GERMANY
Refinery blaze injures eight
A fire yesterday erupted at a refinery in the country’s south following an explosion, injuring at least eight people and forcing authorities to evacuate local residents, police said. The explosion took place at about 5:30am at a site run by the Bayernoil group near the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt. Three of the victims suffered “medium or serious injuries,” police said in a statement. About 1,800 residents of the nearby towns of Vohburg and Irsching were evacuated as a precautionary measure. “The work to extinguish the flames is continuing,” police said. About 200 firefighters were at the scene, they added.
UNITED STATES
Obama, Bush nod to McCain
Late senator John McCain was yesterday to get a presidential farewell, but not from the sitting president. At his request, former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were to speak about the six-term senator at his final Washington event at the majestic Washington National Cathedral. President Donald Trump was told to stay away from all events during McCain’s five-day, cross-country funeral procession. Before the service yesterday, McCain’s procession was to pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain’s wife, Cindy, was expected to lay a wreath.
MYANMAR
‘Ghost ship’ found adrift
A rusting cargo ship empty of crew and goods and bearing the Indonesian flag was found drifting off the coast of Myanmar earlier this week, Yangon police said on Thursday. Fishers came across the vessel, bearing the name Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, floating in the Gulf of Martaban about 11km from the shore of the country’s commercial capital. The ship was being towed to neighboring Bangladesh, state-run media reported. Authorities and navy personnel boarded the vessel to investigate the situation, police said in a statement on Facebook. The ship’s transponder last reported its location off the coast of Taiwan in 2009.
UNITED STATES
Hanged hunter in coma
A 70-year-old Oregon hunter who was rescued after hanging upside-down for two days about 9m from the ground is in intensive care in a drug-induced coma. The East Oregonian on Friday reported that Eddie Voelker, of Prineville, was on a ventilator and has had a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain. Another hunter found Voelker suspended from the tree earlier this week. Voelker had fallen from his tree stand and become entangled in his safety harness. Crews used a bucket truck to reach him and his heart stopped during the rescue, the report said.
NICARAGUA
UN rights team expelled
The government of President Daniel Ortega is expelling a UN human rights team two days after the body published a critical report blaming it for the violent repression of opposition protests. A UN human rights official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation on Friday said that the team was told to leave the country. An official statement was expected later. The UN Security Council is to discuss the situation in the country on Wednesday, the official said. The report released on Wednesday last week by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described repression that stretched from the streets to courtrooms, where some protesters face terrorism charges.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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