AUSTRALIA
Man saves son from dingoes
Paramedics said that a father saved his 14-month-old son from dingoes that dragged the boy from a campsite. The boy had deep cuts on his head from the attack on Fraser Island in Queensland state, paramedic Ben du Toit said. The family was sleeping when a dingo entered their camper and the parents awoke to their son’s cries, the sound fading as he was dragged away, Du Toit said. The father ran outside and fought off several dingoes to rescue his son. Frank Bertoli, a pilot for RACQ Life Flight, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that the parents’ “quick thinking” probably saved the boy from more severe injuries. The boy was airlifted to a hospital early yesterday.
MEXICO
Ai commemorates students
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s (艾未未) interest in studying human rights around the world led to his meeting with relatives of the 43 college students who disappeared in southern Mexico in 2014. That encounter led, in turn, to his new exhibit in the capital. Ai has lived under house arrest in China and faced censorship because of his activism, even as his fame led to major exhibits in leading international museums. Ai chose a local university museum to mount his exhibit dedicated to the case of the students from the teachers’ college at Ayotzinapa in Guerrero state. He used students to assemble Legos into big, colorful portraits of the 43 missing young people.
SOUTH AFRICA
Church roof collapse kills 13
The roof of a church collapsed during mass near the eastern city of Durban, killing 13 people and injuring at least 16, officials said yesterday. The accident happened on Thursday evening in the town of Dlangubo, north of Durban, after heavy rains. “The roof of the building collapsed because of heavy rains last night... At this point we have a total of 13 fatalities,” said Lennox Mabaso, spokesman for KwaZulu-Natal Province’s traditional affairs department. “Such a tragedy. 13 fatalities 16 people treated by paramedics,” Robert McKenzie, spokesman for the provincial emergency services, said on Twitter.
UNITED STATES
Paddleboarder convicted
A paddleboarder has been convicted of assault for hitting a surfer with his paddle during an argument over a wave off the southern California coast. KNSD-TV reported that Paul Konen was on Thursday convicted in San Diego and could now face up to seven years in prison. Konen attacked surfer Kevin Eslinger in June last year at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego during an argument over a wave, prosecutors said. Eslinger was struck so hard that he suffered brain damage and still has speech problems, authorities said. The defense said that Konen acted in self-defense.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
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