildlife officials said there has been a sighting of a bear that walks upright on its hind legs, and has become a social media darling. Fans of the bipedal bear, nicknamed Pedals, had grown concerned when the animal had not been seen for several weeks. Pedals apparently has an injured leg or paw that does not allow it to walk comfortably on all fours, experts say. However, officials told NJ.com that a resident saw Pedals in West Milford on Dec. 21 and said the bear appeared to be in good health. The bear first gained fame after it was spotted last year ambling around neighborhoods and was caught on videos that were posted on social media and played on national TV.
GERMANY
Condom machine kills man
A man died on Friday last week in Germany after he was hit in the head by a flying piece of metal from a condom machine that he and two accomplices blew up in an apparent robbery attempt, police said on Monday. The 29-year-old man was taken to a hospital in the western town of Schoppingen by the two other men. They told hospital officials that their friend had fallen down the stairs. Suspicious of their story, the officials called the police. During questioning, one of them admitted that the three had blown up the condom machine, and that their cohort was hit in the head by metal, police said.
AUSTRALIA
Massive acid leak feared
Authorities yesterday said that more than 30,000 liters of sulfuric acid might have spilled after all 26 carriages of a freight train carrying the chemical derailed in Queensland. The train, belonging to freight firm Aurizon Ltd, was carrying about 819,000 liters of sulfuric acid, four times the amount first estimated, when it derailed on Sunday. “One of the carriages has likely ruptured and it is possible that up to 31,500 liters of acid have leaked out,” Queensland Police said in a statement. Testing by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection suggested that a nearby waterway had not been adversely affected by any leak, the statement said. Aurizon said in an e-mail the cause of the incident was not yet known. Three train drivers had received minor injuries, but had been released from hospital.
AUSTRALIA
Two ministers resign
Two ministers in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government resigned yesterday, one of them standing down after a female public servant complained about his behavior in a Hong Kong bar during a recent official visit. Jamie Briggs said he was resigning as minister for cities and the built environment after the unnamed woman raised concerns about his inappropriate behavior. Briggs said nothing illegal had been alleged, but declined to comment in detail about the incident. “I’ve apologized directly to her, but after careful reflection about the concerns she raised and the fact that I was at a bar late at night while on an overseas visit, I have concluded this behavior has not met the particularly high standards for ministers,” Briggs told reporters in Adelaide. Turnbull said a second minister, Mal Brough, was also standing aside while police investigate his role in revelations about a political rival that were leaked. “In offering to stand aside Mr Brough has done the right thing, recognizing the importance of the government maintaining an unwavering focus on jobs, economic growth and national security,” Turnbull said in a statement. The ministers’ duties will be taken up by other ministers.
PAKISTAN
Four inmates hanged
Four men sentenced to death by military courts for assisting in suicide bombings and attacks on soldiers were hanged yesterday, officials said. The executions were carried out at a prison in the northwestern garrison town of Kohat and the bodies were handed over to relatives, a prison official said. A senior security official confirmed the hangings and identified those executed as Noor Saeed, Murad Khan, Inayat Ullah and Israr Uddin. No details of specific incidents were released. The four were sentenced in April. Local and international rights groups have criticized the military courts established in January, saying they fail to meet the standards necessary for a fair trial and lack transparency.
CHINA
Shanghai says no to party
Shanghai authorities have opted not to organize New Year celebrations in the historic riverfront Bund this week, a year after a stampede killed 36 people. City spokesman Xu Wei (徐威) announced the decision yesterday, state broadcaster CCTV reported on its microblog. “There will be no activities on the Bund to greet the 2016 new year. Citizens who go there on their own, please pay attention to maintaining order,” Xu was quoted as saying. The deadly crush last year occurred at about midnight on steps up to a riverside walkway as thousands of people gathered by the Huangpu River. Most of those who died were in their 20s, while 49 people were injured.
James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died, his former lab said on Friday. He was 97. The eminent biologist died on Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career. Watson became among the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick. Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he shared the
China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was possibly hit by tiny bits of space debris, the country’s human spaceflight agency said yesterday, an unusual situation that could disrupt the operation of the country’s space station Tiangong. An impact analysis and risk assessment are underway, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement, without providing a new schedule for the return mission, which was originally set to land in northern China yesterday. The delay highlights the danger to space travel posed by increasing amounts of debris, such as discarded launch vehicles or vessel
IMPASSE: US President Donald Trump pressed to end the filibuster in a sign that he is unlikely to compromise despite Democrat offers for a delayed healthcare vote The US government shutdown stretched into its 40th day yesterday even as senators stayed in Washington for a grueling weekend session hoping to find an end to the funding fight that has disrupted flights nationwide, threatened food assistance for millions of Americans and left federal workers without pay. The US Senate has so far shown few signs of progress over a weekend that could be crucial for the shutdown fight. Republican leaders are hoping to hold votes on a new package of bills that would reopen the government into January while also approving full-year funding for several parts of government, but
TOWERING FIGURE: To Republicans she was emblematic of the excesses of the liberal elite, but lawmakers admired her ability to corral her caucus through difficult votes Nancy Pelosi, a towering figure in US politics, a leading foe of US President Donald Trump and the first woman to serve as US House of Representatives speaker, on Thursday announced that she would step down at the next election. Admired as a master strategist with a no-nonsense leadership style that delivered for her party, the 85-year-old Democrat shepherded historic legislation through the US Congress as she navigated a bitter partisan divide. In later years, she was a fierce adversary of Trump, twice leading his impeachment and stunning Washington in 2020 when she ripped up a copy of his speech to the
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