AUSTRALIA
Croc goes in pot
A saltwater crocodile that had terrorized a remote community by snapping up dogs and lunging at children met its end in a feast cooked up by locals. The 3.6m reptile “had been stalking and lunging out of the water at children and adults,” Northern Territory police said in a statement. “The crocodile had also reportedly taken multiple community dogs,” it added. After talking to elders and landowners in the Bulla community, police shot and killed the scaly predator on Tuesday, police said. “The community prepared it for a feast in the traditional manner,” they said. The animal ended up as the main ingredient in various meals, Sergeant Andrew McBride told Australian public broadcaster ABC. “I believe he was cooked up into crocodile tail soup, it was on the barbecue, a few pieces were wrapped up in banana leaves and cooked underground,” McBride said.
Photo: AP
PEURTO RICO
Power outage hits
A widespread power outage hit the US territory on Wednesday night, leaving more than 340,000 customers without electricity after two power plants shut down. The capital of San Juan was left without power, as well as neighboring municipalities, including Bayamon, Caguas and Carolina. Luma Energy, which operates transmission and distribution for the power authority, wrote on X that the outage was tied to an issue with the power plants’ transmission lines.
UNITED STATES
NASA errs with broadcast
NASA on Wednesday accidentally broadcast a simulation of astronauts being treated for decompression sickness on the International Space Station (ISS). At about 5:28pm, NASA’s live YouTube channel broadcast audio that indicated a crew member was experiencing the effects of decompression sickness, NASA said on X. A female voice asks crew members to “get commander back in his suit,” check his pulse and provide him with oxygen, later saying his prognosis was “tenuous,” according to copies of the audio posted on social media. NASA did not verify the recordings or republish the audio. Several space enthusiasts posted a link to the audio on X with warnings that there was a serious emergency on the ISS. “This audio was inadvertently misrouted from an ongoing simulation where crew members and ground teams train for various scenarios in space and is not related to a real emergency,” NASA wrote. “There is no emergency situation going on aboard the International Space Station,” it added.
UNITED STATES
Bear filmed in hammock
Noah and Kristen Dweck have seen several black bears around their home in Vermont, but this was a first: a bear relaxing on their hammock. Noah Dweck filmed two young bears in their yard in Waitsfield on Tuesday, with one sitting on the swinging hammock before he shooed them away. “It was adorable. It was a funny sight,” he said. Noah Dweck said that he was sitting at a desk with the screen doors open in their home near the Sugarbush ski resort when he heard the jingling of the hammock. He then realized there was no wind. “So immediately I knew it was the bears,” he said. He ran upstairs and looked out the window and saw one bear looking curiously at the other bear who was hanging around on the hammock, he said. He took some video and then scared the bears away. “We live in a very active bear basin. The bears are very used to human contact, so I’m assuming they have found other people’s hammocks before,” he said.
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
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS