INDONESIA
Two trains collide
Two trains collided yesterday on the main island of Java, causing cars to buckle and overturn, and killing at least four people, officials said. The incident happened about 500m from Cicalengka train station in West Java Province, said Ayep Hanapi, a spokesman for PT Kereta Api Indonesia, the national railways. A Turangga express train carrying 287 passengers was traveling from Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province, when it plowed into a Bandung Raya commuter train with 191 passengers heading to Padalarang from Cicalengka station at about 6:30am, he said. “All passengers of the two crashed trains have been evacuated safely,” Hanapi said, adding that 28 people were injured. He said 22 were being treated at a hospital, mostly with head injuries. West Java Police spokesperson Ibrahim Tompo said that at least four train crew members were killed — the driver and his assistant on the commuter train and a steward and a security guard on the express train. Television video showed several cars overturned or badly mangled. One car plunged into a nearby rice field. People screamed as panicked passengers tried to get out of the train. Some walked through the fields carrying suitcases and other items as ambulances evacuated injured people. Ministry of Transportation spokeswoman Adita Irawati apologized for the incident and for the disruption of railway services across Java island. The cause of the incident was being investigated, she said, adding that rescuers had evacuated all passengers and were working to remove the trains to restore service.
ZIMBABWE
Mine workers trapped
Eleven mine workers were trapped in a shaft after a collapse at Redwing Mine, 270km west of the capital, Harare, authorities said on Friday. The incident took place on Thursday morning, with initial assessments pointing to tremors as the possible cause, the Ministry of Mines said in a statement. Metallon Corp, which owns Redwing Mine, confirmed the incident in a separate statement. The company has deployed a rescue team to bring the trapped miners back to the surface, it said. “The team has made several rescue attempts. However, the ground remains unstable, rendering rescue operations unsafe. Our teams are diligently assessing ground conditions to make sure the rescue operations proceed safely as soon as possible,” Metallon said. Mining operations at Redwing have been undertaken by subsistence miners carrying out unsanctioned work since the mine was placed under corporate rescue in 2020, the company said.
INDIA
Navy responds to hijacking
A navy warship was moving toward a hijacked Liberian-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea, and aircraft were closely monitoring the situation, the navy said yesterday. At least 15 Indian crew members were on board the MV Lila Norfolk, which was hijacked near Somalia’s coast and the navy received information about it on Thursday evening, Indian news agency ANI reported earlier, citing military officials. The ship sent a message on the UK Maritime Trade Operations portal saying that five to six unknown armed personnel had boarded on Thursday evening, the navy statement said. The INS Chennai was diverted and deployed to assist the vessel, the statement said, adding that a naval aircraft yesterday overflew the hijacked vessel and had established contact with it.
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
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
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
Sri Lanka’s fragile economic recovery could be hampered by threatened trade union strikes over reduced benefits for government employees in this year’s budget, the IMF said yesterday. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s maiden budget raised public sector salaries, but also made deep cuts to longstanding perks in a continuing effort to repair the island nation’s tattered finances. Sri Lanka’s main doctors’ union is considering a strike from today to protest against cuts to their allowances, while teachers are also considering stoppages. IMF senior mission chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer said the budget was the “last big push” for the country’s austerity
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