UNITED STATES
Concrete owl recovering
An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in southwestern Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter.” The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers. Two weeks later, it was able to fly again and is continuing its recovery in an aviary. “He’s a youngster, which may be why he ended up in a concrete mixer,” Bart Richwalski of the animal sanctuary said.
Photo: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary via AP
LEBANON
Israeli strike kills 13
An Israeli strike on the southern city of Sidon killed 13 people and wounded several others, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it struck militants who it said were operating in a training compound in the crowded Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon. Hamas condemned the strike in a statement, saying it targeted an open sports field used by residents of the camp, adding that there were no military establishments in refugee camps in Lebanon.
NEW ZEALAND
Puberty drugs to be banned
The government yesterday said it was banning new prescriptions of puberty blocking drugs for young transgender people, in a move that critics warned could worsen the mental health of those affected. Doctors would no longer be able to prescribe gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues for gender dysphoria or incongruence to those seeking treatment and not already on the drugs, Minister of Health Simeon Brown said. The decision resulted from a health ministry finding of a lack of “high-quality evidence that demonstrates the benefits or risks,” he added in a statement. The ban takes effect from Dec. 19. The ban would have a devastating impact on the lives and well-being of transgender and gender diverse young people in New Zealand, Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa vice president Elizabeth McElrea said in a statement. “The ban will lead to worsening mental health, increased suicidality and dysphoria for gender diverse children and young people.”
JAPAN
Nuclear plant to be turned on
The government is set to approve the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear plant this week, local media reported yesterday. The resource-poor country pulled the plug on nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but it wants to revive atomic energy and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant is expected to get approval from the Niigata Prefecture governor to resume operations, according to Kyodo News and the Nikkei business daily, citing unnamed sources.
MALAYSIA
Utility loses US$1bn to crypto
National utility firm Tenaga Nasional Bhd lost US$1.1 billion of power to illegal cryptocurrency mining since 2020 in thefts the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation said posed a “serious threat to the national energy supply system.” Tenaga also uncovered 13,827 premises that were suspected of being illegal cryptocurrency mining hubs, the ministry said in a parliamentary reply filed on Tuesday.
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
‘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
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
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