Wed, Nov 27, 2024 page5

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  JAPAN

  Test rocket catches fire

  A lightweight rocket yesterday failed its second test run after catching fire in the latest setback for the nation’s space program. The Epsilon S rocket’s second-stage engine suffered a malfunction 49 seconds into a ground test at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said in a statement. A live feed from the national broadcaster showed plumes of smoke rising from the site. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, the agency said. The Epsilon is scheduled to make its debut launch in March next year, but the failed test could trigger further delays in the program.

  CHILE

  Boric rejects sex complaint

  President Gabriel Boric was accused in a criminal complaint of sexually harassing a woman in 2013, an allegation he “rejects and categorically denies,” his lawyer, Jonatan Valenzuela, said on Monday. The complaint was filed on Sept. 6 in the local prosecutors’ office of Magallanes. Office head Cristian Crisosto confirmed “there is a criminal case related to the facts listed,” adding that there was a special team at the agency investigating the complaint. Valenzuela said the complaint was filed by a woman who at the time sent Boric 25 e-mails that were “unsolicited and non-consensual,” including one with explicit images. More than 10 years later, the woman “filed a complaint without any basis whatsoever against now-president Gabriel Boric.” Boric, now 38, was 27 at the time and had just completed his law degree.

  UNITED KINGDOM

  Scrooge’s tomb smashed

  If life imitates art, a vandal in the English countryside might be haunted by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Police in the town of Shrewsbury are investigating how a tombstone that marked the fictional grave of Ebenezer Scrooge was destroyed. The movie prop used in the 1984 adaption of A Christmas Carol was kept in place and became a tourist attraction. Town Clerk Helen Ball said the town is discussing what should be done to fix or replace the stone that is “hugely popular” with residents and visitors. This time of year, organized tours of locations used in the movie visit the grounds of St Chad’s Church to see the marker. “There’s not much to see other than broken bits of the gravestone,” Ball said. “You can’t see that it says Ebenezer Scrooge at the moment because it’s so damaged. It’s hugely disrespectful... If the ghosts of past, present and future would like to visit [the vandals] in the middle of the night and drop them and break them in pieces, I think that would be a perfect punishment.”

  UKRAINE

  Drone attacks reach record

  Russia launched a record number of drones at Ukraine overnight, the air force said yesterday, damaging buildings and “critical infrastructure” in several regions. “During the night attack, the enemy launched a record number of Shahed strike uncrewed aerial vehicles and unidentified drones,” the air force said, referring to Iranian-designed drones and putting the overall number fired at 188. The air force said it had shot down 76 Russian drones in 17 regions, while another 95 were either lost from their radars or downed by electronic jamming defensive systems. Moscow also fired four Iskander-M ballistic missiles, the air force said. “Unfortunately, critical infrastructure facilities were hit, private and apartment buildings were damaged in several regions due to massive drone attacks,” the statement said.
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