AUSTRALIA
Heat wave prompts fire alerts
Large parts of the country yesterday sweltered under heat wave conditions that prompted the nation’s weather forecaster to issue bush fire warnings in several states. In New South Wales, the most populous state, more than 50 fires were burning yesterday, and a total fire ban was in place for many areas, including Sydney, the state’s rural fire service said. The agency wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that more than 700 firefighters and incident management personnel were working statewide to fight blazes amid “widespread high and extreme fire danger.”
RUSSIA
Ex-Moscow official missing
A former Moscow councilor who was sentenced to seven years in jail for denouncing the conflict in Ukraine has disappeared from prison, his supporters said on Friday. Allies of Alexei Gorinov say he needs medical attention and that they are concerned about the state of his health. His case parallels that of Russia’s most famous political detainee, Alexei Navalny, who has not been seen since early this month. “Alexei Gorinov’s lawyers have been trying all week to get information about his health and whereabouts,” his support group said. “We can say that Alexei is not in penal colony No. 2 in Pokrov.”
CHINA
Race organizers sentenced
Organizers of a 2021 ultramarathon during which 21 runners died in extreme weather conditions have been sentenced to years in prison for their roles, state media reported. Five individuals involved in planning the ill-fated event were issued jail terms ranging from three years to five-and-a-half years by a court in Baiyin in Gansu Province, where the deaths occurred, state-run Xinhua news agency reported late on Friday. In May 2021, the 100km cross-country mountain race turned deadly as freezing rain, high winds and hail hit the competitors. The five defendants were convicted for “organizing a large-scale event that led to a significant safety incident,” Xinhua said.
UNITED STATES
Satanic display destroyed
A Satanic Temple display inside the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines was destroyed, with a former US Navy fighter pilot who was recently defeated in a statehouse election in Mississippi accused of causing the damage. The display, permitted by rules that govern religious installations inside the Capitol, has drawn criticism. The Satanic Temple on Thursday wrote on Facebook that the display, known as a Baphomet statue, “was destroyed beyond repair,” although part of it remains. Michael Cassidy, 35, of Lauderdale, Mississippi, was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said on Friday.
UNITED STATES
Ketamine killed ‘Friends’ star
Matthew Perry died from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine, the results of an autopsy on the 54-year-old Friends actor released on Friday showed. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said in the autopsy report that Perry also drowned in “the heated end of his pool,” but that it was a secondary factor in his Oct. 28 death, deemed an accident. People close to Perry told investigators that he was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy, an experimental treatment used to treat depression and anxiety. The medical examiner said the levels of ketamine in Perry’s body were in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery, and that his last treatment one-and-a-half weeks earlier would not explain those levels.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
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
Two daughters of an Argentine mountaineer who died on an icy peak 40 years ago have retrieved his backpack from the spot — finding camera film inside that allowed them a glimpse of some of his final experiences. Guillermo Vieiro was 44 when he died in 1985 — as did his climbing partner — while descending Argentina’s Tupungato lava dome, one of the highest peaks in the Americas. Last year, his backpack was spotted on a slope by mountaineer Gabriela Cavallaro, who examined it and contacted Vieiro’s daughters Guadalupe, 40, and Azul, 44. Last month, the three set out with four other guides
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
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