EUROPE
Freezing weather hits
Freezing temperatures are spreading across Europe, with snow forecast from Germany to the UK. Berlin is set for a low of minus-4.5°C today and tomorrow, while Helsinki was not expected to get above minus-8°C yesterday, forecaster Maxar Technologies Inc said. Weather warnings were issued for some areas of Germany yesterday, where the nation’s meteorological agency forecast up to 20cm of snow. Parts of Scotland and northeast England would also experience snow on higher ground, with wintry showers spreading south over the week, the UK’s Met Office said. London would fall below zero by the weekend. Weather forecasts after the first week of December vary. Maxar said in its daily report that “a cold pattern remains the favored outcome” for most of Europe for the next two weeks, while some models point to a potential rebound in temperatures in the northwest from Wednesday next week.
Photo: AFP
UNITED STATES
Shooting suspect arrested
Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent, all age 20, who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus on Saturday evening. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38pm on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton’s apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He was scheduled to be arraigned yesterday, police said. The attack that injured the three men at about 6:25pm on Saturday might have been a hate crime, authorities have said. Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered “much more serious injuries,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement on Sunday.
AUSTRALIA
Home affairs head fired
The government yesterday fired the head of the Department of Home Affairs known as an immigration hardliner following an investigation into WhatsApp messages he reportedly sent to sway senior politicians. Michael Pezzullo was sacked after a two-month independent probe found he had breached the public service’s code of conduct at least 14 times. Allegations against Pezzullo included failing to act apolitically, using his power to benefit himself, and engaging in “gossip and disrespectful critique” of ministers and colleagues, the public service commission said. In one WhatsApp message to a Liberal Party power broker, he reportedly called for a “right winger” to be installed as his minister responsible for immigration, adding: “People smugglers will be watching.”
INDIA
Rescuers digging by hand
Military engineers were yesterday preparing to dig by hand to reach 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 16 days. Soldiers plan to use a so-called “rat-hole mining” technique, digging by hand to clear the rocks and rubble over the remaining 9m, with temperatures plummeting in Uttarakhand state. Last week, engineers working to drive a metal pipe horizontally through 57m of rock and concrete ran into metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the earth, snapping a giant earth-boring drilling machine. The broken parts of the machine stuck inside the tunnel have been removed,” senior local civil servant Abhishek Ruhela said. “Preparations are being made to start manual drilling work.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS