Thu, Oct 12, 2023 page5

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  UNITED KINGDOM

  Luton suspends flights

  London Luton International Airport yesterday suspended all flights until the afternoon and asked passengers not to travel there after a “significant fire” caused the partial collapse of a parking structure. Flames leapt out of the third floor of a parking garage at Terminal 2 of the airport, as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control. “Our priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff,” the airport said in a statement, adding that it would suspend all flights until 3pm yesterday. Five people, including four firefighters and an airport employee, were admitted to hospital, the local ambulance service said.

  UNITED STATES

  More sub remains found

  The Coast Guard has recovered the remaining debris, including presumed human remains, from a submersible that imploded on its way to explore the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five onboard, deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean’s surface, officials said on Tuesday. The recovery and transfer of remaining parts was completed on Wednesday last week, the Coast Guard said, and a photograph showed the intact aft titanium endcap of the 6.7m vessel. Additional presumed human remains were carefully recovered from within Titan’s debris and transported for analysis by US medical professionals, it said. The salvage mission was a follow-up to initial recovery operations on the ocean floor about 488m away from the Titanic, the Coast Guard said.

  UNITED STATES

  Voters weigh bears in poll

  Alaskan voters were busy addressing weighty issues on Tuesday, casting their ballots for the overall champion of Katmai National Park’s annual Fat Bear Week. The final day of voting saw contestants “128 Grazer” and “32 Chunk” battling it out for the crown of biggest bruin in the park. The contest asks the public to compare before-and-after pictures of brown bears as they stuff themselves full of salmon in preparation for the lean months of hibernation. The champion is the bear who makes it through the series of head-to-head matchups. “Your vote decides who is the fattest of the fat,” organizers said. “128 Grazer’s powerful presence is as thunderous as her thick tree trunk thighs,” they added. “32 Chunk’s gargantuan gut has cast a shadow on his competition and has launched this leviathan to the last round. Can his pudginess propel him to the prize?” The aim is to raise awareness of brown bears and their habitat in Alaska, and the risks they face from human activity. “Fat bears are successful bears,” organizers said. The contest, which had appeared imperiled by the near-shutdown of the US government after a Washington standoff, was rocked last year by a ballot stuffing scandal.

  FINLAND

  ‘Heavy force’ hit gas line

  The damage to the Baltic Sea gas pipeline that burst on Sunday was caused by “quite heavy force,” Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur said yesterday, a day after Finland said it could have been a deliberate action. The Balticconnector subsea gas pipeline and a telecommunications cable connects Finland and Estonia. On Tuesday, Helsinki said the damage was likely caused by “outside activity” and that the cause was being investigated. “It can clearly be seen that these damages are caused by quite heavy force,” Pevkur said. Henri Vanhanen, research fellow at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs, said the central issue would be how NATO reacts if evidence was gathered that a state actor was behind the pipeline damage.
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