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.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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