GERMANY
Two bombings in Dresden
Two improvised bombs exploded on Monday evening in Dresden — one at a mosque and one at an international conference center — but no one was injured, police said yesterday. “Even if we so far have no claim of responsibility, we must go on the basis that the motive was xenophobic,” Dresden Police President Horst Kretzschmar said in a statement. He said police believed there was a link to celebrations planned for this weekend in the city to mark the anniversary of German reunification on Oct. 3, 1990. At the time of the first explosion, the imam of the mosque was inside with his wife and sons, but they were not hurt although the building was damaged by pressure waves. Police officers were sent to protect other mosques in the city.
CANADA
Bad weather deters royals
Plans to show off one of British Columbia’s most beautiful areas to Prince William and his wife, Kate, were scuttled by bad weather. The aerial tour of the Great Bear Rainforest and a boat tour of Bella Bella Harbour were canceled on Monday as winds gusted, the water was choppy and it was pouring rain. The couple were greeted with a rousing cheer when they arrived at the Wawiskas Community Hall, where they met indigenous community members and about two dozen hereditary chiefs who were part of the official welcoming party.
SWITZERLAND
Air pollution kills: WHO
The WHO says more than nine out of 10 people worldwide live in areas with excessive air pollution, contributing to problems like strokes, heart disease and lung cancer. A report released yesterday says that 92 percent of people live in areas where air quality exceeds WHO limits, with Southeast Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and western Pacific regions hardest hit. The country-by-country figures come from new satellite data as well as traditional ground measurements of pollution, mostly in cities, in about 3,000 places worldwide. WHO says one in nine deaths worldwide is linked to indoor and outdoor pollution. The report focuses on outdoor air pollution, which is estimated to kill about 3 million people per year based on 2012 figures, the most recent available.
TURKEY
Detention warrants issued
The nation’s state-run news agency yesterday said that authorities have issued detention warrants for 121 people as part of an ongoing investigation into the July 15 failed coup. Anadolu Agency said that those wanted for detention include directors of a charity linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen’s movement. It said police have launched operations in 18 cities to apprehend suspects. Later in the day the government announced that 87 employees of the national intelligence organization have been dismissed because of suspected links to Gulen.
UNITED STATES
Drone hits rapper in face
The hip-hop rhythms of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony are too fierce to be stopped. Even by a drone to the face. The group was performing at the High Life Music Festival in Victorville, California, on Sunday when a drone buzzed up and smacked rapper Stanley “Flesh-N-Bone” Howse in the face. He winced and grabbed his head, but he and the rest of the group did not stop the show or even the song. It is not clear whether a fan, the band or someone connected to the festival had launched the drone, which was about 61cm wide.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
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