CHINA
Tornado kills six, hurts 190
A tornado blew through a northeast city, damaging factories and buildings, killing six people and injuring another 190, state media reported yesterday. The tornado hit Kaiyuan, a county-level city in Liaoning Province, late on Wednesday afternoon, local authorities said in a brief online statement. Footage from state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) showed a stretch of collapsed low-rise buildings where firefighters were working through the debris. The tornado damaged factories and equipment in an industrial park, CCTV said, adding that more than 210 people have been rescued and another 1,600 were evacuated. Power was to be restored to homes sometime yesterday, while businesses would regain power in the next three days, CCTV said.
HONDURAS
Dozens dead after boat sinks
At least 27 people died and nine were missing on Wednesday when their fishing boat sank off the Caribbean coast, the military said. Armed forces spokesman Jose Meza said that 55 people survived when the vessel sank off the remote coastal La Mosquitia region. Ninety-one people were aboard the boat, the 70-tonne Wallie, when it set sail from Cabo Gracias a Dios — on the easternmost point bordering Nicaragua — after a seasonal ban on lobster fishing was lifted. The boat sank near Cayo Gorda, a tiny island just northeast of their point of departure. The cause of the disaster was not immediately clear. The bodies and the survivors would be taken to Puerto Lempira, Meza said. Hours before the Wallie sank, an overloaded fishing boat in the same area went under. Meza said that 49 people were rescued from that boat, the Miss Francely, which had a capacity to carry 31 people. The captain of the Wallie sent out a distress call just before dying, local media reported.
JAPAN
Whale meat prices skyrocket
Chunks of meat from the first whales caught since the resumption of commercial whaling this week have fetched “celebration prices” at auction. The meat yesterday sold for up to ￥15,000 (US$139) per kilogram, several times higher than the prices paid for Antarctic minkes. The meat came from two minkes caught off the northern city of Kushiro on Monday, when commercial whaling resumed after 31 years. During those years, research hunts were conducted in the Antarctic that conservations criticized as a cover for banned commercial hunts. Tokyo on Sunday left the International Whaling Commission and has promised that whalers would stay within its 200 nautical mile (370.4km) exclusive economic zone. Whale meat sellers celebrated the good start, but expressed uncertainty about the future of their business amid slim demand.
UNITED KINGDOM
Authorities detain oil tanker
Royal Marines and officials in Gibraltar have detained a supertanker suspected of carrying crude oil to Syria, in breach of EU sanctions, Gibraltar’s government said. In a statement, the government said that it had reasonable grounds to believe that the Grace 1 was carrying its shipment of crude oil to a refinery in Baniyas, Syria. “That refinery is the property of an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions against Syria,” Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said. “With my consent, our port and law enforcement agencies sought the assistance of the Royal Marines in carrying out this operation.” The government on Wednesday published regulations to enforce the sanctions against the vessel and its cargo.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
RSS