AUSTRALIA
Sydney warns of ‘slime’
Booming growth of moss and algae, falling autumn leaves and persistent wet weather have created a slippery threat to Sydney’s safety that has sparked increased footpath cleaning and a warning for people to be careful. The City of Sydney said the issue of slippery paths around the central business district had become so serious that it had changed its seasonal routines. The Royal Botanic Gardens’ chief scientist, Brett Summerall, said he had never seen growth like it. “There’s a lot of slimy stuff everywhere,” he said. “Mosses are really, really loving the conditions at the moment.”
NEPAL
Plane goes missing
A passenger plane with 22 people on board went missing yesterday. The Twin Otter aircraft operated by Tara Air took off from the western town of Pokhara bound for Jomsom at 9:55am, but air traffic control lost contact after 15 minutes. “We are trying to locate the possible area where the aircraft might be,” said Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesman for Tara Air. “Search and rescue teams from both the police and the army are heading toward that direction.” He said there were 19 passengers on board and three crew members. The passengers included two Germans and four Indians, with the remainder Nepali. Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman Phanindra Mani Pokharel said two helicopters had been deployed for a search operation, but “the bad weather is likely to hamper the search operation. The visibility is so poor that nothing can be seen.”
DR CONGO
Rebels kill 27 civillians
At least 27 civilians were killed by members of the notorious Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group in the east of the country on Saturday, the army and Red Cross said. The Kivu Security Tracker, which monitors violence in the region via a team of experts on the ground, posted on Twitter to say that at least 27 civilians had been killed in the attack. “We heard bullets at dawn in the village of Beu Manyama,” army spokesman Anthony Mualushayi said earlier on Saturday. “When we arrived, it was already too late, because the enemy ADF had already killed more than a dozen of our fellow citizens with machetes.”
NIGERIA
Thirty die in stampede
Thirty-one people were on Saturday killed in the south of the country after a stampede erupted during a crowded church charity event where food was being distributed. Shoes and slippers lay scattered on the ground after the disaster in Port Harcourt city in southern Rivers State when people tried to force their way into the event, police and witnesses said. A local Kings Assembly church organization was offering food and gifts for the impoverished at the Port Harcourt Polo Club when a “mammoth” crowd got out of control, Rivers State police said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Imperial system to return
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly to announce the return of imperial measurements to mark the queen’s platinum jubilee. Britain currently uses a mix of imperial and metric measurements, with speed limits in miles per hour and milk and beer bought in pints. Johnson is expected to announce next week that British shops would be allowed to sell products in pounds and ounces. While it is currenlty legal to price goods in pounds and ounces, these have to be displayed alongside the price in grams and kilograms.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
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