UNITED STATES
Man charged over blaze
A 29-year-old man has been charged with sparking California’s deadly Palisades Fire, authorities said on Wednesday. Federal officials said Jonathan Rinderknecht, who lived in the area, started a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground before reigniting nearly a week later, roaring through Pacific Palisades, home to many of Los Angeles’ rich and famous. The fire, which left 12 dead in the hillside neighborhoods across Pacific Palisades and Malibu, was one of two blazes that broke out on Jan. 7, killing more than 30 people in all and destroying more than 17,000 homes and buildings. Rinderknecht was arrested on Tuesday in Florida and made his first court appearance on Wednesday in Orlando on charges including malicious destruction by means of a fire, which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison.
Photo: AP
INDIA
Cough syrup maker arrested
Police have arrested the owner of Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, a cough syrup company linked to the deaths of at least 17 children in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, a senior police officer from the region said yesterday. The children, all younger than five years old, died in the past month after consuming cough medicine containing toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit. S. Ranganathan, the owner of the Tamil Nadu state-based company that manufactured the syrup, was arrested on Wednesday in Chennai, a senior police officer said.
NEW ZEALAND
Haka disrupts parliament
Parliament yesterday was suspended for a short period after people in the gallery broke into a haka, a traditional Maori dance, after the newest member of parliament for the Te Pati Maori party finished her maiden speech. Following Oriini Kaipara’s speech, members of parliament from across the house and those in the public gallery sang a planned and approved Maori song to celebrate her arrival. The public gallery then erupted into a haka and some members of parliament joined in. Speaker Gerry Brownlee asked them to stop. “No, not that. The guarantee was that would not be taking place,” he said. When they continued he suspended the sitting. Lawmakers and their supporters must obtain permission to sing or perform haka in the public gallery.
UNITED STATES
‘I ain’t dead yet’: Parton
Country singer Dolly Parton on Wednesday sought to reassure fans about her health after comments by her sister stoked concern that the Grammy winner was near death. “I ain’t dead yet,” Parton, 79, said in the caption to an Instagram video. “Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here,” she said with a smile from a set where she was filming commercials for the Grand Ole Opry. Parton had announced she was postponing a series of shows planned for Las Vegas to deal with some unspecified health issues. This week, her sister Freida Parton wrote on social media that she had been “up all night praying” for the singer. She later said she “didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious.” Dolly Parton acknowledged in her video that she had not been taking care of herself in the past few years. “But I wanted you to know that I’m not dying. Did you see that AI [artificial intelligence] picture of Reba [McEntire] and me? Oh Lordy. I mean, they had Reba at my death bed, and we both look like we need to be buried,” she laughed.
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
IN THE AIR: With no compromise on the budget in sight, more air traffic controllers are calling in sick, which has led to an estimated 13,000 flight delays, the FAA said Concerns over flight delays and missed paychecks due to the US government shutdown escalated on Wednesday, as senators rejected yet another bid to end the standoff. Democrats voted for a sixth time to block a Republican stopgap funding measure to reopen government departments, keeping much of the federal workforce home or working without pay. With the shutdown in its eighth day, lines at airports were expected to grow amid increased absenteeism among security and safety staff at some of the country’s busiest hubs. Air traffic controllers — seen as “essential” public servants — are kept at work during government shutdowns, but higher numbers
Elvis Nghobo tried to get into four different professional schools in Cameroon, but could not make it. Frustrated, the 34-year-old turned to selling food at a market in Yaounde, the country’s seat of power. Nghobo blames his woes on what he calls a corrupt education system that favors children of the elite. As the central African country prepares for Sunday’s presidential election, he said he would not be heading out to vote. He called the results a foregone conclusion for 92-year-old Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president, who has ruled for Nghobo’s entire life. “He is already too old to govern, and it’s boring
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